Your water tastes hard, but the system seems to hum. This usually means the bypass valve is accidentally engaged. The bypass valve looks like a little lever or knob near the control head. If it’s turned to “bypass,” the water flows around the tank, not through it.
Simply turn the valve back to service mode. It’s that easy. I once spent an hour diagnosing a client’s “broken” unit only to find the previous owner’s kid had spun the valve as a prank. Check the bypass first—it’s the water-softener equivalent of checking if the cord is plugged in.
Another sneaky cause: the brine line is kinked or pinched. Follow the thin tube from the tank to the control head. Straighten any bends. A kinked line is like a collapsed straw—nothing moves.
