Help Leaking Kinetico Water Softener-

[Exchange230316]

Hello All

Exchanged to lovely home but looking for advice on Drayton underfloor heating system and Kinetico water softener.
Heating seemed to work ok however took a shower today and suddenly a gush of water started draining from the Kinetico water softener. Thankfully managed to turn a valve which has stopped it but now water pressure seems very low especially for the hot taps.
Also any advice in how best to run UFH would be greatly appreciated.

Shameless bump but also @pigletjohn for any help please.

Post some pics showing where the water is coming from please.

Also look in the salt bin to see if it is overfilled

There is probably a plastic hose coming out of the control head for waste water to run to the drain during regen, and another near the top of the salt bin for overflow.

Thanks @PigletJohn

Salt bin not overfilled but a couple of inches of salt water. The last picture is the valve we needed to turn in order for the flow to stop.

This is the system.

The hose hanging over the bucket looks like the overflow hose to me. Do you know where the other end is, in the machine? An overflow hose is usually arranged to release outside the house but in a position where it will be noticed.

If it is the overflow hose, it will flow if the salt bin is being filled with water and does not stop filling. This can be if the control valve is jammed, probably due to age and scale, or it can happen if the seal is worn out, probably due to age. They usually last ten to twenty years and are replaceable. But your bin is not full of water as I would have expected, so maybe there is some other problem.

You will also have a hose for release of waste water during regeneration. This should go into the drain. Might the hose have been accidentally pulled out of the drainpipe?

Thanks Piglet
Well we have no other piping to be seen.
There is a small amount of salt water- could that be what has drained off?
We have only just moved in and literally had heating on for a couple of hours and one shower the day after and then this happened.
I will google but what exactly is regeneration?

Could this be the hose for regeneration.

It could be either of the plastic hoses.

Regeneration:

In use, the softener absorbs calcium from the water passing through . It exchanges the Calcium Carbonate (dissolved chalk, hardness, limescale) with Sodium Bicarbonate (as used in baking powder, indigestion remedies and effervescent tablets). The material does this by exchanging ions.

When it is saturated with calcium, the machine draws salt into itself (sodium chloride) which displaces the calcium, and flushes it down the drain. It then rinses away remaining salt before going back into service. You put a sack or block of salt into the bin before it all gets used up.

This process is called regeneration and automatically occurs every week or two depending on capacity of machine and amount of water used.

However

I am becoming increasingly convinced that the leak is due to the waste water hose having come out of the drain pipe.

If not the softener is faulty and needs repair.

Thanks
I am planning on calling a plumber anyway as I have had to turn off water supply.
Is the water softener essential to the underfloor heating?

No

But

You can bypass the softener

In your pic with the two blue valves

Leave them both turned off, as they are (blue levers horizontal, at right angles to the pipe)

Between them is a small silver service valve with what looks like a screwhead with a slot.

Turn the slot horizontal (it is not actually a screw, just give it a quarter turn in either direction) so it is in line with the pipe, this is "on"

And hard water will flow to your taps until you resolve the water softener problem, it will run through the copper pipe, bypassing the softener. This is quite normal.

If you can remove the plastic hood on the top of the softener (it might slide off) it will expose the valve and we can work out the pipes. I think it is a mistake to put that wooden rack over it, as it obstructs access.