Tech / Special Interest → Home Improvement > [Plumbing] floater valve for brine tank water softener

[Plumbing] floater valve for brine tank water softener

Hello.
I live in Thailand and the people here use brine tanks without a floater valve.
Is this possible??
If so, I still asume that it is bettter to have one.
I can not buy one here....
Is there a way I can make one my self for example using a normal floater valve that is used in the water reservoir of a toilet?

I think it is common for the water softener head to just meter an amount of water into the brine tank during the refill phase. I am no expert on water softeners, but I don't think there is typically a float valve. Maybe somebody will know something different.

there must be a very good reason they are not used, and you can't even buy one there. maybe something unique to the water? it may cause too many problems. a plumber in Thailand would know the answer.

Thanks for your reactions guys....
more info is welcome if possible, but if I understand it right the floatervalve is not REALLY needed if the automatic control head is programmed to let a certain amount of water into the tank.
the floater valve is just an extra safety device. is that right?
The thing is, if I google for water softener or brine tank I only get images WITH a floater valve, never without. so that is why I thought it was really needed.

I dont think I've ever owned a softener with a float valve.

Welcome to DSLR.
I do not know nor does Google help learn what you mean by a floater valve. My tank has a timer that every few days allows my system to regenerate the medium about 2am. It operates the bypass valve and sends some brine through the media to regenerate it then replenishes the water to make some more brine for the next cycle. The other type of water softener that I am familiar with has some gears that measure the water going through and switch from one media tank to another regenerating the used up tank. Neither of these types have use for a float.
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The floater valve in question is related to the container used to hold the salt pellets. Some (like mine) are separate but most current softeners seem to be all-in-one units. But the basics are the same.
Here's a picture I found on the Interweb that illustrates: »www.oxfordplumbing.ca/images/wat···gram.jpg .

I believe the float valve the OP is talking about is in the lower-right of this picture. Normally in your salt tank there's a white plastic cylinder with a small tube going to the actual softener (for the water/brine to flow), and if you pop the cap off that tube, you'll see the valve assembly.

I've never seen a softener without one of these things, but I tend to lean towards the "budget" variants so maybe the higher-end units indeed deal with this another way.
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Good info. My tank has one too but being in the Tube I never bothered to notice it.
That float must be what keeps about ten or twelve gallons of water in the bottom of the tank.

I'm about 3,000 miles away from home at the moment, but I can assure you that my softener absolutely has a float valve in the brine tank. I know because it got stuck a month or so ago and I had to free it. Tank needs a good scrubbing, but it's got about 400+ pounds of salt in it at the moment; I'll wait until it uses up most of it.

OK, thanks a lot you all..... sorry for my late reply.

I guess I will look for a brine valve outside of Thailand....
As I understood now the valve prevents the brine tank from overflowing in case of malfunction of the automatic filterhead and it prevents air to be sucked in to the filter in case there is not enough water in the brine tank.