Maintain
Water Softeners and Vacations
What to do with a water softener on vacation depends on the trip length. SoftPro says to leave it running for trips under two weeks, and to use bypass for longer absences, keeping bypass under 30 days.
Quick answer
- Under two weeks away: SoftPro says leave the softener running.
- Longer trips: put it in bypass, but SoftPro says keep bypass under 30 days.
- Metered valves rarely regenerate with no water use, except on a day override.
- Freezing risk or months away means draining, not bypass.
- On return: back to service, flush cold taps before hot-water appliances.
Short trips
For a week or two away, the simplest plan is to do nothing. SoftPro's advice is that a softener can be left running for absences under two weeks.
How the softener behaves while you are gone depends on its control type:
- Metered (demand) valves regenerate by the water used. With almost no water running, they count down very slowly, so they rarely regenerate during a short trip.
- Timer valves regenerate by days, whether or not anyone uses water, so they keep using salt while you are away.
On a Fleck 5600SXT, the day override (DO) setting is the maximum number of days allowed between regenerations, from Off to 99 days, according to Pentair's manual. Quality Water Treatment programs it at 14 days. So a metered valve with DO set will still regenerate once that many days pass, even in an empty house. Each of those regenerations uses salt and water as normal.
Before you leave, make sure the salt sits higher than the water in the tank. Somewhere between a quarter and half full is the usual target, though your manual's level wins. Look for a salt bridge too. The salt guide explains the level to aim for.
Longer absences
For trips longer than two weeks, SoftPro suggests engaging the bypass. That sends hard water around the softener so nothing moves through it and it does not regenerate. SoftPro also says to keep a softener in bypass for less than 30 days.
For absences longer than that, or anywhere that can freeze, the better choice is to shut the softener down properly. SoftPro's vacation-home advice goes further: empty the tanks, hoses and low points, keep a small amount of salt in the brine tank, and think about shutting off and draining the whole house. Our guide on how to drain a water softener walks through each tank.
To put the softener in bypass, see the bypass valve guide. On a Fleck plastic bypass, Quality Water Treatment says to rotate both knobs clockwise toward BYPASS until they lock. SoftPro adds a caution for any bypass: do not force a stuck handle, since that can crack the valve body.
Vacation mode on smart valves
Some newer control valves and apps offer an away or vacation setting. The sources behind this guide do not describe how any particular vacation mode works, so the valve's own manual is the place to check what it pauses and whether it still forces a regeneration.
If your valve has no vacation button, you can get the same result with settings you already have:
- Leave a metered valve running for short trips; low water use means few regenerations.
- Check the day override. It sets the longest gap between regenerations. Pentair's manual allows Off or 1 to 99 days, so look at what yours is set to before you change anything.
- Use the bypass for longer trips, within SoftPro's 30-day limit.
If you change a setting before leaving, write down the original value so you can put it back. The settings guide and the Fleck 5600SXT programming guide show where each setting lives. Skip any setting you do not understand; leaving the softener running is a safe default for a short trip.
Coming home
- Return the bypass to service. On a Fleck plastic bypass, rotate the knobs counter-clockwise and make sure they are fully open, or hard water can slip past.
- Flush the cold taps. SoftPro says to flush cold taps for a few minutes before running hot-water appliances.
- Check the clock. If the time of day is flashing, the Fleck manual says there was a power failure; press any button to stop the flashing and set the time.
- Top up the salt if it dropped while you were away.
- Regenerate after an outage. If the power was off while you were away, Quality Water Treatment advises running a manual regeneration and confirming the settings. A 5-second press of Extra Cycle on a 5600SXT starts one immediately. If the softener was drained, follow the restart steps in the draining guide instead.
If the water feels hard a few days later, compare a hardness test of the raw water with one of the softened water, as covered in is my water softener working?. For the routine jobs that follow, see the monthly and yearly checklist.
Common questions
Will my softener waste salt while the house is empty?
A timer valve regenerates on its schedule, so it keeps using salt. A metered valve uses very little, but it still regenerates when the day override is reached. Bypass stops regeneration for longer trips.
Why does SoftPro limit bypass to 30 days?
SoftPro gives the 30-day limit without detail. For longer absences, follow its vacation-home advice instead: drain the tanks, hoses and low points.
Is it worth unplugging the softener for a trip?
SoftPro's vacation advice does not include unplugging; it uses bypass or draining for longer trips. If you do unplug, the Fleck manual says the time of day flashes when power returns, so press any button and set the time.
What changes if a house-sitter is using water?
Nothing. With people in the house, leave the softener running in service as normal and make sure there is enough salt for the time you are away.
Before you go
More help: see our water softener guide.