While you can get five or ten years out of your water softener without cleaning it, you are going to get more life out of your water softener with annual cleaning. You’ll have to empty your water softener tank in order to clean it. Make sure that you shut off the intake valve so that the water coming into the tank doesn’t start pouring out into the room. 

Use a siphon to pull out the water in the tank, then throw away any salt that is inside by disposing of it properly. Use a mixture of water and bleach to clean the tank, rinse it thoroughly several times to make sure there is no soap or bleach left in the tank.

Once you have rinsed out your water softener tank several times, fill up your tank with fresh water. Put in the required amount of salt, and your water softener will be ready to work once again.