Most softener trouble starts small. A seep at a fitting, a brine level that drops faster than it used to, or a drain line that has shifted can sit for weeks before anyone notices. A monthly walk around the unit takes a few minutes and tells you whether the system is still doing its job. This is not a repair job. It is a look, a few readings, and a short note.
Check the floor and the joints
Look at the floor under and around the tank, the valve connections, and the inlet and outlet fittings. A dry paper towel is the easy test. Wrap it around each joint, leave it for a few minutes, and check for dampness or a tide line. A ring of crusty residue on a fitting usually means water has been escaping slowly. Note where you found anything, even if it looks dry today.
Read the brine level
Open the brine tank and look at the salt. You want to see water under the salt, not dry salt sitting above nothing and not a solid crust. Note roughly how far down the level sits compared with last month. A steady drop is normal use. A sudden drop, or salt that has hardened into a solid mass, is a reason to look at the brine line and the float before you add anything.
Look at the drain line
Trace the drain hose from the valve to where it empties. Confirm it is still secured, that it has an air gap at the drain, and that it is not kinked or sitting in standing water. Check the end for slime or fine sediment. You do not need to test flow. You only need to see whether the line looks the way it did when it was installed.
Confirm the valve and the display
Make sure the control valve is in service mode and not in bypass. Check that the clock shows the correct time, which can reveal a power interruption. Compare the regeneration settings with the printed copy from your installer. If anything differs, write it down, but do not change settings to see what happens.
Keep the log
Write a short note for each walk: what you saw, the approximate salt level, and anything you adjusted or reported. A phone note or a notebook works. Over several months the log shows trends that a single look cannot, such as a salt level that keeps falling faster than usual. Decide who does the walk before you need it, because a log nobody keeps tells you nothing. If you find a leak or a drain problem, record it, then use the buyer's guide to decide what happens next: The Missouri Water Softener Buyer's Guide.