The house we moved in to has a three year old Culligan Medalist softener. It appears to be working well. I just noticed today upon adding a bag of salt that the water level looked higher then I ever remembered seeing it. I took the red cover off the tube that extends down through the salt and noticed the water level was even higher in the tube then in the tank where the salt is kept. I pulled up the black tube with the float on it and it was stuck in the up position. This I guess this is some sort of check valve that rests on the bottom of the tube that goes through the brine solution. It's obvious the brine solution is drawn through this black tube that goes down to the bottom of the brine tank. My question is about the function of the metal rod with the white foam float that extends down to the bottom of this brine draw tube. What is the purpose of this valve type mechanism? I was able to push down firmly enough on the rod to break it free and get the whole mechanism moving freely. It was stuck in the up position and I'm thinking this is what caused the water level to be so high. I then ran a regeneration and everything worked fine. However after the regeneration was done the water refill did not come up high enough to push the float up. Is the system suppose to put enough water back in to push the float up and actuate the valve after every regeneration?