A softener is meant to remove hardness, not to make water taste like seawater. When the water at a particular tap starts tasting salty, the cause is usually in how the unit is set or how the plumbing reaches that tap. The fix is often simple, but only after you find the source.
Find out which taps get softened water
Many homes split their supply so some taps run through the softener and others bypass it, often the outside hose spigot and sometimes the cold line to the kitchen sink. Before you blame the unit, trace the cold line you are tasting from. If the salty water comes only from a tap fed by the softener while another cold tap tastes normal, you are looking at a plumbing layout question, not a softener fault. Ask the installer which lines are softened and whether any drinking water was intentionally left unsoftened.
Compare the hardness setting with a water test
A softener set to remove more hardness than your water actually contains will regenerate more often than it needs to, and the water can come out over-softened with more sodium than expected. Hardness setting is an input you can check against the test your provider ran at install or a more recent test. If the setting sits far above what the test shows, the control is working harder than it should, which means more salt going into the water. Write down the setting and the test value you compared it against, so the next person who looks does not have to start from zero.
Look for regeneration at the wrong times or too often
Cycles that repeat more often than your household's water use would explain, or that run at hours when nobody is drawing water, point to a control set for the wrong capacity or a unit counting water it should not. Check the display or any controller history it keeps. If the cycles look wrong, ask the provider whether the meter, the schedule, or the capacity setting is correct. Do not change dosing or regeneration values yourself unless the manual or the installer names the exact value to use.
Check the brine tank as well as the taste
Salt type and salt level both affect how well brine reaches the resin. Salt that is the wrong type, or that has been packed into a solid crust, can cause poor regeneration, so the unit wastes salt, leaves hardness behind, and may taste strange at the same time. Use the salt type the manufacturer specifies, and do not fill past the tank's marked line. While you are at the tank, note whether salt is bridging or sitting unevenly, since that affects the whole cycle.
Ask about sodium before you need the answer
Softening replaces hardness minerals with sodium, so the amount of added sodium depends on how much hardness is removed. A salty taste can mean the sodium increase is larger than you expected. If anyone in the home watches sodium intake, ask the doctor or pharmacist what the added sodium means for them, and ask the installer for the expected sodium increase at your tested hardness. Also confirm whether a sodium figure is part of any water test you are comparing.
What to write down and when to call
Record which tap tastes salty, the hardness setting, the test value you compared it against, the regeneration times you observed, and any changes to salt type or level. Bring that list to the provider. Call sooner if the salty taste is strong at a tap that should be unsoftened, if regeneration seems to run every day or through the night, or if the control shows an error code. A salty taste that persists after the setting matches the test points to the unit or its plumbing, and that calls for a professional look rather than more trial and error.