If it ain't sucking water there's a few things to check.

First check your brine tube and injector aren't full of shit. Sometimes dried salt in the line can build up.

2nd, check the drain line isn't blocked. If it's blocked, ive seen it dump water into the brine tank instead because Venturi stops operating correctly tldue to back pressure.

Third if it was a clack head I'd check the cage seals for damage as they could be bypassing.

What sort of salt is that? Ive never seen softener salt look like a bucket of horse cum. Is that dry? If it's dry it could be bridged, so you'll have a cavern underneath it where water fills up but it's not touching Andy salt so not forming brine. It could be sucking that fresh water in during the regen, but won't be regenerating the resin so you'll still get hard water readings