Whirlpool WHES30 Water Softener

PLease help!! I was going to add more salt to our softener..but when I opened the lid..the tank is 1/2 full of water! The salt in there is below level 1..so it needs salt...but I don't know why there is so much water in it! I cleaned the venturi part and poked a handle down into the water and moved some of the salt around. I looked at the manual and it said to lift the float valve up and push the float under the water then run a regeneration and it will suck up the water..but all its doing is ADDING more water..its now at level 5 on the water. Now what???