A water treatment system, such as a water softener, is remotely operated and a method of remotely controlling a water treatment system. In a first embodiment, a method of detecting abnormal water usage within a water system associated with a water treatment system is provided. The method includes the steps of monitoring water usage associated with the water treatment system, determining whether the current water usage is above an alarm value, and sending an alarm notice in the event the current water usage is above the alarm value, and automatically taking predetermined action.