Should I drink softened water

[rgoldste]

Except for the outside faucets, all the water in my house runs through a water softener. The water we drink, i.e the cold water from the faucet in the sink, the ice cube maker in the fridge as well as a hot water dispenser on the sink all run through a Doulton filter. Should I bypass the water softener and run the drinking water directly to the filter? I have read conflicting statements about the health aspects of drinking softened water? Thanks, Richard

[Oren]

No.

Conflicts? Buying bottle water at a store is just softened with an RO systems.

My pets drink soft water, none have died from it.

YMMV

[Frank]

If in good health and not requiring a low sodium diet, softened water should be OK.

[ransley]

If you have no problems with the extra salt you get drink it, I stay away from salt.

[JimT]

If your s/w is setup right there is less salt in your water than there is in milk but if you're on a sodium restricted diet you should avoid it anyway.

I don't drink s/w because of the taste. I run the s/w though a ro filter.

Jim

[Steve B]

Ditto here. We have a dispenser on the kitchen sink that comes from an RO unit. But in the bathroom, sometimes I need to take meds, so will use that tap water. Definitely a difference, but for half a cup, no biggie. I would not drink softened water in any quantities, or use it for anything important, like beer making.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend.

[Ed Pawlowski]

wrote

So you came to this group to resolve the conflicts. Thank you for the confidence you have on the folks here to get the right answers!

[Robert Neville]

In most cases, softened water contains between 40-80mg of sodium per litre. To put that in context, ask yourself how many litres of tap water you drink a day and consider that a single slice of white bread contains between 150-200mg of sodium and a can of chicken noodle soup can conatin over 500mg of sodium.