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Water Softeners, good or bad??

Hi

I have been researching water softeners and was able to find many benefits but no real negatives other than initial cost, installation,or maintenance.

Any information good/bad would be helpful. Thanks.

Reply to
Martin Hirsch
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Drinking, showering with salty water. But I don't know the concentration involved.

Reply to
m Ransley

Actually water softeners use salt to remove calcium from the water. They do not leave noticable amounts of salt in the treated water.

Mike

Reply to
Mike Stewart

its enough to be of concern to people watching their salt intake. what ive seen done is what they call a 1/2 and 1/2. put the hot water on the softener and make it a little softer than normal. dishes, laundry, showering, etc will get the benefit. OR... put the whole system on the softener EXCEPT the cold tap in the kitchen and the ice maker/water tap if the fridge has one.

there are other softening agents besides salt that you can use, but salt is the cheapest and the others have their drawbacks also. you can also buy a softener that uses no consumables at all, but it uses electricity and they are expensive...

randy

Reply to
xrongor

Water softeners are great! We love ours. We have our entire house on softened water. They do, however, increase salt intake. It is fairly minimal, but it may not be good for those on a low sodium diet. Check with your doctor.

I have heard recently that potassium chloride salt is made for use in water softeners, specifically for people on restricted sodium diets. I've never seen potassium chloride being sold in Home Depots or Lowes, but you apparently can get it from salt suppliers. You just have to call around. I think it's a little more expensive than sodium chloride and I don't know if there are any special requirements or modifications to be made on the softener equipment to use potassium chloride.

Good luck!

maintenance.

Reply to
rdkapp

"Martin Hirsch" wrote

maintenance.

I installed a softener even though we have city water, simply because I love having soft water.

Benefits are, you get a smoother shave if you shave with a straight razor. You use less soap for laundry etc. You use less toothpaste, believe it or not because of the foaming you get from soft water. My coffee tastes better from my drip coffee maker. You get more lather from your bar of soap of for a bubble bath, or washing your car, or shampoo lather. I actually feel cleaner when taking a shower with soft water than without.

I don't believe it puts salt into your water, if so it must be minimum because you can't taste it. And I still get ice cubes from the freezer.

One thing about having a softener, it spoils you. On those travel days staying away from home, you sure notice how hard the water is, makes getting back home that more enjoyable.

Reply to
Ned

Another thing....if you're adding a softener to a home water system that has existed for many years and you live in a hard water area, your pipes will have hard water buildup inside them. As the soft water travels through the pipes, it will pick up hard water minerals and make the water "less soft" than if you had new pipes. Our home (and pipes) are 34 years old. I added the softener when the pipes were approximately 26 years old. I've noticed that newer homes with softeners have softer water than I have in my home, but it's still an improvement and I wouldn't do without it in any home that I reside.

maintenance.

Reply to
rdkapp

If yoo're an environmentalist, you might be concerned about flushing all that salt into the water whenever the unit recharges.

the sodium in softened drinking water can be harmful to your health.

If you do decide on a softener, just soften the cold water that feeds your water heater.

Reply to
Anonymous

If you have your water tested at the tap, then set your softener accordingly, it should make up for any hardness at the tap, shouldn't it?

Reply to
Curt Martin

If you have your softener at the tap, then yes, you are correct. However, if your softener is at the main valve (like mine) or any location where you are trying to soften water throughout your home, then as the softened water travels through the existing pipe containing mineral buildup, it will be picking up minerals (which makes water "hard") along the way and thus, will become "less soft."

Reply to
rdkapp

Sears sells potassium salt for softeners (about $7.50/40 lb. bag)

Reply to
Bram Sorgman

Depending on the plumbing involved, a possibly simple solution may be to have a hard water faucet for drinking water.

Reply to
Alan

Sears Hardware in CT sells 40lb potassium chloride for $6.29 a bag. Homedepot also has it but at close to $9 a bag. A couple of side notes to new water softeners users- reduce the amount of soap when washing clothes and dishes. Especially automatic dishwashers. And don't use the temp boost or else you will permanently etch your glasses with spots. If you are installing a new softener, or you have not used yours in a few months be prepared for a crap load of debris to exit the faucets for the first few days. Resist temptation to wipe the crystals from a ceramic glazed sink or tub as you will only end up scratching the heck out of the finish as these crystals are very hard. Get a softener that has a demand feature. It determines the regeneration rate based on actual usage as opposed to presetting the time between regenerations based on average conditions.

Reply to
tomcas

Hi, Whole house on softner. What kind of plumber plumbs house like that? Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

All of them, if they didn't plan on a softener when the house was built. Most don't. The solution is to put in an RO after the softener for drinking water.

Reply to
Greg

Other than increased salt intake, which is minimal (I can't taste the salt), what's wrong with the whole house being on softened water?

A hard water faucet for drinking water or a reverse osmosis on drinking water are good alternatives.

Reply to
rdkapp

"Martin Hirsch" wrote in news:M%hIc.34965$oh.8826@lakeread05:

You'll get many opinions on this. Here's mine...

When we moved to central AZ where the water is very hard, we bought a new home which had a water softener installed. The entire water system within the house was fed from the softener, the only exceptions being the outdoor taps. From this experience we determined that we really didn't like the feel or taste of soft water. It wasn't a matter of getting used to it, as we spent nearly five years in that house.

We are currently in a rental with no softener and I'm glad.

Having said that, when we build another home I will specify a water softener to feed a separate water heater that provides hot water only to the dishwasher and to the clothes washer, as well as a cold water line to the clothes washer. We do not like or want softened water both bathing, cooking, or drinking. I will also specify an RO unit to feed a tap at the kitchen sink and to the icemaker in the freezer.

The benefits of soft water for dishwashering and clothes washing are amazing. Our comfort level for any other purpose is -0-.

Reply to
Wayne

Here they build houses ready for softener hook up. Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hi, I guess outside tap as well, Eh? Tony

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Many people, including myself, much prefer the clean you get on yourself with softened water as well as the cleaner tub, shower or sink. When my water heater was drained after several years use with no draining, the water was almost completely clear and crud free. Toilets work much better than ones supplied by hard water.

Reply to
Alan

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