NA: Water softener or no?

[Rushie]

It's not the soft water that makes you feel slimy. It is the calcium and minerals in your skin from the hard water that causes. These are the same minerals that cause that yucky bathtub ring. The salt binds with that crud and removes it. That is why you won't have a bathtub ring with soft water. After a while, all the crud is flushed from you skin and you lose the slimy feeling. It really doesn't take long.

Does that mean the salt will bind with and remove all the hard water marks in my shower, on my dishes, faucets, etc?

 

[EdFred]

Wait. First you said the slimy feel was your skin without the calcium. Now you're saying it is slimy because of calcium.

Which is it, or did I read the posts wrong?

that "slimy" feeling you feel; that is your skin, without all the calcium sticking

It's not the soft water that makes you feel slimy. It is the calcium and minerals in your skin

 

[Joe_B1]

Agree with Andrew. My problem is the the in/out connections on the back of the softeners is industry standard to be in on the left side and out on the right as you look at the softener from the front. My house loop has the in on the right and the out on the left meaning I have to adapt with stainless hoses that cross each other. I wish someone made a unit that had in on the right and out on the left. If anyone knows of an adapter or a softener with reversed connections I'd really like to know. My softener is 20 years old and needs replaced.

Use PEX and cross it.

 

[Joe_B1]

If you can't deal with excess sodium chloride, you can substitute potassium chloride.

 

[JOhnH]

Wait. First you said the slimy feel was your skin without the calcium. Now you're saying it is slimy because of calcium.

Which is it, or did I read the posts wrong?

Either I am not explaining it properly, (which is the most probable situation) or you are trying to not understand.

that "slimy" feeling you feel; that is your skin, without all the calcium sticking

It's not the soft water that makes you feel slimy. It is the calcium and minerals in your skin

The soap binds with the calcium to form soap curds, like you see in a bathtub ring.
Once all that calcium is removed from your skin (by the soft water), the soap no longer forms those curds and you don't have the slimy feeling.

 

[JOhnH]

Does that mean the salt will bind with and remove all the hard water marks in my shower, on my dishes, faucets, etc?

Eventually, yes. And "eventually" does not mean forever. But it is a process that depends on the severity of the scaling on you dishes and faucets.

 

[JOhnH]

If you can't deal with excess sodium chloride, you can substitute potassium chloride.

True. I looked into that and found that Potassium Chloride cost about 4 times what sodium chloride costs. I didn't think the cost difference was worth the minuscule sodium difference. Perhaps if I was a fringe medical case, that would make sense for me.

 

[Coinneach]

I have a whole-house softener with RO in the kitchen and I freaking love it. My cats and plants love it. My car and bike love it (two-bucket method from the RO). One bag of crystals every month and a half, and one annual service visit. Best improvement I've ever made to my house.

 

[Zeldman]

Go deeper with the well. My well is 750 feet deep and my water is so pure that running it through a ZERO water filter does not change the PPM reading.

I don't have a filter and it is just as soft as can be and everyone loves the taste.

My moms well, well it is very hard water, not very good tasting even after going through a couple filters and a softener. I bought her a ZERO filter pitcher for drinking water. Now the dog is spoiled and won't drink tap water unless it is filtered...

With soft water, the sodium and potassium allow the soap to mix with the water, so it instantly lathers better. What everyone assumes is soap not rinsing off is actually their skins own naturally hydration instead of scummy residue.

 

[Sac Arrow]

https://homewater101.com/myth-water-softeners-make-water-salty

If you actually read the article, the title is very misleading. They cite a calcium removal level that is inconsequential to start with to justify their main point, and advocate RO as a way to reduce sodium to address everything else.

 

[Clip4]

The amount of salt added to even extremely hard water is about like eating one of those baby pickles per day. If one feels that adding a baby pickle to their daily diet is detrimental to their health, then avoid getting a softener or add an RO unit to the drinking water tap. There is likely 2-3 times as much salt a single slice of ham than what a softener will add to a day's worth of drinking water.

I'm not an expert, but this is my understanding.

There is no salt added to the water. The salt works with basically a flush cycle that introduces a brine solution to remove the deposits captured by the resin tank. The brine solution is flushed from the resin tank and not residual salt remains.

 

[Sac Arrow]

There is no salt added to the water. The salt works with basically a flush cycle that introduces a brine solution to remove the deposits captured by the resin tank. The brine solution is flushed from the resin tank and not residual salt remains.

??

The whole point of an ion exchange system is to replace calcium ions with sodium ions in the treated water. It is the precipitated calcium that is removed in the flush cycle. The reason for replacing calcium with sodium is that sodium does not leave evaporated deposits in a hard crust form.