Potassium or Salt water softener pellets?

[leech~~]

Just put in a new water softener which we have not had one for the last 5 years after the old one died. 

Saw a few reports on Potassium pellets that are suppose to be a lot healthier for you over salt. But at like 3-4 times the cost you may die paying for them!

Anyone else using Potassium over salt and do you notice any differences in water softness or taste over salt?

[delcecchi]

I use nacl.  Water from softer doesn't have that much sodium, typically.  And you can drink hard water if your blood pressure and kidneys are that bad.

[RebelSS]

Who can drink soft water??! ACK!  Yer cold water faucet in kitchen and outside spigots should not be soft.....so said my uncle, the master plumber. Mine aren't. Just the hot water......

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, RebelSS said:

Who can drink soft water??! ACK!  Yer cold water faucet in kitchen and outside spigots should not be soft.....so said my uncle, the master plumber. Mine aren't. Just the hot water......

That is how my house is plumbed as well. No outside or cold in kitchen.

[roony]

We have soft cold water in the kitchen but we have a separate cold water faucet for our drinking water, I grew up drinking our hard well water and nothing else tastes quite right. 

 

[Dotch]

Ditto. Need to change the filter every once in a while here or it starts to taste yucky but after that, it's as good as it gets. Icemaker is on the same line. 

[delcecchi]

Absolutely, if you have a problem with sodium or can taste a difference then drinking hard water is a great solution.

[leechlake]

I'd use the normal stuff and go to a chiropractor if you have any ill effects from it.  That's what Del does

 

[Dotch]

You turkey! I just spit hard water all over the screen! 

[Tom7227]

The salt doesn't come in contact with the water that comes through the house.  The salt is used to make brine which is used to flush out the resin tank when the unit recharges.  The resin tank is flushed with fresh water extensively during the recycling.   If you are concerned about consuming salt what do you think about consuming potassium? 

[RebelSS]

But then we know that. Just don't drink the Atlantic water while on vacation, as that will give you a bellyache, make ya barf, and leave white rings around yer mouth.  

[leech~~]

19 minutes ago, Tom7227 said:

The salt doesn't come in contact with the water that comes through the house.  The salt is used to make brine which is used to flush out the resin tank when the unit recharges.  The resin tank is flushed with fresh water extensively during the recycling.   If you are concerned about consuming salt what do you think about consuming potassium? 

Thanks Tom, was just trying to get feed back if people thought that the potassium did any better job then salt for the higher cost? We only drink water from the soften kitchen water. 

Edited April 11, 2016 by leech~~

[RebelSS]

Leech, ya got me thinking...found this on a major manufacturer of water softener's page....

8. What kind of salt do you recommend using and do your softeners also use Potassium Chloride in place of salt?

We recommend buying salt for your water softener that is very clean; around the 99.5% salt content and up. All softeners can use Potassium Chloride in place of salt. Potassium Chloride tends to melt when it gets wet, sometimes forming a “bridge” inside the salt tank, so we recommend filling the Brine tank only halfway or a bit more when using Potassium Chloride, so you can easily monitor it going down inside the tank after the unit regenerates.

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[delcecchi]

15 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

Thanks Tom, was just trying to get feed back if people thought that the potassium did any better job then salt for the higher cost? We only drink water from the soften kitchen water. 

It doesn't soften the water better, if that is what you mean.  The only reason for using potassium is if you are somehow sensitive to sodium because of kidney issues or possibly high blood pressure.   

Water is hard because it has stuff, primarily calcium, that react with soap and make scum, or leave insoluble deposits.  Replacing the Calcium with Sodium or Potassium prevents both from happening.  But the is a belief that too much sodium in your diet is bad for health.  Too much potassium probably is too, but doesn't seem to be a concern so much.  So swapping potassium for sodium reduces your intake of sodium which is the bad part of salt.   Many salt substitutes contain potassium chloride which tastes a lot like salt. 

Is  there some reason you think you need to reduce sodium intake? 

[Tom7227]

So you would be substituting potassium chloride for sodium chloride.  I'm not a chemist so I don't know what the differences are in the two types of chloride. Might be important to know from a health standpoint.

But I still don't think that there is much - as in hardly none - of the stuff in the water you consume.  The chloride allows ions from it to transfer to other ions that are in the stuff that is attached to the resin in the small tank in the water softener.  When that happens the stuff like iron and calcium are released from the resin and are flushed out and down the drain during the cycling of the water softener.  The tail end of that process involves a flush of water through the resin tank and into the sewer.  That should remove all the sodium or potassium chloride that is left in the resin tank.  The water you drink/use in your house does not go through the salt reservoir of the water softener.  It goes through the resin tank - the small tank that you can see if you look in the salt part of the tank.

I just can't see how it would make a difference which product you used in terms of what you are consuming.

[swamptiger]

The way I understand it the only purpose of the salt (or potassium) is to clean the resin beads in the resin tank.  The resin beads filter the water, and remove the minerals in the water to make it "soft".  The resin tank is periodically cleaned with brine water from the brine tank, and backflushed with well water, and the salt is washed down the drain.  If the water softener is working properly, there should be little to no salt in the water at the tap.

[leech~~]

6 hours ago, Tom7227 said:

So you would be substituting potassium chloride for sodium chloride.  I'm not a chemist so I don't know what the differences are in the two types of chloride. Might be important to know from a health standpoint.

But I still don't think that there is much - as in hardly none - of the stuff in the water you consume.  The chloride allows ions from it to transfer to other ions that are in the stuff that is attached to the resin in the small tank in the water softener.  When that happens the stuff like iron and calcium are released from the resin and are flushed out and down the drain during the cycling of the water softener.  The tail end of that process involves a flush of water through the resin tank and into the sewer.  That should remove all the sodium or potassium chloride that is left in the resin tank.  The water you drink/use in your house does not go through the salt reservoir of the water softener.  It goes through the resin tank - the small tank that you can see if you look in the salt part of the tank.

I just can't see how it would make a difference which product you used in terms of what you are consuming.

Was just trying to keep informed with a new system. I read that potassium chloride is better for your health because your body needs and does not retain potassium like it does sodium and the whole environmentally friendly thing.

But at the cost I went with sodium. Screw my health and the environmentally!

Thanks for the replies.

[RebelSS]

Good man, leech. Concerning yer health, yer gonna get killed by the following things anyway, salt, cholesterol, sugars, fat, smoked meats, lunch meats, sweets, breads, corn syrup, butter, alcohol, preservatives, flavor enhancers, sodium nitrites, pesticide residues in fruit, mercury filled fish, and stupid people. So eat what ya want in moderation. Some skinny, healthy, food nut will probably run ya over in his Prius on the way to the health food store anyway.

[leech~~]

7 minutes ago, RebelSS said:

Good man, leech. Concerning yer health, yer gonna get killed by the following things anyway, salt, cholesterol, sugars, fat, smoked meats, lunch meats, sweets, breads, corn syrup, butter, alcohol, preservatives, flavor enhancers, sodium nitrites, pesticide residues in fruit, mercury filled fish, and stupid people. So eat what ya want in moderation. Some skinny, healthy, food nut will probably run ya over in his Prius on the way to the health food store anyway.

You forgot Liberals!

[RebelSS]

I'm not awake yet, leech...* **   *  !   *yawn*