Water softeners are so common that most people never give them a second thought…but they should. Water softener safety is becoming a nationwide concern. An increasing number of states and municipalities have banned or are considering banning installations of new water softeners.
This Article examines some of the realities of water softeners.
What is a Water softener?
Water softeners are systems that remove hard minerals in water—most commonly calcium and magnesium—and replace them with soft minerals, like potassium or salt. Water softeners use a process called ion exchange,
A normal water softening system includes two tanks. The first tank contains a bed of resin. As water flows over and through the resin, the hard minerals exchange places with the sodium in the resin. After a couple of days, the resin loses its sodium, so the system goes through a recharging process, called regeneration, so the system can return to effectively softening water. This is where the second tank comes in. It contains salt and water.
Why worry about hard water?
Concerns about hard water are mostly based on personal preference.
From a health standpoint, most doctors and medical establishments recognize the benefits of drinking water with calcium and magnesium. Calcium and Magnesium in Drinking Water, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241563550, Cheregi DC, et al. , Exploring the Potential Benefits of Natural Calcium-Rich Mineral Waters for Health and Wellness: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2023 Jul 13;15(14):3126. doi: 10.3390/nu15143126. PMID: 37513544; PMCID: PMC10384676.
Softened water is not healthy to drink—not only for sodium-sensitive, hypertensive patients, but also for healthy people as well. For hypertensive people on a low-sodium diet, softened water contains sodium. But softened water may also contain metals (such as lead and copper), which leach from the metal pipes, faucets, and soldered joints of the pipes.
Why does softened water contain metals? Softened water contains metals because water is a universal solvent. When water is heated or softened, it is more prone to leach metals from water pipes and other parts of the indoor plumbing system. Copper in pipes, lead in soldered joints, and metal faucets are especially vulnerable to heated or softened water. Thus, in addition to containing sodium, softened water may have lead, copper, and other metals.
So why do people soften water?
Hard water is that it contains an overabundance of minerals, especially calcium and magnesium. These minerals can cause household problems. Soap doesn’t lather as well in hard water. It can leave dishes spotty, laundry dingy, and hair dull.
Extremely high levels of hard minerals in the water can cause scale to build up in your plumbing system and hot water tank. This can reduce their life expectancy. It also makes your hot water tank less efficient.
Are water softeners bad for the environment?
Yes, water softeners are bad for the environment. Salt-based water softening systems contribute to two environmental problems:
1. Salt buildup in aquatic environments – Water softeners regenerate every couple of days. During the regeneration process, softeners release chloride salts (such as sodium chloride) into the environment. This adversely affects rivers, streams and aquifers, especially in areas that are already suffering from high concentrations of salts due to road salt application, agricultural runoff, and other sources.
This salty discharge ends up in our drinking water. It places an enormous burden on our municipal water treatment facilities. Bi J, Zhao Y. Saline Wastewater: Characteristics and Treatment Technologies. Molecules. 2023 Feb 8;28(4):1622. doi: 10.3390/molecules28041622. PMID: 36838610; PMCID: PMC9960142.
In general, higher salinity in the wastewater increases the treatment costs and reduces the potential for reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation and industrial purposes.
There are several problems associated with brine and minerals discharge into the sewage-treatment system, as follows:
- Higher wastewater-treatment costs—It has been estimated by one municipal sewage-treatment plant that it costs about U.S.$0.20 to add a pound of salt (NaCl) to the water-softening system, but it would cost 25 times that amount, at U.S.$5.00, to remove that much chloride at the treatment plant. (A typical household uses up to 100 pounds of salt per month for water softening. Most chloride in the sewage treatment comes from residential water softeners, while a small amount comes from soaps, detergents, and other cleaning products—particularly laundry products.) One California sanitation district in Los Angeles County estimated that it would cost at least U.S.$300 million just to build an additional treatment facility to perform microfiltration to remove chloride from the treated wastewater, with approximately 50% of this infrastructural cost going to install a 46-mile pipe (called “brine line”) on land to connect this city to the Pacific Ocean so as to transport that extra salt waste to the Pacific Ocean, and then to build another three-mile underwater pipe at the ocean. It is important to transport the extra salt not just to the beach of the Pacific Ocean, but to the outer ocean (at least three miles away from land), so that this additional salt will not affect the local marine life by increasing the salinity of seawater.
- High levels of dissolved sodium and other minerals in the treated wastewater—highly saline treated wastewater containing high levels of dissolved chloride and sulfate. High levels of these minerals will affect a sewage-treatment agency’s ability to comply with state and federal discharge standards. Generally, wastewater-treatment plants remove very little of the dissolved salts and minerals because they are primarily designed to remove grit and detritus, grease/oil, and organic solids (e.g., food and human waste)—and not designed for chloride removal. For these other types of wastes, they can be removed by settling (in sedimentation basins) and biological degradation; but chloride cannot be removed using these treatment methods. Again, to remove the additional chloride at sewage-treatment plant via microfiltration would be prohibitively expensive for many towns and cities.
- Salt is a major pollutant—in many states (including California), salt is considered a pollutant when discharged into the environment. As we know, when hardness or salinity rises, soaps and detergents become less effective, home appliances and plumbing wear out faster, and water-heating systems become less energy efficient due to scaling. When discharged with treated wastewater into rivers and lakes, chloride (Cl-) can harm aquatic life and damage agricultural crops by causing leaf burn of drying of leaf tissue, thus reducing crop yields.
- When excess chloride and sodium ions are discharged with treated wastewater, the reusability of this treated wastewater is reduced. As discussed previously, when treated effluent is discharged into surface waters (e.g., rivers), downstream farmers may fear the use of high-chloride river water for irrigation. Crops such as strawberries and avocados are salt-sensitive and chloride-sensitive.
2. Overuse of water supplies – The system uses water to flush itself out regularly in a process called regeneration. The EPA estimates that atypical water softener uses 25 gallons per day, or up to 10,000 gallons per year!
To combat these problems, the EPA has enacted water quality standards that limit the amount of chloride that water treatment plants are allowed to release into the environment. Many communities are now finding that their facilities are unable to handle the volume of salt coming in – hence the water softener bans.
As a conscious parent, should you be concerned about water softener safety? And, are there any health risks associated with conventionally softened water?
If you or your kids suffer from skin problems that won’t go away, take note: some people with sensitive skin have reported rashes and itchiness from treated water.
Keep in mind, too, that the USDA has determined that drinking water is a small but significant source of dietary minerals in most areas. Tap water provides on average 6% of the US RDA for calcium and 5% for magnesium (assuming a water intake of 2 liters per day.)
For some people, this could be enough to tip the balance into deficiency if this source is removed without offsetting supplements.
So, is there an alternative to ion exchange water softeners?
YES there is a safe alternative and Pure Way has the best. be aware that there are a number of alternatives on the market. Some of these include:
Pure Ways Salt-free Water Conditioning System – Pure Way’s Salt-Free Conditioning System does not actually remove the calcium and magnesium from your water. Instead, it passes the water through a its proprietary filter which crystalizes them in a process called Nucleation Crystallization Process or NAC.
Once the Pure Way Salt Free System crystalizes the calcium and magnesium, they can no longer stick to your faucets pipes or water heater. They can’t form hard water spots anymore.
Water from a Pure Way system feels as if it’s naturally soft, but the calcium and magnesium are still there for our bodies to use.
Pure Way’s salt free conditioning does not require salt, does not create any harmful discharge and does not waste any water. It’s safe for the environment and safe for your family.
Contact Pure Way now to protect your family by upgrading your water treatment.
