On Tue, 13 Jul 2004 05:24:27 GMT, Wayne wrote:

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

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.




You'll get many opinions on this. Here's mine...
snippity
The benefits of soft water for dishwashering and clothes washing are
amazing. Our comfort level for any other purpose is -0-.

While i don't dispute that some people dislike softened water, i think
there are many comfort level benefits other than for your appliances.

As you say, many opinions... so here's another. I know the OP said he
already read about the pros and was just looking for cons but it makes
more sence to re-iterate them all. And remember that hard/soft water
is a scale. So one person's hard water won't be as bad/good as
another person's.

Pros:
- Saves your appliances, pipes, showeheads, and faucets. Anything
that has water running through it, and especially if it involves
heating, will end up with that hard water buildup over time.
Sometimes it's visible but sometimes it's in the internal piping and
you won't know about it until it completely blockes waterflow or
bursts a pipe. I don't think any one disputes that softened water is
better for your appliances. But this extends to your taps, and even
the inside of your bathtub and toilet. You know the CLR commercials
that advertize how CLR will remove that calcium buildup from your
bathtub faucet. Well with a water softener you won't get the buildup.
Same goes for toilets. So any pipe, cold or hot, benefits from a
water softener. Just doing the hot water isn't a full solution.

- Much easier on the skin. I don't know the technical reasons for
this but softened water is much 'softer' on your skin. I guess it has
something to do with what minerals are left as the water evaporates.
Hard water tends to leave a dry and itchy sensation on some people.
Softened water doesn't.

- Easier to use with soap. Soft water allows soap/detergent/shampoo
to lather. In hard water you will have a hell of a time getting a
good lather with shampoo or a bar of soap. And if you do dishes in
the sink you'll really notice the difficulty. I've been told that
soft water is much easier on the clothes, meaning they won't wear out
or fade as fast in the washer. I don't know if this is because of the
soft water itself or because you can use less detergent than you would
have to with hard water.

- Makes better tea/coffee. I haven't tested this but it's usually in
the literature for softeners. OR maybe it's just because with hard
water the inside of your coffee/tea maker is already filled with
deposits which flake off when you make your next cup.

Cons:
- Cost, maintenance. Water softeners can be expensive. A more
expensive unit will regenerate less often usually due both to having
more resin and being more sophisticated in determining when it needs
to, instead of just doing it regardless every X days . Better ones
also use less water to regenerate, and use less salt to regenerate.
Other than the inital cost I've had no problems. I buy three 35KG
bags of salt a year at $7Canadian a bag. No other mainteance required
so far.

- Possible sodium intake. Some people think water softeners soften
the water by adding salt. That's not true. The resin removes the
minerals and when the unit 'recharges' it washes the resin with the
salt brine. Some, but not a lot, of salt is left in the resin and
therefore filters it's way into the softened water. As some peopel
said you can use potassium chloride if you are on a low sodium diet.
Or just get a separate hard water tap sent to the kitchen sink for
drinking water. That's what I do. My entire house is softened except
for the kitchen drinking tap and the outside taps.

- Washing soap OFF! Softened water makes soap lather much better.
BUt it also makes it nearly impossible to get the last of that slick
soapy feeling off your hands. It's not horrendously bad but after
doing dishes and rinsing my hands off i usually run them under the
hard drinking water tap for the final rince. I can notice the
difference. Some shampo brands are worse than others when in the
shower too.


Gad that's a long post. The only unavoidable con is if you really
really dislike how hard it is to completely rinse the soap off while
in the shower. But the itchy dry skin feeling from hard water is,
IMHO, much worse so i live with it. Just start using Zest if it
annoys you. Because 'Zest rinses you fully clean" :-)

Kevin