"Travis Jordan" wrote in message
...
Doug Kanter wrote:
I don't have a water softener, but my GF's house does. Her water
tastes mildly salty (and makes awful tea), and it's next to
impossible to de-slime my hands after washing. They feel sticky, even
after a minute of rinsing in hot water. I'm convinced there's too
much chemical being added to the water. Are these two clues enough to
believe the system's out of whack and needs tweaking?

Conventional ( ionic exchange / saline brine) water softeners should
never be plumbed in the soft water line, because the sodium ions (the
salty taste) can be bad for you.

Most water softeners can't be adjusted in the classic sense. The best
solution to this problem is the replumb the softener so that it is in
the cold water inlet line to the water heater. You'll still get
softened water for clothes washing, showers, etc. and you'll fix the
taste and soap problems that you've been experiencing.



This makes sense.

I haven't known this woman long enough yet to start messing with her
plumbing. Not the METALLIC plumbing, at least. Now, I have to deal with
whether bringing bottled water will be seen as equivalent to not liking
someone's cooking. :-) Hmmm....maybe I'll tell her my doctor says my blood
pressure's a bit high, and he wants me to back off on my sodium intake.