The Truth Behind Water Softener Myths

It is not uncommon to have new questions in regards to water softeners, even after purchasing one.  At times we have some of our loyal customers with questions brought up friends or families. We’ve summed up our answers to these questions.

Myth #1 –  Water softeners add lots of salt to your water. Water softeners operate on an ion exchange process. Calcium and magnesium salts which cause scale are replaced with other salts that do not.  Basically, it’s a salt exchange.  Most people who are on sodium restricted diets find they can have softened water.  Compare, an 8-ounce glass of milk may have 150 milligrams of sodium.  The same 8 ounces of softened City of Austin water might have only 60 milligrams.

Myth #2 –  Removing calcium and magnesium by water softening will deprive your body of necessary nutrients. Minerals in your water are in an inorganic form that your body cannot digest. Think of it like ingesting dissolved rock. Your body would simply pass what it cannot digest. The majority of all nutrients your body needs will come from foods and nutritional supplements.

Myth #3 –  Salt-free systems work the same as a typical water softener that uses salt.  Companies that represent these products promote them as scale inhibitors. Their claim is they will decrease the scale that builds up in appliances. Unfortunately, most of these companies offer no validated laboratory testing to confirm their claims. The best way to remove mineral hardness is by ion exchange water softening!

Myth #4 – You can never rinse the soap off in softened water. Soap rinses faster in soft water. When calcium and magnesium in hard water combine with soap it creates a sticky soap curd that plugs the pores of your skin. This stops the natural flow of body oils providing what some people refer to as a squeaky clean feeling. Water softening removes the debris that plugs your pores naturally allowing your body oils to come to the surface. This helps leave your skin soft and smooth naturally.

Myth #5 – Drinking purified water from a reverse osmosis system can leach essential minerals from your body.  Nothing can be purged from your body by drinking purified Reverse Osmosis water. The EPA actually recommends R.O. systems to treat many water concerns.