RV Water Softener

[OnBarrowedTime]

We pick up our new RV in 3 weeks and I am looking at a portable water softener. We like the soft water in our home as there are a lot of positives about soft water, our opinion. We are looking for input about what others are doing. Pros and cons, we appreciate any input, the one we have been looking at is One The Go Portable:Note we have well water in our home.
Thanks:

[SidecarFlip]

There are some distinct negatives as well, the most obvious one is the transfer of sodium ions to your potable water supply. Sodium isn't good for your metabolism. Secondly is recharging the unit and maintaining it and third is the chance of contamination of your potable water because you didn't maintain the unit and you had mold growth (slimy water) inside it.

Never been one to enjoy softened water, in our home or anywhere else. The downsides are numerous compared to the upside.

........and they aren't cheap to purchase either (RV sized units).

JMO.

[Herk7769]

We have not had a water softener since we lived in Utah in 1977. I thought the salt was just used to reverse flush the resin tower and never got in the potable water side of the system.

[DaveSchwartz]

Sodium is necessary for your metabolism - it is critical to nerve function in the proper concentration. Excess sodium, however, is not good.

Ion exchange water softeners do add sodium (some can use potassium) ions to the water - its how they work. Its why water softeners are not recommended for people with heart conditions. The calcium and magnesium ions in the water (which are a problem for plumbing and interfere with the sudsing action of soap) are exchanged for sodium ions on the surface of the resin beads. The resin beads prefer to hold calcium or magnesium ions over sodium so that's how the chemistry happens. When regenerating, a strong concentration of sodium chloride solution drives the reaction backward but the excess sodium chloride (plus the now calcium or magnesium chloride) is flushed to the drain before you could get that into your plumbing thanks to the automatic bypass valve.

I always remember a few years ago when a group I belong to had a presentation from a member who was a certified hazardous chemicals in agriculture instructor. He was telling us the meaning of LD50 (the lethal dose in 50% of test subjects). An example he used was that, given a cup of Roundup and a cup of salt, which would you choose to consume? Given the hysteria around pesticides (not even herbicides like Roundup - they are often wrongly grouped together) most people would choose the salt - and be dead. Only the people who knew a little biochemistry (and that they are not plant-based) would correctly choose the Roundup.