Salt water effect

[Andad]

Originally Posted by Rikki

As far as I know the salt in a water softener is used to rinse the ionic balls that filter the metels out of the water and is not run through the house it is a closed loop system.I have a kenetico water softener and my water is awesome considering that my city water is chloramine a mixture of amonia and chlorine to sterilize the water. Rik

Hi Rik,

A water softener is not efficient in removing chloramines and ammonias from potable water. Carbon filters are the go for that application.

Water softeners are used in places like South Australia where we have some of the hardest water in the world due to the high levels of calcium and magnesium. The resin in the water softener is super saturated with salt and an ion exchange takes place where the calcium and magnesiun ions are replaced with sodium ions as Sodium Bicarbonate. The sodium levels are not usually very high and in most cases hardly noticable. In a home application I would recommend a softener for piping to showers, washing machines and any other areas where soap is used. The softened water dramatically improves lathering and scum reduction.

Water for the kitchen and other potable (drinking) applications would be better passed through a pre-filter and then a carbon filter. There may be no problems with drinking softened water but it's up to each water softener owner/user to read up on the pros and cons and make their own mind up.

My company manufactures mixed bed resin and reverse osmosis water systems for laboratory applications.

I can tell you that the levels of Sodium Bicarbonate produced by water softeners in a domestic situation would be hardly noticable and would have no effect on a stainless steel Rolex or the Rolex 'o' ring seals.
Washing your Rolex with softened water can only increase the efficiency of both the initial soap wash and the subsequent rinse off.

So in conclusion:-

'Water from a water softener is recommended for washing Rolex watches'.