Is Soft Water Safe to Drink?
Occasionally the question comes up, “Is it OK to drink softened water?” and “How much salt does a softener add to my water?”
Let us tackle this question head on: It is true –salt is involved in the water softening process. Through an ion exchange process, water softening systems replace calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions.
What most people do not realize, is how little sodium is in softened water.
The amount of sodium in your drinking water from a water softener system can vary depending on the hardness of your water, but you are certainly not drinking “salt water”. In fact, on average, less than three percent of your daily sodium intake comes from drinking softened water.
So while some may worry that drinking softened water will increase their salt intake, in reality nearly all sodium in our diets comes from the food we eat. Did you know that eight glasses of softened water contains about as much sodium as would be found in a typical piece of white bread?
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