Soft water

B

BTW574

New member
Does any one use water from a line hooked up to a water softner.

We have really hard water were I live and was thinking of running a line into the garage for washing the cars.

I figure the water spots are from the minerals left when the water dries and seeing a water softner helps remove these I would end up with fewer water spots.
 
BTW574-I too have very hard, low quality municipal water. I soften the water used in my garage. I use potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride in the softener and have it set up for an especially long rinse cycle. I also filter it upstream from the softener. I believe I get better cleaning and fewer waterspots.



You will undoubtedly get some comments about the "salt" in softened water causing rust. As I understand it, if the softener is working right, and especially if the rinse cycle of your softener is working correctly/long enough, that shouldn't be a problem. The beads in the softener are "washed" with the "salt water", which is then RINSED OFF in the rinse cycle. I went over this at length with my plumbing contractor (who didn't care if we ran soft water through that line or not) and he convinced me that the rust thing is a non-issue. I was VERY concerned about this and I'd say I took a lot of convincing. BTW, some of my cars rust if you look at them misty-eyed, and my water doesn't seem to be harming them any. Any yes, I'd notice ;)



Still, see what others say, I somehow think I'm probably gonna need a flamesuit for this one :rolleyes: so, all the usual "just my $0.02" disclaimers....
 
I wash with soft, and if I get rust in the desert there is a big problem. Also I'm new here and you guys have a great site.
 
I have been using soft water for years with no problems. I hooked up a hot and cold spicket.



What is good is you can use much less soap and get a lot more suds out of a bucket. Hard water kills soap. Also if I let it dry there are little or no spots to remove.

I love it

:bounce
 
25 Eagle- Welcome to Autopia. Thanks for posting, I'm hoping that we can put the old "softener = saltwater = rust" myth to rest and, as you said, rust in the desert would SURE be a sign that the soft water causes rust. Since it's not a problem for you that's good evidence that a (properly operating) softener won't cause problems :up
 
Water softners work great for washing cars but be advised that those that use "potassium chloride" in the unit are quite dangerous for some people. All humans maintain a potassium to calcium ratio in their bodies and if it is thrown off it can cause health problems and even death. A good example is folks that consume massive amounts of dairy products sometimes complain of muscle cramps at night, it's due to the excess potassium in the dairy products. My father who at 73 is in great physical shape had his old water softner traded out for one of the newer "potassium chloride " units. Within a week we had him in the hospital for rapid heart beats and and very high blood pressure problems. A very astute physician asked him what had changed in his life style in the last month and when he heard about the "new" water softner had a blood test taken, my Dad's potassium levels were off the chart. He went back to the regular "sodium chloride" unit and is fine. I know this is not the "health" forum but since this new type of water softner was brought up thought I might chime in...Michael P.
 
mpawelek said:
Water softners work great for washing cars but be advised that those that use "potassium chloride" in the unit are quite dangerous for some people. All humans maintain a potassium to calcium ratio in their bodies and if it is thrown off it can cause health problems and even death. A good example is folks that consume massive amounts of dairy products sometimes complain of muscle cramps at night, it's due to the excess potassium in the dairy products. My father who at 73 is in great physical shape had his old water softner traded out for one of the newer "potassium chloride " units. Within a week we had him in the hospital for rapid heart beats and and very high blood pressure problems. A very astute physician asked him what had changed in his life style in the last month and when he heard about the "new" water softner had a blood test taken, my Dad's potassium levels were off the chart. He went back to the regular "sodium chloride" unit and is fine. I know this is not the "health" forum but since this new type of water softner was brought up thought I might chime in...Michael P.
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This is very true, even with regular softeners. But only for consumption, not showering or washing. When I did mine I had the kitchen sink and outside spickets (except for the car wash) omitted.



One should not drink or garden with soft water. It will kill a lawn, or flower garden in no time!
 
It hasn't killed my lawn or my family after 8 years of use. I love the soft water. Much better in the shower, washing machine, dishwasher, and everything else in between. We only drink water at my house and the soft water is great.
 
mpawelek brought up a good point, as did Bruce Peter. There are a number of factors here that everyone should consider. That's one of the reasons I always feel better when I tack on my "just my experience/$.02" disclaimers. Although I'm all in favor of softening water, that's based on MY experiences. I still want everyone to hear all the information that's out there.



The original thread was only about using it for detailing, but I will say that my wife and I both drink the softened water treated with the potassium chloride and water from the other softener that uses regular softener salt. There have been no health problems as a result of it (and I drink at least a gallon a day). BTW, we are EXTREMELY health conscious by most standards so any such problems would have come to our attention. None of our houseplants are suffering from it either. We debated having the drinking water run on a separate line (as at our old house) and decided against it after all the in-depth talking with our plumbing contractor. Our experiences have been similar to those of OutlawTitan, but that doesn't mean it'll work out that way for everyone. I will say that I'm surprised that mpawelek's father was "poisoned" by his softener (and I'm sure glad to hear he's OK!). I can't help but wonder if his softener was working properly. Again, the "salt-stuff" should be rinsed off the media before the water you actually use passes through said media (we use an EXCEPTIONALLY long rinse cycle to make sure of it). Old softeners WERE notorious for killing plants (and I saw it happen myself), but I was told that's a thing of the past. HMMM...:nixweiss Could this be an application/unit specific sort of thing? If the potassium got through to mpawelek's father, then salt could've gotten through to a car. Keep posting any info you have, folks!
 
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