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How To Get The Best Taste Out Of Your Softened Water

3 May 2016

Alide Oortwijn

Your body needs a great deal of water to survive. Water is needed to remove wastes from the cells of your body, and it also helps to keep your blood thin so it can flow through your arteries and veins with ease. Medical professionals indicate that you should drink about three liters of water a day if you are a man and a little over two liters if you are a woman. If you drink water from your home faucets most often, then you may love the taste of the hard water in your area. However, hard water can cause issues with scale deposits and the poor lathering of soap. A water softener can be beneficial, but it can also change the taste of your water. If you want your water to continue to taste good, then keep reading.

Water And Taste

If you have hard water in your home, then the fluid likely has a distinctive taste. The taste is due to the minerals that are contained in your water. Specifically, hard water contains calcium and magnesium, and these minerals give the water a slightly bitter taste. The taste is considered a pleasant one. In fact, companies that sell bottled water will often place magnesium and other minerals in the fluid to boost the taste of their products. Unfortunately, the mineral content of your water causes issues with scaling and soap lathering. These minerals are removed from the water when it runs through a water softener. 

Most water softeners work by replacing hard minerals with salt. The amount of salt that enters the water will depend on the mineral content of your water. On average, one glass of softened water will contain less than 12.5 milligrams of sodium. This amount of sodium is considered quite low. In comparison, a single tablespoon of soy sauce can contain as much as 1,000 milligrams of sodium. However, water is typically tasteless once the minerals are removed. This means that you may be able to detect the salt in the water once it has been softened. If you are used to bitter water, then this may be unappealing to you. 

Some people say they cannot taste the salt in softened water. It is best to taste softened water from your area to determine whether or not you like the taste. Speak with your local water softening business to see if they can provide you with a sample of water you can taste. You can also see if one of your neighbors has a salt ion exchange softener that will let you try their water. 

Choose A Reverse Osmosis System

If you do not like the taste of water that has been softened by a salt ion exchange system but you still want soft water, then opt for a reverse osmosis system. A reverse osmosis water softener does not use salt to replace the minerals that are removed from the fluid. The minerals and other solid materials in the water are removed, and almost pure water will be transported to your faucets. The system works by forcing water through a fine membrane. Water particles can easily move through the membrane, but solids in the water cannot. While you will no longer have bitter tasting water, your water will be tasteless. To many people, this is preferable to salty water.

You should know that a whole house reverse osmosis water treatment system will have a variety of different parts to it. The parts may include pre-treatment filtration, the reverse osmosis filter, a storage tank, a calcite filter, and a pump. This can cost quite a bit of money, so make sure to talk to a water treatment or water softening specialist from a company like Johnson Water Conditioning to see what is best for your home and budget.

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