How a Water Softener Can Affect Sodium Intake - Wisler Plumbing & Air

There are a lot of different myths out there when it comes to substances that can harm (or help) your body. One person will say that a food ingredient is very healthy, while another will say that it’s extremely unhealthy. It can be very challenging for the average person to navigate around all of these opinions to determine what’s actually true and what applies to their own body. I’m going to try to stay away from things that cannot be factually proven in this blog post. Instead, let’s address some common questions about salt or sodium involved in the water softening process.

When someone sees large bags of salt being dumped into a water softener, the question arises: Am I consuming all of that salt? The first thing that everyone should know is that the salt we put in the water softener’s tank has very little to do with the amount of sodium in the water you drink. The main purpose of the salt is to clean and regenerate the water softener. After the softener is regenerated, there’s some residual sodium left behind in the unit. That small quantity of sodium is necessary for the softening process. Only a portion of the salt poured into the tank will actually make it into the water you drink.

Remember, there’s sodium in practically everything that we consume. Bottled water frequently has sodium in it. Sometimes it’s added to water to remove bacteria. It’s also found in food—we add salt to most things we eat to enhance the flavor. Seasonings, canned food, and even medications have sodium in them. We should really be paying attention to how much sodium is in the things we consume every day. When it comes to sodium in softened water, this amount varies depending on how hard the water was. In other words, it takes more sodium to remove higher levels of calcium in the water.

Hardness is measured in grains of calcium carbonate dissolved per 1 US gallon of water. In our area, it’s pretty common to find 10 grains per gallon (gpg) of hardness. If you were to consume a gallon of softened water, you would consume 298 milligrams of sodium. That’s the equivalent to about two slices of white bread, or a baked potato with some salt on it. Of course, using softened water for showering will not contribute to sodium intake since it’s not absorbed into the body.

It’s important to realize that most people don’t actually drink a gallon of tap water every day. If you were to drink a quart of 10 gpg softened water (which is much more likely), you’d be consuming a mere 74 milligrams of sodium. That’s not very much, even for people on a low-sodium diet. If you live in northern parts of the country where there’s up to 100 gpg of hardness, however, the sodium level in the water would be much higher. If sodium intake is a concern, you may decide to use sodium chloride in the water softener. (Sodium chloride doesn’t affect the body as harshly as sodium.)

At the end of the day, there are many options available to people who are concerned about sodium intake. The bottom line is: Research your actual sodium intake and your desired sodium intake. If you don’t drink much tap water, then the additional sodium intake is completely negligible. The extremely low amount of sodium in softened water does not have a meaningful impact.

If you have any questions or concerns about the impact of sodium in the water softening process, contact us online or give us a call at (540) 483-9382.