I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

In article ,
Charles wrote:

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

Like Charles said, you would basically be putting salt on your plants.
You don't want to drink it either, again it is salt (or the cation half
of the salt) and you risk raising your blood pressure. It is good for
washing things because the Ca++ in the water (hard water) is out and you
don't precipitate fatty acids or get calcium stearate (better known as
bathtub ring) which interfere with making the dirtiness soluble in water.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi
Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1248.shtml

On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:42:47 -0800, Billy
wrote:

In article ,
Charles wrote:

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

Like Charles said, you would basically be putting salt on your plants.
You don't want to drink it either, again it is salt (or the cation half
of the salt) and you risk raising your blood pressure. It is good for
washing things because the Ca++ in the water (hard water) is out and you
don't precipitate fatty acids or get calcium stearate (better known as
bathtub ring) which interfere with making the dirtiness soluble in water.


I was wondering about if the softener was regenerated with potassium
chloride instead of sodium, that might be an overdose of potassium.
Good if one is raising bananas, I guess.

On Mar 1, 8:42�pm, Billy wrote:
In article ,





�Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. �Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. �For steady use I'd avoid it..
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. �Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

Like Charles said, you would basically be putting salt on your plants.
You don't want to drink it either, again it is salt (or the cation half
of the salt) and you risk raising your blood pressure. It is good for
washing things because the Ca++ in the water (hard water) is out and you
don't precipitate fatty acids or get calcium stearate (better known as
bathtub ring) which interfere with making the dirtiness soluble in water.


What tripe. There is virtually no salt in softened water... whatever
salt was contained in the water before it was softened would be far,
far less.

In article
,
Sheldon wrote:

On Mar 1, 8:42?pm, Billy wrote:
In article ,





?Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to
the
soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft
water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area,
but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

Like Charles said, you would basically be putting salt on your plants.
You don't want to drink it either, again it is salt (or the cation half
of the salt) and you risk raising your blood pressure. It is good for
washing things because the Ca++ in the water (hard water) is out and you
don't precipitate fatty acids or get calcium stearate (better known as
bathtub ring) which interfere with making the dirtiness soluble in water.


What tripe. There is virtually no salt in softened water... whatever
salt was contained in the water before it was softened would be far,
far less.

Shelly, I wouldn't recommend increasing one's sodium intake to most
people but for you I will make an exception. Drink soft water heartily
and often, please.
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi
Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1248.shtml

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:21:23 -0800 (PST), Sheldon
wrote:

On Mar 1, 8:42?pm, Billy wrote:
In article ,





?Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

Like Charles said, you would basically be putting salt on your plants.
You don't want to drink it either, again it is salt (or the cation half
of the salt) and you risk raising your blood pressure. It is good for
washing things because the Ca++ in the water (hard water) is out and you
don't precipitate fatty acids or get calcium stearate (better known as
bathtub ring) which interfere with making the dirtiness soluble in water.


What tripe. There is virtually no salt in softened water... whatever
salt was contained in the water before it was softened would be far,
far less.

From:
http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/se...es&searcha=yes

Finally, the best sources of water are those that simply don't have
many dissolved chemicals; or at least none that cause trouble for your
body. That means that your water shouldn't have much lead or arsenic
dissolved in it or any of a number of noxious organic chemicals. The
purest waters are distilled water, rain water (assuming minimal air
pollution), and water that has been chemically filtered (via ion
exchange, reverse osmosis, and/or activated carbon). Spring and well
waters tend to contain substantial amounts of dissolved calcium and
magnesium salts, which make the water less pure but probably don't
affect its healthfulness. One special case to look out for is water
that was very hard but that has been passed through a water softener.
The dissolved minerals that made the water hard will have been
replaced by sodium compounds during the softening process and
excessive sodium consumption may be a problem for some people.

On Mar 1, 9:52�pm, Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:21:23 -0800 (PST), Sheldon
wrote:





On Mar 1, 8:42?pm, Billy wrote:
In article ,

?Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 17:10:13 -0800, "SteveB" meagain@rockvilleUSA
wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

Thanks.

Steve

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

Like Charles said, you would basically be putting salt on your plants.
You don't want to drink it either, again it is salt (or the cation half
of the salt) and you risk raising your blood pressure. It is good for
washing things because the Ca++ in the water (hard water) is out and you
don't precipitate fatty acids or get calcium stearate (better known as
bathtub ring) which interfere with making the dirtiness soluble in water.

Charles wrote:
"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. �Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

For occasional watering it is fine. �For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. �Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

That's not true. There is no more salt contained in softened water
than there is in the bottled water that people drink, usually less.
If softened water contained salt then it wouldn't be softened water,
now would it. The salt used by water softeners leaves the sytem as
grey water (along with the other minerals the system removes), that
never enters the domestic water. If the typical water softener uses a
pound of salt a day it's a lot, usually will use closer to 1/2 pound/
day. The trick is to find a way for disposing of the grey water
without it building up in one spot. My grey water (water from my
water softener, dehumidifier, and RO filter) is piped by gravity to a
creek, the same creek that collects run off from many thousands of
acres of lands as the creek meanders over many miles, which includes
the many tons of salt spread on the roads in winter by the highway
department.. my couple handfulls of salt a day is so negligible that
it doesn't count. And salt is not toxic it's a necessity of life, a
salt lick for live stock places more salt into the ground than any
water softener. Softened water contains very little salt, certainly
far less than if the water were not softened.

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:12:11 -0800 (PST), Sheldon
wrote:

Charles wrote:
"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

That's not true. There is no more salt contained in softened water
than there is in the bottled water that people drink, usually less.
If softened water contained salt then it wouldn't be softened water,
now would it. The salt used by water softeners leaves the sytem as
grey water (along with the other minerals the system removes), that
never enters the domestic water. If the typical water softener uses a
pound of salt a day it's a lot, usually will use closer to 1/2 pound/
day. The trick is to find a way for disposing of the grey water
without it building up in one spot. My grey water (water from my
water softener, dehumidifier, and RO filter) is piped by gravity to a
creek, the same creek that collects run off from many thousands of
acres of lands as the creek meanders over many miles, which includes
the many tons of salt spread on the roads in winter by the highway
department.. my couple handfulls of salt a day is so negligible that
it doesn't count. And salt is not toxic it's a necessity of life, a
salt lick for live stock places more salt into the ground than any
water softener. Softened water contains very little salt, certainly
far less than if the water were not softened.



Wrong, unless you are using a dual ion exchange system. The common
household water softener just exchanges calcium and magnesium ions for
sodium. The carbonate, sulfate, or whatever else is in the water
stays where it is.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-a...question99.htm

On Mar 1, 9:41�pm, Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:12:11 -0800 (PST), Sheldon
wrote:





Charles wrote:
"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to the
soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area, but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

That's not true. �There is no more salt contained in softened water
than there is in the bottled water that people drink, usually less.
If softened water contained salt then it wouldn't be softened water,
now would it. �The salt used by water softeners leaves the sytem as
grey water (along with the other minerals the system removes), that
never enters the domestic water. �If the typical water softener uses a
pound of salt a day it's a lot, usually will use closer to 1/2 pound/
day. �The trick is to find a way for disposing of the grey water
without it building up in one spot. �My grey water (water from my
water softener, dehumidifier, and RO filter) is piped by gravity to a
creek, the same creek that collects run off from many thousands of
acres of lands as the creek meanders over many miles, which includes
the many tons of salt spread on the roads in winter by the highway
department.. my couple handfulls of salt a day is so negligible that
it doesn't count. �And salt is not toxic it's a necessity of life, a
salt lick for live stock places more salt into the ground than any
water softener. �Softened water contains very little salt, certainly
far less than if the water were not softened.

Wrong, unless you are using a dual ion exchange system. �The common
household water softener just exchanges calcium and magnesium ions for
sodium. �The carbonate, sulfate, or whatever else is in the water
stays where it is.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-a...aundry/questio...

Your reading comprehension skills are near the 3rd grade elementary
school level, and I'm being quite generous.

[per your web site]
"Regeneration involves soaking the beads or zeolite in a stream of
sodium ions. Salt is sodium chloride, so the water softener mixes up a
very strong brine solution and flushes it through the zeolite or beads
(this is why you load up a water softener with salt). The strong brine
displaces all of the calcium and magnesium that has built up in the
zeolite or beads and replaces it again with sodium. _The remaining
brine plus all of the calcium and magnesium is flushed out through a
drain pipe. "_

DOH!

In article
,
Sheldon wrote:

On Mar 1, 9:41?pm, Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:12:11 -0800 (PST), Sheldon
wrote:





Charles wrote:
"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are hooked to
the
soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft
water?
They're about to turn on the irrigation water system in our rural area,
but
I need to get around and water some of the trees before that.

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.

That's not true. ?There is no more salt contained in softened water
than there is in the bottled water that people drink, usually less.
If softened water contained salt then it wouldn't be softened water,
now would it. ?The salt used by water softeners leaves the sytem as
grey water (along with the other minerals the system removes), that
never enters the domestic water. ?If the typical water softener uses a
pound of salt a day it's a lot, usually will use closer to 1/2 pound/
day. ?The trick is to find a way for disposing of the grey water
without it building up in one spot. ?My grey water (water from my
water softener, dehumidifier, and RO filter) is piped by gravity to a
creek, the same creek that collects run off from many thousands of
acres of lands as the creek meanders over many miles, which includes
the many tons of salt spread on the roads in winter by the highway
department.. my couple handfulls of salt a day is so negligible that
it doesn't count. ?And salt is not toxic it's a necessity of life, a
salt lick for live stock places more salt into the ground than any
water softener. ?Softened water contains very little salt, certainly
far less than if the water were not softened.

Wrong, unless you are using a dual ion exchange system. ?The common
household water softener just exchanges calcium and magnesium ions for
sodium. ?The carbonate, sulfate, or whatever else is in the water
stays where it is.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-a...aundry/questio...

Your reading comprehension skills are near the 3rd grade elementary
school level, and I'm being quite generous.

[per your web site]
"Regeneration involves soaking the beads or zeolite in a stream of
sodium ions. Salt is sodium chloride, so the water softener mixes up a
very strong brine solution and flushes it through the zeolite or beads
(this is why you load up a water softener with salt). The strong brine
displaces all of the calcium and magnesium that has built up in the
zeolite or beads and replaces it again with sodium. _The remaining
brine plus all of the calcium and magnesium is flushed out through a
drain pipe. "_

DOH!

Shelly, my dance instructor once told me that if I was going to fall, I
should do it gracefully. You might learn from that and not be so snotty
when you are so horribly wrong. The preceding paragraph reads,"The idea
behind a water softener is simple. The calcium and magnesium ions in the
water are replaced with sodium ions. Since sodium does not precipitate
out in pipes or react badly with soap, both of the problems of hard
water are eliminated. To do the ion replacement, the water in the house
runs through a bed of small plastic beads or through a chemical matrix
called zeolite. The beads or zeolite are covered with sodium ions. As
the water flows past the sodium ions, they swap places with the calcium
and magnesium ions. Eventually, the beads or zeolite contain nothing but
calcium and magnesium and no sodium, and at this point they stop
softening the water. It is then time to regenerate the beads or zeolite."

Hellooooo? Did you get that Shelly? The calcium and magnesium ions in
the water are **REPLACED** with sodium ions. Duh. Now go have a nice big
glass of soft water:-)
--

Billy

Impeach Pelosi
Bush & Cheney to the Hague
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1248.shtml

Sheldon wrote:
On Mar 1, 9:41�pm, Charles wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:12:11 -0800 (PST), Sheldon

wrote:





Charles wrote:
"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are
hooked to the soft water system. ?Is there any disadvantage to
watering with soft water? They're about to turn on the
irrigation
water system in our rural area, but I need to get around and
water some of the trees before that.

For occasional watering it is fine. ?For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with
sodium. Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. ?Over
time it will build up, change the soil properties.

That's not true. �There is no more salt contained in softened
water
than there is in the bottled water that people drink, usually
less.
If softened water contained salt then it wouldn't be softened
water,
now would it. �The salt used by water softeners leaves the sytem
as
grey water (along with the other minerals the system removes),
that
never enters the domestic water. �If the typical water softener
uses a pound of salt a day it's a lot, usually will use closer to
1/2 pound/ day. �The trick is to find a way for disposing of the
grey water without it building up in one spot. �My grey water
(water from my water softener, dehumidifier, and RO filter) is
piped by gravity to a creek, the same creek that collects run off
from many thousands of acres of lands as the creek meanders over
many miles, which includes the many tons of salt spread on the
roads in winter by the highway department.. my couple handfulls of
salt a day is so negligible that it doesn't count. �And salt is
not
toxic it's a necessity of life, a salt lick for live stock places
more salt into the ground than any water softener. �Softened water
contains very little salt, certainly far less than if the water
were not softened.

Wrong, unless you are using a dual ion exchange system. �The common
household water softener just exchanges calcium and magnesium ions
for sodium. �The carbonate, sulfate, or whatever else is in the
water
stays where it is.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-a...aundry/questio...

Your reading comprehension skills are near the 3rd grade elementary
school level, and I'm being quite generous.

[per your web site]
"Regeneration involves soaking the beads or zeolite in a stream of
sodium ions. Salt is sodium chloride, so the water softener mixes up
a
very strong brine solution and flushes it through the zeolite or
beads
(this is why you load up a water softener with salt). The strong
brine
displaces all of the calcium and magnesium that has built up in the
zeolite or beads and replaces it again with sodium. _The remaining
brine plus all of the calcium and magnesium is flushed out through a
drain pipe. "_

You're confusing "sodium" with "salt". The process is that sodium
ions are picked up on the surface of the zeolite. Not "salt", just
one of the chemical components of it. Those are exchanged for
less-reactive calcium and magnesium ions in the water, so calcium
carbonate (or magnesium sulfate or whatever) gets turned into sodium
carbonate (or sodium sulfate or whatever) with a slight release of
energy. The calcium and magnesium ions then remain on the suface of
the zeolite until such time as it is regenerated by exposure to sodium
chloride at which time it picks up the sodium ions and the calcium
goes into the brine as calcium chloride.

So the softened water has no "salt" added, what is has is the existing
calcium and magnesium compounds turned into sodium compounds. The
quantity of the compounds doesn't change, what changes is their
chemical composition.

If you think that a water softener works by "adding salt" then try
adding salt to hard water and then have the hardness checked with and
without salt and see what you get.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Sheldon wrote:

..

That's not true. There is no more salt contained in softened water
than there is in the bottled water that people drink, usually less.
If softened water contained salt then it wouldn't be softened water,
now would it. The salt used by water softeners leaves the sytem as
grey water (along with the other minerals the system removes), that
never enters the domestic water.

Now you've done it!! Why did you have to post FACTS??
;-)
Tom J

what he said.... absolutely. not to mention is very expensive to use soft water.

On Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:14:04 GMT, Charles wrote:
For occasional watering it is fine. For steady use I'd avoid it.
Most softening systems replace the calcium and magnesium with sodium.
Plants need calcium and magnesium, sodium is toxic. Over time it will
build up, change the soil properties.