Drinking softened water

[MCC]

What health risks, if any, are there in drinking water that's been through a softener, and how serious are they? Is there any difference if the water has been boiled?

[NazNomad]

http://www.theanswerb...n/Question989819.html

[Hopkirk]

If it has had salt added, then boiling it will have no effect.

We are all advised to keep our salt intake low these days, as it can lead to high blood pressure.

Bottled Tesco Value water is 16p for 2 litres, so that is an option.

[woofgang]

A salt type water softener replaces the calcium and magnesium in hard water with sodium. So if you drink it all the time, your sodium intake will go up which is not a good thing. Healthy adults can probably tolerate it but babies and children, the elderly and frail probably won't. In a proper installation the kitchen tap is left un softened to allow for drinking water. Softened water is okay for cleaning your teeth in. The odd swallow won't hurt. Boiling has no effect.

[gingejbee]

In addition to an increased sodium ion concentration, water that has been softened by passing through an ion-exchange resin usually has a much poorer bacteriological quality and can taste unpleasant - at best, it will taste "flat". Softened water of this type should NEVER be used for preparing baby formula.

[bhg481]

The amount of sodium added to water with a softener is minimal. My wife and I were brought up in a soft water area and moved to a hard water area on marriage in 1966. In 1977 we bought our first house and installed a softener, including the drinking water. We've had softeners ever since and have always drunk softened water; we're still alive in our 70s.