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.

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

"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are
hooked to the soft water system. �

I seriously doubt your outdoor hose bibs are connected to your
softened water, easy enough to check. But since water softeners
operate by on-demand it would use too much salt and place too much
stress on the unit were it used for for heavy watering as is usually
the case with outdoor water use. It's possible your hose bib is
connected to softened water but would be exceedingly rare. My house
has three hose bibs, none are connected to my softened water but the
one by the garage is tempered water, it is part hot water so salt can
be washed off vehicles during winter without it freezing.

Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?

There's no disadvantage but neither is there any advantage.

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.

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 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.

on 3/1/2008 8:29 PM Sheldon said the following:
"SteveB" wrote:

I believe that the hose bibs on the outside of my house are
hooked to the soft water system. �


I seriously doubt your outdoor hose bibs are connected to your
softened water, easy enough to check.

My house was built without a water softener. When Culligan put in a
water softener a couple of years later, it was installed right after,
and next to the expansion tank in the main line from the well, so all
water was softened. When I replaced the water softener years later with
a Kenmore digital unit, I tapped off the main water line before the
softener and ran a direct line to the outdoor spigots and to a filtered
small drinking faucet on the kitchen sink.

But since water softeners
operate by on-demand it would use too much salt and place too much
stress on the unit were it used for for heavy watering as is usually
the case with outdoor water use. It's possible your hose bib is
connected to softened water but would be exceedingly rare. My house
has three hose bibs, none are connected to my softened water but the
one by the garage is tempered water, it is part hot water so salt can
be washed off vehicles during winter without it freezing.


Is there any disadvantage to watering with soft water?


There's no disadvantage but neither is there any advantage.





--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

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

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 Mar 1, 9:25�pm, willshak wrote:

My house was built without a water softener. When Culligan put in a
water softener a couple of years later, it was installed right after,
and next to the expansion tank in the main line from the well, so all
water was softened. When I replaced the water softener years later with
a Kenmore digital unit, I tapped off the main water line before the
softener and ran a direct line to the outdoor spigots and to a filtered
small drinking faucet on the kitchen sink.

Obviously the Culligan guy didn't know what he was doing, more likely
lazy and didn't care about you. It's just plain silly to have outside
hose bibs connected to a softened water system.... if you had an
automatic irrigation system for your lawn it would be idiotic to have
it connected to softened water... not to say there aren't those with
more dollars than brain cells.

The only reason for having softened water at a hose bib is if one is
car collecting fanatic and can't tolerate the thought of spotting on
their Maserati ... although today's modern car wash compounds are
designed to obviate spotting the same as those dishwashing additives.

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.

In article
,
Sheldon wrote:

On Mar 1, 9:25?pm, willshak wrote:

My house was built without a water softener. When Culligan put in a
water softener a couple of years later, it was installed right after,
and next to the expansion tank in the main line from the well, so all
water was softened. When I replaced the water softener years later with
a Kenmore digital unit, I tapped off the main water line before the
softener and ran a direct line to the outdoor spigots and to a filtered
small drinking faucet on the kitchen sink.

Obviously the Culligan guy didn't know what he was doing, more likely
lazy and didn't care about you. It's just plain silly to have outside
hose bibs connected to a softened water system.... if you had an
automatic irrigation system for your lawn it would be idiotic to have
it connected to softened water... not to say there aren't those with
more dollars than brain cells.

The only reason for having softened water at a hose bib is if one is
car collecting fanatic and can't tolerate the thought of spotting on
their Maserati ... although today's modern car wash compounds are
designed to obviate spotting the same as those dishwashing additives.

Shelly, did the flip just flop?
--

Billy

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

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.

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