
Ask HN: What do I need to know about water softening? - bcaulfield
My wife is convinced we need one. I&#x27;m convinced we&#x27;re dealing with people pushing quack science for profit. How do we get to the ground truth on this?
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jhayward
If you live in an area that has high mineral content in the water it can be
somewhere between highly practical and very necessary.

"Hard" water primarily causes scale buildup, as well as changing the
effectiveness of soap and other things that interact chemically with water.

In hard water areas if you like lather from your soap in the shower a water
softener is necessary. If you like your white articles to not come out looking
gray and dingy you need soft water. If you like long appliance life from your
dishwasher, washing machine, and hot water heater, a water softener is
necessary. And so on.

If you don't have very hard water it becomes less necessary. Still nice to
have but a little tedious to maintain. But in very hard water areas, yeah, you
want one.

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bcaulfield
Thanks for the reality check!

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Tomte
You mean something like Brita filters?

Soft water isn't healthier (you could even argue that it's less healthy, but
the difference is negligible, IMO).

But if your wife likes to drink tea, for example, having soft water is an
understandable wish, because the tea tastes better when brewed with soft
water.

If she's arguing fo a home-wide filter, not table-top:

She may reasonably wish for soft water, because you don't immediately see lots
of water stains on the sink. And your washing machine and dishwasher live
longer.

No, you certainly don't need soft water. But it's not quack science, it's
actually solid science with the big question if it's worth the money to you.

