Can Pool Salt Be Used In A Water Softener

Water softeners need a coarser salt to function properly.

Can pool salt be used in a water softener.

These actually soften the water from your well by removing the hard water ions calcium magnesium and iron. Salt crystals can be used to melt ice or snow clean some metals and kill weeds. No to soften water you need a water softener. How much salt your water softener will use depends on your water usage and the characteristics of your water.

A water softener needs to use salt to regenerate its water softening resin. So pool salt water softener salt and table salt all start with the same grade of salt. The salt used in the brine tank of a water softener does not directly soften the water but is used to regenerate the resin beads in your water softener. The water softener needs a coarser salt to function properly.

It is clean and pure and has no additives. A more accurate description of units commonly marketed as salt free water softeners would be a salt free water conditioner or scale inhibitor. Softener potassium chloride water softeners and conditioners work effectively with either sodium chloride commonly referred to as salt or potassium chloride actually a type of salt also. The ion exchange process used by water softeners doesn t work without the sodium ions displacing the calcium and magnesium ions that create water hardness.

Usually when you want to change the salt in your water softener you can choose from either sodium chloride crystals pellets and block salt or potassium chloride. I recommend using salt that is designed to be used for swimming pools but if you have to use water softener salt in a pinch stick to the salt that is in a blue or blue white bag from a well know manufacturer because it should be pure salt with no additives. Make sure your system is working correctly and use a water softener cleaner once a year to ensure your system is not using more salt than it needs to. If you take the same salt that was used for pool salt and press it into pellets you have water softener salt.

The pool salt and water softener salt come from the same grade salt but the difference is the additives added. The salt has to be used in conjunction with a water softening system to produce soft water. Do not use dicing or table salt. That means no dicing table salts or any salt of that kind.

A salt free water softener does not exist. Water softener salt includes additional components that are very corrosive. On its own or mixed with other ingredients it can t be used in cooking or for consumption but does have a few other uses. First of all only salt or potassium chloride specifically designed for water softeners should be used.