portable water softner yea or nay

Utility softened water deposited enough salt to kill my African Violets. The had to be re-potted in fresh soil every 6 month or so.

I use RO .... no salt, chlorine or arsenic.

I like mine, but I still get a slightly salty taste in the water - I notice it mostly in the ice cubes. Even after I regenerate and flush.

Tim

It depends on the what the grain of hardness of the water being softened how much sodium will be in the water.

Hardness ranges from 6 to 25 grains per harness per gallon.
Using an average figure of 15 grain according to the WQA = 30mg in a glass of water.
The Cherrios you have for breakfast has 200mg in just one cup! :W

>>A quote from the Mayo Clinic (the doctor is referring to water hardness of approximately 7 grains)
“An 8-ounce (237-milliliter) glass of softened water generally contains less than 12.5 milligrams of sodium, which is well within the Food and Drug Administration's definition of "very low sodium." Says Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D. at the Mayo Health Clinic.<<
http://www.merleswater.com/blog/bid/144148/Drinking-Softened-Water-How-Much-Sodium-in-Softened-Water

I don't use one. I use the inline disposable blue filter which does quite well removing rusty iron water. Uses carbon for filter. IMHO No need for an installed water softener system.

If you are in a 'year round permanent site' with bad water then it would make sense to install one because you would have to replace the blue inline more often when parked.

PORTABLE water? Um confused. Potable water maybe?

As a rule we do not hook up to CG water unless the tank needs refilling.

Yes, we do have a water softener canister. One of the large ones. There are only 2 things that we do not like about RVing, dirt from campsites & hard water.

At home in Bermuda we have the best water there is. Completely unfiltered soft rainwater. Rain falls on our roof, is channeled into a 30,000gal under the house & from there the house has its own pressure system, like an RV really. No treated city water or ground water.

Pulling water that has been softened from the RV tank means that there is no need to have a site with water, no need to be hooking up a hose everytime we stop. One less setup & breakdown chore to do. Maybe $ saved on not needing a FHU site.

Been using a RV water softener for all our travels with our motorhome. Always use the softener even in places that claim to have soft water. Fixtures and plumbing in MH has been trouble free. When traveling we put enough softened water in fresh water tank to keep us for a few days.
We use a On-The-Go Softener.

Veebyes wrote:
PORTABLE water? Um confused. Potable water maybe?

A portable softener for your potable water.

I've commented extensively on softeners in the last several years. We drink a lot of water and are water snobs after drinking good Colorado mountain water for 35 years. So, here goes again. Five years ago we did an extended stay in the Terlingua, TX area. The water was just plain foul. You could see the particulates and all everything it came into contact with including us had white spots. We also travel extensively in the Four Corners area where the water can also be hard.

After the Terlingua trip, I paid attention to what I saw in the snowbird parks and asked on this forum about softeners. I purchased the Flow Pur softener. Can't be happier. It makes the hardest water palatable. We combine it with a replaceable canister filter and couldn't be happier. The harder the water the more often you have to recharge. In the Apache Junction area, we get about three weeks per carton of table salt. That includes running the washer, dishwasher and shower.

It is a bit of a pain to haul around since we didn't have the room to build it in. There are some models that are a bit shorter that would be easier to mount in a bay.

Thunder Mountain wrote:
I purchased the Flow Pur softener. Can't be happier. It makes the hardest water palatable.

X2 on the Flow Pur. In addition to the taste of water (as the above mentioned), I think the bigger concern is the deposits hard water leave on your coach. In Southern California, where the water is VERY hard, it doesn't take very long for the shower head and faucets to begin showing signs of trouble.

As to whether or not you need one... it depends where you will be with your rig. Western Washington, not needed. Southern California, a must-have, in my opinion.

rockhillmanor wrote:
It depends on the what the grain of hardness of the water being softened how much sodium will be in the water.

Hardness ranges from 6 to 25 grains per harness per gallon.
Using an average figure of 15 grain according to the WQA = 30mg in a glass of water.
The Cherrios you have for breakfast has 200mg in just one cup! :W

>>A quote from the Mayo Clinic (the doctor is referring to water hardness of approximately 7 grains)
“An 8-ounce (237-milliliter) glass of softened water generally contains less than 12.5 milligrams of sodium, which is well within the Food and Drug Administration's definition of "very low sodium." Says Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D. at the Mayo Health Clinic.<<
http://www.merleswater.com/blog/bid/144148/Drinking-Softened-Water-How-Much-Sodium-in-Softened-Water

I don't use one. I use the inline disposable blue filter which does quite well removing rusty iron water. Uses carbon for filter. IMHO No need for an installed water softener system.

If you are in a 'year round permanent site' with bad water then it would make sense to install one because you would have to replace the blue inline more often when parked.

This is kinda what I am looking for, where did you get your setup?

We spend winter on the Colorado River in Az. The water in this area is nasty. Cullingan and Ryane rent portable water softners for about $30 a month. They also do a great job filtering. Without it my two stage filter would have to be changed once a week, as it is I don't have to change the filter at all. Sort of helps defrag the cost.