Magnesium or Aluminum Anode Rod?

Grains of "Calcium Chloride Hardness" is the most used term to express water hardness, even if the hardness is from other elements and 1 gr.=17.1 ppm. It's just a general term to simplify matters so people can understand. And sodium is sodium... the bad stuff you don't want. Craig

Noel wrote:
As I recall, salt brine is not used to soften the water. There are plastic pellets in the softener that are charged either positive or negative and when your hard water runs thru the pellets, hardness ions sre attached to the pellets.

The brine is then backwashed to neutralize the pellets and then flushed with fresh water.

The salt brine ends up being salt (sodium chloride), Magnesium chloride (another salt) and Calcium Chloride (another salt). The sodium ions from the salt attach to the pellets. as hard water passes over the pellets, Calcium and Magnesium from the water (what makes it "hard") are attracted to the pellets and attach to them. In the process the sodium ions on the pellets are released and now are in the water. (or potasium ions, if you use potasium chloride instead of Sodium Chloride)

Water sodium content is related to how "hard" the water is to start with and how "soft" it is in the end. the bigger the difference, the higher the sodium content.

if you're looking for a longer life span of both your water heater & the anode - just DRAIN the water heater and solve both problems.

My cardiologist had a fit when I told him Arm & Hammer was being used for acid stomach.

NO !!!

SODIUM !!!

Bicarbonate
Chloride
Sulfate

I quipped about avoiding standing in the light of high pressure sodium but he only glared at me.

Noel wrote:
As I recall, salt brine is not used to soften the water.

No, it's not. But, because salt is used to regenerate the rosin beads, many people think there's salt in the water. There's sodium in the water, but not NaCl, and, not very much at that.

ktmrfs wrote:
we drink the soft water when we use a water softener on the road.

I use it in my drip coffee maker so I don't have to clean the darn thing of hard water deposits.

One of my relatives passed recently. Upon comparing notes, we found that she had eaten pickles regularly throughout her life and we concluded she would have lived long past her 94 years had she avoided them.

As I recall, salt brine is not used to soften the water. There are plastic pellets in the softener that are charged either positive or negative and when your hard water runs thru the pellets, hardness ions sre attached to the pellets.

The brine is then backwashed to neutralize the pellets and then flushed with fresh water.

I forgot what I read but the amount of sodium in softened water is proportionate to the gr of hardness of the raw water. I think it's 37.5 mg of sodium per qt. of softened water for every 5 gr per gal. hardness. I drink 2-3 gal of water/ day when I working outside in the summer and that would be a bunch of sodium if I drank softened water! Craig

bushman38,
You're welcome. I really felt that I had to comment on this matter because I had a close relative who chose to use potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride and suffered serious consequences from it. His heart and other organs gave out and he expired. Not saying it was a direct result but that he falsely believed he was okay with consuming this treated water.

Thanks ernie1. I am not an expert on the anodes either, however I am learning. And thank you for your knowledge on potassium chloride in water softeners as I was thinking of using that instead of salt.