Water Softeners
See CT DPH: Private Drinking Water in CT - Publication No. 29: Hardwater-Softeners Fact and Issues
State of CT Regulatory Requirements
Water Softeners are acceptable for use in the State of CT provided the water softener treatment discharge meets state regulations.
Water softeners can be discharged into public sewers.
Backwashing water softener wastewater to a septic system is specifically prohibited. Refer to CT Public Health Code section 19-13-B103. Section X of Technical Standards for Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems provides for acceptable ways to discharge water softener backwash wastewater.
Mineral Rich Private Well Drinking Water-Good For Health
Hard water provides significant health benefits by delivering essential dietary minerals, specifically calcium and magnesium, which supports bone health, cardiovascular function and nerve signaling. It generally tastes better to many people, lacks the high sodium content found in softened water, and helps prevent pipe corrosion by coating pipes with a protective mineral layer.
Guidelines and Recommendations for Use of Water Softeners
According to Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) guidance, overly-softened water (zero hardness) is considered "aggressive" and can be corrosive to metal pipes, potentially leading to leaks or the leaching of heavy metals. Extremely soft water can also cause "etching" on glassware, which looks like a hazy or rainbow-colored surface.
The state recommends having your water tested by an approved laboratory to determine precise hardness levels and to ensure your softener is properly sized. Lab water analysis results will accurately show the pre-treatment and post-treatment hardness, chloride and sodium levels.
Historic DPH guidelines have recommended softening when the hardness level exceeds 150 parts per million (ppm) or 8.8 grain per gallon (gpg) hardness. (1gpg = 17.1ppm) There is no recognized standard or maximum contaminant level for hardness.
The American Water Works Association has recommended 80ppm hardness in the past “as the best level, considering all the quality factors, and the necessity for striking a balance between mineral deposition and corrosion characteristics”.
Treatment Considerations:
- Using potassium chloride (KCl) over sodium chloride (salt) will minimize sodium in the treated water. Potassium has no maximum regulatory levels. CT is unique in that we have a Notification Level for sodium of 100 ppm for CT’s public water systems. It is not a health regulated MCL but Public Water Systems (PWSs) must notify their customers on an annual basis if their treated water exceeds 100 ppm of sodium. This notification mainly targets people who are on a severely restricted sodium diet.
- Only treat hot water and boiler feed lines. This would greatly reduce the amount of water softening especially since there is no need to soften water for flushing toilets.
- Use softener that backwashes by volume of water treated vs. automatic timer regeneration. This will reduce regeneration cycles and make the treatment system more cost effective. One cubic foot of high capacity zeolite resin can exchange 30,000 grains, or about 500,000 ppm of hardness. This means if water has 100 ppm hardness, one cubic foot of resin will soften approximately 5,000 gallons of raw water before requiring regeneration with salt. For a family of 4 (typical use of 300 gallons per day) this resin bed would require regeneration every 17 days.
- Using dealer-supplied canisters that are regenerated off-site can be considered to eliminate the need for onsite regeneration and on-site water treatment wastewater discharges.
Other Resources
https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/factsheet/softening.html
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-you-asked/you-asked-hard-water-dangerous-drink
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5318167/pdf/173-180.pdf
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-mineral-water