waycott@mot.UUCP (John Waycott) (11/02/85)
Has anyone seen any hard scientific evidence that soft water is harmful
to drink? The only people I've heard make these claims are the makers of
water purifiers which do not soften the water. These companies state that
drinking soft water causes learning disabilities in children, heart disease,
and several other problems. One ad even stated that you should only drink
distilled water (the softest you can get) in extreme emergencies!
The ads, of course, give no reference to any specific studies.
I can see only two reasons why drinking soft water could possibly be
harmful:
1. A lack of minerals in soft water causes a deficiency in the diet.
2. An increase in sodium from a water softener has harmful effects.
I'm skeptical of both of these reasons. First, I figured that I got
plenty of minerals from the food I eat. Second, the increase in sodium
intake from soft water seems negligible compared to the rest of an average
person's diet.
Are these companies pulling our legs?
--
John Waycott, Motorola Microsystems, Tempe, AZ, (602) 438-3164
{seismo!terak, trwrb!flkvax, utzoo!mnetor, ihnp4, attunix}!mot!waycott
oakhill!mot!fred@ut-sally.ARPAsuhre@trwrba.UUCP (Maurice E. Suhre) (11/05/85)
In article <432@mot.UUCP> waycott@mot.UUCP (John Waycott) writes: > >2. An increase in sodium from a water softener has harmful effects. > > Second, the increase in sodium >intake from soft water seems negligible compared to the rest of an average >person's diet. > My father used to sell water softeners as a sideline. Anyway, the Calcium ions are replaced by Sodium ions during the softening process. Persons on a sodium restricted diet should probably not drink the softened water nor to use it for cooking purposes. I believe it is true that drinking the water is not significant for the average diet, but might be substantial if other sodium sources are restricted. Simply a percentage problem. Maurice {decvax,sdcrdcf,ihnp4,ucbvax}!trwrb!suhre