"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday 8 July 2011

About Water Softeners

FYI. One of 51 cities banning water softeners and it was the citizens who voted in favour of it.

Officials search for illegal water softeners in Santa Clarita Valley
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — The Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District announced last week that it is on the hunt for homeowners using illegal water softener systems, The Santa Clarita Valley Signal reported.
In an effort to reduce the amount of chloride discharged into the Santa Clara watershed, residents approved a ban on all brine-generating water softeners in 2008.
Officials estimate that as many as 2,000 people in the Santa Clarita Valley still own banned water softeners.
Residents who are caught with banned softeners will be given 30 days to apply for the water softener rebate program or get rid of the machines, according to the story.
If the residents fail to comply, they will be fined $1,000, according to the story

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I've  received a number of comments from a resident on the subject of water softeners. Apparently there is a growing awareness of the harm created by the salt.

I had a softener machine once. Aurora water has always been exceptionally hard. Kettles, faucets and shower heads became heavily scaled with lime within days of new use. Toilet bowls quickly acquired hard lime deposits. 

The water softener didn't work in my house. There were too many children. No amount of salt was enough to keep the water soft.

My commenter drew my attention to something I hadn't noticed. The water is not hard any more. The kettle, the most obvious place to notice, has no scale at all and it's probably a year old. 

It seems since  water from the aquifer has been mixed with water from Lake Ontario, its hardness
is  reduced tremendously .It's more evident apparently at the south end of town and mid section of town..

Water softeners are no longer useful in most  parts of the town. 

Furthermore, they are harmful.

The process of softening hard water is accomplished with salt. It removes the minerals. One of the reasons it was easy for me to get rid of the softener was that softened  water didn't taste so good. 

No-one ever pointed out  that water with  minerals removed is not good for your health.

Neitherdid anyone ever point out, the salt used to soften water is not good for the environment. 

Yet  evidence abounds.

How is it with all the foo-fer-a about the environment...about protecting our water source...how is it 
the harmful use of water softeners has never been brought to public attention. 

With  all the environmental engineers on the public payroll. federal,provincial,regional and municipal,  why is such an obvious  source of damage is so easily overlooked.

Are they asleep at the switch?  
The Region of Waterloo is carrying out a study.
I believe  we use  brine in the cooling system for ice  at the Aurora Family Leisure Complex.
As well as a hundred thousand of gallons of water a day to produce ice that isn't hard enough for 
hockey and being soft, is only useful for figure skating ,we also now know   brine  funnelled into the sanitary sewers from the complex , is not removed by  treatment  and goes into Lake Ontario.
That can't be good. 

Now there's talk about diverting sewage from Aurora to Lake Simcoe. 

So even as we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on storm water ponds to filter out toxic residue 
prior to  water reaching streams and waterways, we  consciously dump  tons of  salt with the  direct result of degrading  the waters of the lake. 

Go figure.

4 comments:

wetstone said...

Great article. Timely up to date information that can benefit us all.

Leave it up to the most experienced representative on council to come up with a great new idea to save us money, protect the town and our local environment.

No more paying premiums on hard water heater rental rates at Direct Energy either. No more buying salt and lifting those heavy bags either.

Softened water tastes bad as a warning not to drink it. The public should check with Health Canada, their doctors and numerous works departments to learn that water softeners should ONLY be on the hot water.....if at all.

For those who still require water without signs of hard water scum there are certified solutions available that are good for the environment, save money and don't require electricity, chemicals or salt.

Thanks Evelyn for looking out for everyone's interests....as always.

Anonymous said...

I have a water softener but it has been on the blink. I have to manually re-gen it to keep it working but the water is not as bad as it used to be. It still is not as soft as treated.

Regarding brine in ice making. Ice making is really done through 2 closed circuits. The first circuit is the compressor system that chills a refridgerent (used to be freon but new systems use ammonia as it does not harm ozone). This circuit removes heat (and subsequently cools) the second closed circuit which is the brine. Brine freezes at a much lower tempurature and that is why it is used. The sub-zero brine is pumped through miles of tubing that is encased in the arena floor. This chills the concrete floor to a point that ice will form when water is poured on it (the flood).

The brine is never released to the environment unless there is a leak in the tubing. This should be considered an environmental accident because of the salinity level.

The water used in the floods may be treated to remove minerals but is not special otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Evelyn, I have some questions about the discovery
examinations.Please do not post this if I cross into
forbidden territory. Will the results be made public as
they were with the former Town lawyer's exam ? And
are you allowed to discuss the attendees? The cast
of characters?
Can you report on side snide comments that were
off the record and aimed at you or your lawyer ? Did
you develop a head ache?

Anonymous said...

Good. the water softener hasn't been working,
and now I have a perfectly reasonable excuse for
not spending any money on it. Thank you,
Evelyn.