The advantages of soft water are...

* To eliminate minerals (and deposits) from the service water, the plumbing, the fixtures, and the appliances.

* To facilitate the use of less soap and detergents.

The cost benefits of soft water are...

* Longer service life and reduced maintenance of the plumbing, the fixtures, and the appliances.

* Clothes last longer.

Common misconceptions about soft water...

* Softening ONLY the cold water supplying the water heater leaves hard water in every service line up to the water softener at the water heater and in all cold lines and fixtures and appliances where cold water is available and at every fixture and appliance where cold and hot water are mixed.

You are paying for a softener and installation but only protecting your water heater. While a proper whole house softener installation may be more expensive at first in the long run the maintenance and repair/replacement savings realized by softening at the service entrance (whole house) will pay you back big time.

Softening only the water supplying the water heater is usually done when a correct (whole house) install is too challenging for the installer or costly for the customer. While some may think that solution is better than no soft water IMO it is not.

* Ion exchange water softing does not add salt to the water. That is a fact. Ion exchange softening will add minute amounts of sodium or potassium (based on what you are using as a regenerant) but NO SALT.

Either NaCl or KCl, which are salts, are used in the brine tank but the chlorides (which make both compounds a SALT) are flushed down the drain during regeneration.

If your water is extremely hard then the higher the hardness the more sodium or potassium ions are exchanged into the water to soften it and discerning pallets can notice that taste but it is not SALT. Installation of a POU Reverse Osmosis unit will eliminate that taste and provide bottled water taste for a modest cost.

If a doctor has you on a low (or NO) sodium diet then using KCl (potassium chloride) in the brine tank is an accepted substitute.

So, if you're going to spend the money to get soft water why not get what you're paying for?

@just a lurker I know this post is old, but…

WOW! This info was exactly what I was looking for and so helpful. Thank you! :)

Although this info is good, it's also 13 years old. What has changed/improved since?

A question I can't get answered, would be an addition to the first.

I would like to put a Filtered (No Salt) Conditioner system to my cold for my household. I would run a separate cold line from the Main to a Water Softener (Salt), then to my Tankless Heater. My Laundry would get Cold from Softener, separate from Conditioner. Dishwasher is Hot only. The rest of my sinks, showers, baths would be split between the two.

All my lines get some type of treatment. My laundry and dishwasher get full benifits of Soft Water. All my cold water is better drinkable (not best - maybe RO under kitchen sink) and better for plants (or i split my plants to direct from City Main).

Anyone here have any Pros and Cons? TIA

PS: As far as plumbing goes, I only need the added cold line from Main to Softener. I'm in process of moving my laundry, so I will be moving those lines as well (hot and cold from softener won't be extra work).

Nothing has changed in 13 years - still the same water chemistry.

BTW: A "water conditioner" is a meaningless term - usually used by hucksters selling snake oil.

I have that setup (mostly).

-untreated city water to hose bibs

-carbon filtered non-softened water to cold in kitchen, ice maker and cold in bath sinks

-softened hot and cold everyplace else

Since it's on a PEX manifold, it was easy to do.

This photo was before I remodeled my bathrooms and ran home runs for them.