1. I TASTE SALT IN MY WATER? IT’S SEEMS TO TASTE DIFFERENT NOW THAT I HAVE A SOFTENER
What you are tasting is the absence of “hardness”, not salt. The minerals in water give it “taste” and when they are removed all you are tasting is the lack of those minerals.
2. I FEEL SLIPPERY WHEN I GET OUT OF THE SHOWER
Hard water leaves your skin feeling “squeaky clean” & “dry”. With softened water the “slipperiness” you feel is softened skin, without soapy deposits left on your skin. Just like soap scum can build up on your shower, tub and tiles, the same happens with your skin and hair.
3. I HAVE A SEPTIC SYSTEM, IS THE WATER SOFTENER SALT AN ISSUE?
Through much of the regeneration process, fresh water is discharged, containing no salt at all, so the total concentration of salt is very diluted. During some stages of the regeneration sodium concentration will be higher for a brief period of time.
A study was performed to expose effected microorganisms in a septic system to a brine solution of 10,000 ppm (quite high). The study concluded that “there was no statistically significant differences in the metabolic activity of the microbial community” and that is was “unlikely that failures in domestic water treatment system(septic system) are the result of exposure to the brine from home water softeners”.
Reference: “A Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Salt on the Microorganisms in an Aerobic Wastewater Treatment System”, S. Husain & C.D. Litchfield