> but we're on a septic system and I'm not sure it would like having a
> super-saturated brine solution pumped into it periodically,
I don't have any hard data, except that we lived in a house with well water,
an ion exchange softener and a septic tank for a few years, and it never
seemed to cause a problem. If the system is working properly, the
discharged solution is nowhere near "super-saturated brine" but a more
dilute solution of mostly calcium and magnesium chloride, and it's a small
enough quantity that it will get diluted a lot more by the water already in
the septic tank.
> as well, I'm not sure how great of an idea it is to ingest that much
> sodium.
I'm dubious about the whole "low sodium" thing, unless you have a particular
medical condition where your body has a hard time regulating sodium. Sodium
is essential for human life, you will literally die (unpleasantly) without
enough sodium intake.
But if it's a concern for you, it is possible to run ion-exchange softeners
on potassium instead of sodium.
> I'm willing to plumb a line to the kitchen sinks that by-passes
> the softener so we're not drinking or cooking with that water, but the
> ice-maker I'd just like to have filtered, non-sodium-saturated water.
> just plain h2o, if at all possible.
Unless you use a LOT of ice, there won't be enough sodium in it to matter.
Each grain of hardness only takes about 8mg of sodium, so if you start with
15 grains per gallon (which is VERY hard water), you'll only wind up with
about 15 mg of sodium per pound of ice (assuming all the sodium winds up in
the ice; some ice makers make better ice than others by flushing
contaminants down the drain). Since 1000 mg/day is considered a "low
sodium" diet, 15 mg/pound just doesn't seem like enough to worry about.
Hmm, I wonder how much sodium a home RO filter will remove? I know RO
systems can be used to purify sea water for drinking, but I don't know if
"home" quality membranes are that good (or if they worry about a few ppm of
sodium left in the sea water). Could you safely run softened well water
through a UV sanitizer and then a common home RO filter? If so, that might
be a nearly ideal solution. We use a RO filter to supply our cooking and
drinking water (via a second faucet at the kitchen sink) as well as the ice
maker; but it's mostly because it tastes better than city water.
Randall
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