As a long term raw foodist, I am considering adding a softwater loop to my new house. Please give me some feedback as to whether soft or hard water is healthier for the body. Hard water has the calcified minerals (that look terrible on a sink faucet but maybe is OK for the body?) and soft water has the salt which I do not use. I really would like to do the right thing here. Please give feedback!

Opinion:

-I don't know about 'hard' water vs. 'soft' water....but you definitely want to avoid drinking water that has lots of minerals or particulates in it. My understanding/opinion.......is that drinking reverse osmosis and/or distilled water would be best therapeutically.....if your whole point is to eliminate as many unnecessary internal deposits as necessary. Don't you think?

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I'd never heard that soft water had salt in it. I thought the softer the water,the less minerals (salt is a mineral), with distilled water being the softest water of all.

I think that a "soft water loop" requires salt to operate as a softener.

My impression is that you don't need minerals in your water if you have minerals in your food. The softer the water when you drink it, the more waste material the water is able to absorb and flush from your body (which is one of water's most wonderful functions).

If you're considering adding a "soft water loop" maybe check some other options as well. We use a micro-filter system for our catchment water, and If we had electricity from the grid (we're on solar), we'd get an ultra-violet filter also, as an extra precaution against bacteria.

An interesting option that you might check out are the magnetic water softeners. I've never had experience with them, but they claim to be easy to install (they're also cheap), plus they kill bacteria, soften the water, and protect your pipes, all without salt.

Another possible no-salt option is the Easy Water water conditioner at www.EasyWater.com. I don't think they kill or filter out bacteria, so you'd probably need to also get an ultra-violet system as well.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much to both of you for responding - this will help make my decision. Elizabeth

For water you are going to drink, filtering is the better way to soften the water, rather than using a water softener, which replaces the calcium in the water with salt. Distilling is the the cleanest water, but it take a lot of energy compared to filtering.

Bryan or David, Can we drink store bought distilled water & what do you think of Suncloud's suggestion for the easy water conditioner? I have 6 kids, so storebought distilled water would require a lot of hauling (we go through a lot of water). Thanks again for responding. Water is the final piece of this lifestyle I need to nail down. Elizabeth

Store bought distilled water is going to be costly and requires a lot of work carrying all that water.

Filtering is a cheaper option and more convenient option. A lot of my friends have multipures. I have a cheaper filter, a crystal quest, as I don't drink much water since most of my hydration comes from fruit. I most use the filtered water to water my plants and wash my fresh produce.

I also have a water distiller. Its a cheap option for distilling, but it still is a lot of work, and I don't really drink water anyways, so it sits in my closet. I will make a bunch of distilled water when I do a water fast, but even then, I only drink less than a cup of water a day on a water fast.

I have a separate water filter for my shower, a sprite shower filter.

I don't know about the solutions that suncloud has mentioned, as I don't have experience with them.

also most store bought waster is in plastic which supposedly isnt very good either unless you can get it in glass

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist