Soft water when filling fresh water tank

[RDP]

I have soft water at home, when filling the fresh water should I bypass the water softener? I have done it with and without and I like the soft water in the tank for showers. What about the question of the higher sodium level during storage in the water heater and fresh water tank? Thanks!

[stenzack]

If I am only traveling a short distance from home, I almost always fill my tank with soft water prior to departure. We them have fewer hard water stains to deal with. Long trips are a different story. No way would I carry that extra weight. I gallon of water equals 8.34 pounds.

[Morich]

Higher sodium content is pretty much a theory than an actual fact to worry about. Many of the ideas come from doctors who advise against softened water for heart reasons. The problem is that most doctors have little mechanical knowledge and don't know how softeners work.
Tech specs on softeners tell us that they leave only about the amount of sodium that a single slice of white bread contains!
Step one to understanding is that the salt we add to the softener is not left in the water. There are several modes of operation on softeners, brine rinse being one where the brine that is used to do the ion exchange is then rinsed out of the media and down the drain. Technically there IS some sodium left in the resin tank but that is true of detergent left on dishes after being rinsed. Rinsing things TOTALLY is not done in most cases.
I breed freshwater fish where salt is often a big concern for fishkeepers but it is not a big problem as even the meds for fish have salt in them. Just confusion and that is true of using it in RV storage tanks.
There is a timer on softeners which is often not reset and if that happens, one can get salty water if the recharge cycle is done while you are drawing a glass of water. So check the timer to make sure it is set to match when you are sleeping but in an RV, there is far more salt in a bag of chips and it will not bother anything in the plumbing. Actually will keep things cleaner not to have all the calcium and magnesium.
We water one side of the yard with softened water!

[creativepart]

When filling my fresh water tank I always use water from the portable water softener. No matter where I am filling the tank from, home or away.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by creativepart

When filling my fresh water tank I always use water from the portable water softener. No matter where I am filling the tank from, home or away.

Sort of, me too. We get our tap water from the most pure source In the country—Hetch Hetchy reservoir, from the Yosemite highlands,

One can drink it right from the lake, an adulterated.

But, once in the RV tanks, we still only use it for dishes and showers.

We being along Crystal Geyer's for ice and drinking.

I carry 5 gallons of shoreline water on the road, to minimize weight.

When I get to a hook-up, I don’t fill the tanks, I just use the local water as a throughput for servicing the toilets, showers, dishes, etc.

[Morich]

Originally Posted by RDP

I have soft water at home, when filling the fresh water should I bypass the water softener? I have done it with and without and I like the soft water in the tank for showers. What about the question of the higher sodium level during storage in the water heater and fresh water tank? Thanks!

On the question of what water to use, have you verified that the hose you use is actually getting soft water? Many locations do not connect the outside faucets to the soft water system as water for the yard does not need to be soft and many do object to it. If you are using an outside faucet to fill or have some reason to know, it is possible that your outside faucet gives you the unsoftened water while your inside faucets are soft. Different building codes do different things, so it sometimes need a look to know.

[RDP]

Originally Posted by Morich

On the question of what water to use, have you verified that the hose you use is actually getting soft water? Many locations do not connect the outside faucets to the soft water system as water for the yard does not need to be soft and many do object to it. If you are using an outside faucet to fill or have some reason to know, it is possible that your outside faucet gives you the unsoftened water while your inside faucets are soft. Different building codes do different things, so it sometimes need a look to know.

I am in an older home that we just added soft water. Only non-soft water is the cold water side in the kitchen sink. If I use a outside the faucet for watering (rare occurrence) I will bypass the soft water tank. Thanks Richard