Potassium Chloride Vs. Sodium Chloride in a water softener

[househelper]

I'm currently using regular salt pellets in my whole house water softener. Someone made a claim on another forum that if one switched from salt to potassium chloride you would have less sudsing and better rinsing of soap/detergent from laundry. Does anyone have experience in using potassium chloride in a whole house softener system? Is there any truth to this claim?

 

[nmassman44]

Well I can tell you from my experience...when I was living in Omaha I had a Rainsoft system and always used the Culligan Care Cubes for the salt. I let the reservior get down to nothing and cleaned it out and bought the potassium chloride ones...I forget the name of it and filled the reservior with 4 50 pound bags of the stuff. Normally that amount in regular salt would last about 3+ momths. The potassium ones didnt last more than 2 I would say. I didnt notice any difference so I switched back to the Culligan Care Cubes. That was much more economical than the potassium ones.

 

[househelper]

Hard water in Omaha

Wow 100 lbs in 2 months that's fast! My reservior is 80% full of salt pellets and will most likely take a year to empty. We currently have our Culligan set to regen with 5 lbs of salt and seems to be keeping the water soft the entire time between regeration cycles every 850 gal. Did you have to increase your dosage with the potassium?

 

[wiskybill]

One possible explanation...

I have a Kenmore softener for my well water. The owner's manual states that if you use potassium chloride in place of sodium chloride that you need to increase the hardness setting by 25%. In other words, it takes more KCl than NaCl to get the same softening capacity.

Maybe their water just wasn't as soft because they didn't adjust for the difference?

 

[hoovermatic]

I use Culligan Care Cubes! I didn't know they were available in the US as well!

 

[AZREOspecialist]

Potassium Chloride is more expensive than sodium chloride for the same quantity. You also have to use a higher amount of potassium chloride to regenerate your softener. Potassium chloride, however, is much friendlier to your body, the environment, and the various appliances you may be using. I originally used sodium chloride in my softener which resulted in a corroded water heater and several degraded O-rings in a couple of faucets in my new house. No such issues after switching to potassium chloride.

 

[househelper]

Thanks for the input everyone

I decided today I would switch to potassium chloride. I picked up a bag at wally world for $19 (ouch). Removed all my salt pellets and removed and cleaned out the Dark & muddy looking water from the brine tank. aside form the nasty looking brine water a dead tree frog was removed from my brine tank too... (Yuck!) I increased my regen dosage to 6 lbs (potassium chloride) per 870gal and will see how that works.

The cheapest potassium chloride is at Sam's club for $16.99 (40lbs) I'll stop and get a few more bags tomorrow.

 

[wiskybill]

More info...

As I said, I have a Kenmore softener. It's a single tank style. I noticed that you live in the Southeast USA where humidity and heat may be a factor.

Per my owners manual,
Do not add more than 60 lbs of KCl to the brine tank at any one time. If your unit is in an area with temperature fluctuations and high humidity, KCl may harden in these environments making the softener inoperable. Check the brine tank monthly and if hardening is present, pour small amounts of warm water on the hardened areas until they loosen.

Check your manual if you have one or maybe try Google to find one for your unit.

Hope this helps and that KCl works out for you.