Re: Clean Water and a Healthy Planet

That is interesting information about the connection between Chloride levels and sewage levels - I had no idea.

The sanitary aspect of the brine or the effluent isn't the issue with the Chloride problem, though from what you said it sounds like those measurements were tied together in the beginning. There are very real environmental reprecussions to elevated Chloride levels, as I mentioned before. From what I understand, you can have perfectly satisfactory water quality of effluent from a sanitary perspective and still have a problem with the chloride levels harming the environment.

These municipalities that have targeted brine discharge have indeed done studies and discovered that the vast majority of chlorides come from softeners, with incorrect application of fertilizers from farmers running a very distant second.

Out here in California, most people use whole house water softeners - Culligan has done a bangup job of convincing people they need them or dire consequences will result. From my experience - water with a hardness measurement below 7-8 grains is quite easy to live with and doesn't cause significant problems to warrant a softener. But sales people will do their fear-mongering and convince people otherwise, to the detriment of the environment.