Sodium is a naturally occurring mineral that is found in almost everything you consume.  From apples to almonds, the water and milk we all drink, sodium is a common ingredient.  So when someone say's "Sodium is used to soften water" : This is one of the biggest miss statement / misconceptions!  Here's why.  Calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) ions that cause water hardness can be removed fairly easily by using an ion exchange procedure. Standard water softeners are cation exchange devices. Cations refer to positively charged ions dissolved in the water. Cation exchange involves the replacement of the hardness ions with a non hardness ion. Water softeners usually use sodium (Na+) as the exchange ion. Sodium ions are supplied from dissolved sodium chloride salt, also called brine. In the ion exchange process, sodium ions are used to coat an exchange medium in the softener. The exchange medium can be natural “zeolites” or synthetic resin beads that resemble wet sand. As hard water passes through a softener, the calcium and magnesium trade places with sodium ions.  Sodium ions are held loosely and are replaced easily by calcium and magnesium ions. During this process, “free” sodium ions are released into the water.  After softening a large quantity of hard water, the exchange medium becomes coated with calcium and magnesium ions. When this occurs, the exchange medium must be recharged or regenerated.  To recharge the softener with sodium ions, a softener is back flushed with a salt brine solution. During a back flush, the brine solution replaces the calcium and magnesium ions on the exchange medium with sodium ions from the salt solution.  The Chloride part of "sodium chloride" along with the calcium and magnesium is back flushed and to drain.  The Sodium and Carbonate  ( from calcium carbonate "hard water") are what is exchanged and thus what is in your water after the softening process.. Baking Soda thus is the by product of a water softener.  So Sodium is not a softening component, it is converted to a detergent to clean the Ion Exchange Resin which is the means to soften the water.  Now Sodium Carbonate is different than Sodium Chloride.  But technically it is classified as a salt. In Most Cases You will intake higher levels of sodium from your every day diet.  According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the recommended limit for sodium is less than 2,300 mg a day. The average American consumes about 3,400 mg a day, but the vast majority of sodium comes from table salt and processed and prepared foods, like cold cuts, canned soups, fast food, and frozen dinners. Here are the sodium levels of some common food items: *An 8-ounce glass of low-fat milk contains about 120 mg of sodium *One egg contains 59 mg of sodium *An 8-ounce glass of orange juice contains about 25 mg *A can of soda contains 40-45 mg *Depending on the brand, a standard 1-ounce slice of bread has between 80 and 230 mg of sodium *A teaspoon of regular table salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium When you do the math, water softeners add a very small amount of sodium to your diet. Considering the many benefits of installing a water softener, you may still feel nervous about any additional salts added to your daily intake.  A water filter system like reverse osmosis will absolutely remove the sodium carbonate that is the result of a water softener.    

Over the last five years I have seen several web based companies selling a "Salt Free Water Softener".  Which I find very upsetting.  The hardness in water is a liquid called calcium carbonate.  As air comes in contact with the liquid hardness it is converted to a solid.  That is the build up you see on your faucets, fixtures and on your appliances.  Now in order to remove the liquid hardness out of your water we have to go back in time to the later 1800's.  That is when a filter media called resin was invented.  During the industrial revolution clean water was necessary for certain manufacture practices.  With the invention of Resin, hardness as a liquid was able to be removed from water.  Now the Resin has a negative charge which would attract the positive charge calcium carbonate (hard water).  OK back to my topic of salt free water softeners.!  Since hardness is a liquid, THEIR has not been any invention or filter media invented that can remove hardness from the water with out the process of ion exchange.  See water softener salt is used as a detergent.  The salt mixed with water turns into a saline solutions which cleans the water softener resin from the liquid hardness it has accumulated. NOW over the years I have heard of magnets being able to re polarize the hard water minerals in the water so they do not bond to anything.  Again, that is just silly non sense at best/  If water hardness being a liquid, then how can any magnetic adjust or magnetize a liquid?  or better yet, as calcium carbonate reaches oxygen and converts to a solid (hard water mineral/build up), will a magnet attract a rock?    If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to contact "Paul The Water Man" at Water Pros 720-951-4130

From An Article : by Dr. Edward Group DC, NP, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM Published on June 26, 2011, Last Updated on September 14, 2015  Chlorine Water   Adding chlorine to drinking water is a practice that began in the late 1800s, and by 1904 this was the standard in water treatment. For the most part, this process is still implemented today. Unfortunately, chlorine isn’t used because it’s the safest or most effective means of disinfection — it’s just the cheapest. In spite of all our technological advances, we essentially still pour bleach in our water before we drink it. The long-term effects of chlorinated drinking water have just recently being recognized. Past research has indicated it may be a contributor to cancer; however, there is no conclusive data to replicate these findings. [1] History of Chlorine Danger   Dr. Joseph Price wrote a highly controversial book in the late sixties titled Coronaries/Cholesterol/Chlorine and concluded that the basic cause of atherosclerosis and resulting entities such as heart attacks and stroke, is chlorine. While the study abstract is not available online, if you read his book, Dr. Price reported using chickens as test subjects in one of his studies where two groups of several hundred birds were observed throughout their span to maturity. One group was given water with chlorine and the other without. The group raised with chlorine, when autopsied, supposedly showed some level of heart or circulatory disease in every specimen, yet the group without had no incidence of disease. The group with chlorine under winter conditions showed outward signs of poor circulation, shivering, drooped feathers, and a reduced level of activity. The group without chlorine grew faster, larger, and displayed vigorous health. It would be a common sense conclusion that if regular chlorinated tap water is not good enough for the chickens, then it probably is not good enough for us humans! Chlorine Dangers Today   There is a lot of well-founded concern about chlorine. When chlorine is added to our water, it combines with other natural compounds to form Trihalomethanes (chlorination byproducts), or THMs. These chlorine byproducts trigger the production of free radicals in the body, causing cell damage, and are highly carcinogenic. The Environmental Defense Fund warns that, “Although concentrations of these carcinogens (THMs) are low, it is precisely these low levels that cancer scientists believe are responsible for the majority of human cancers in the United States.“ Chlorine is a pesticide and its sole purpose is to kill living organisms. When we consume water containing chlorine, it destroys cells and tissue inside our body. Dr. Robert Carlson, a highly respected University of Minnesota researcher whose work is sponsored by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, sums it up, “the chlorine problem is similar to that of air pollution” and adds that “chlorine is the greatest crippler and killer of modern times!”    Chlorine and Breast Cancer   Breast cancer, which now affects one in every eight women in North America, has recently been linked to the accumulation of chlorine compounds in the breast tissue. A study carried out in Hartford Connecticut, the first of its kind in North America, found that; “women with breast cancer have 50% to 60% higher levels of organochlorines (chlorination byproducts) in their breast tissue than women without breast cancer.”     Chlorine Inhalation   One of the most shocking components to all of these studies is that up to 2/3s of our harmful exposure to chlorine is due to inhalation of steam and skin absorption while showering. [2] A warm shower opens up the pores of the skin and allows for accelerated absorption of chlorine and other chemicals in water. The steam we inhale while showering can contain up to 50 times the level of chemicals than tap water due to the fact that chlorine and most other contaminants vaporize much faster and at a lower temperature than water. Inhalation is a much more harmful means of exposure since the chlorine gas (chloroform) we inhale goes directly into our blood stream. When we drink contaminated water the toxins are partially filtered out by our kidneys and digestive system. Chlorine vapors are known to be a strong irritant to the sensitive tissue and bronchial passages inside our lungs; it was used as a chemical weapon in World War II. The inhalation of chlorine is a suspected cause of asthma and bronchitis, especially in children, which has increased 300% in the last two decades. “Showering is suspected as the primary cause of elevated levels of chloroform in nearly every home because of chlorine in the water.” Dr Lance Wallace, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.   Chlorine in shower water also has a very negative cosmetic effect, robbing our skin and hair of moisture and elasticity, resulting in a less vibrant and youthful appearance. Anyone who has ever swam in a chlorinated pool can relate to the harsh effects that chlorine has on the skin and hair. What’s surprising is that we commonly find higher levels of chlorine in our tap water than is recommended safe for swimming pools.    Chlorine Tastes Bad   Aside from all the health risks related to chlorine in our water, some say it is the primary cause of bad taste and odor in drinking water. The objectionable taste causes many people to turn to other less healthful beverages like soft drinks, tea, or other sweetened drinks. A decreased intake of water, for any reason, can only result in a lower degree of health.    Removing Chlorine From Water   The good news is that chlorine is one of the easiest substances to remove from our water. For that reason, it logically should serve its purpose of keeping our water free from harmful bacteria and water borne diseases right up to the time of consumption, where it should then be removed by quality home water filtration. No one will argue that chlorine serves an important purpose, and that the hazards of doing away with chlorine are greater than or equal to the related health risks. The simple truth is that chlorine is likely here to stay. The idea that we could do away with chlorine any time in the near future is just not realistic. It is also clear that chlorine represents a very real and serious threat to our health and should be removed in our homes, at the point of use, both from the water we drink and the water we shower in.