Why are salt-based water softeners banned in cities across the United States?
Salt-based water softeners use salt as a regenerative agent. When salt-based water softeners regenerate, the brine, which is full of chlorides, is transferred to the wastewater treatment plant. From the wastewater treatment plant, chloride is discharged into streams and rivers. Chloride is detrimental to the ecosystems of streams and rivers and hazardous to the environment. The EPA and various States have established certain regulatory levels for chloride discharge from municipal and local wastewater treatment plants which many treatment plants are having difficulty meeting. The treatment plants can spend significant amounts to upgrade their equipment to handle the ever-rising levels of chlorides, or ban the future use of regenerating salt-based water softeners, which are significant sources of contaminating chlorides.
