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California utility considering salt-based water softener ban	<<>
Monday, June 07, 2010
CHINO, CALIF. — The Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) in Chino, Calif., is working on a plan to curb the use of salt-based water softeners in its service area, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported. The agency is considering a ban on the installation of any new salt-based softeners and may offer existing users incentives, such as rebates, to switch to salt-free systems, the article stated. According to IEUA officials, residential water softeners contribute 10 percent of all salt in the sewer system. “It’s a big water quality problem especially for places like the Chino Basin where we depend upon our groundwater and recycled water supplies to meet our water needs,” said John Anderson, an IEUA board member. But according to Eric Rosenthal, senior vice president of marketing for Culligan, banning salt-based water softeners will lead to other problems, the article stated. “You are trading [salinity] with increased use of detergents and energy waste,” said Rosenthal. “It’s not a free ride.” As another possible solution, IEUA is looking into off-site regeneration, in which tanks are switched out each month at a customer’s home and then regenerated at the company’s plant. The residual is then dumped into a brine line, which has no contact with the sewer system, according to the story. To read the entire article, click here. For related information, click here.