9. Water Softeners vs. Conditioners: What You Need to Know

Is hard water wrecking your appliances—or worse, sneaking unwanted sodium into your tap? In this episode of The Toxic Truth About Water, Drs. Glenn and Ina clear up the confusion around water softeners and water conditioners. Learn how each system works, why softening isn’t the same as filtering, and discover better alternatives for both protecting your home and preserving essential minerals.

What You’ll Learn

• The Basics of Hard Water: Why minerals like calcium and magnesium can cause scale, but also benefit health.
• Softeners 101: How ion exchange adds sodium or potassium to remove hardness—and why that might harm more than help.
• Conditioners Explained: How these systems alter the structure of minerals to prevent build-up without adding salt.
• Key Distinction: Neither softening nor conditioning actually filters out contaminants—so you still need to protect your water.

Key Takeaways

1. Softeners ≠ Filters: Reducing scale doesn’t mean removing toxins—additional filtration is needed for genuine water purity.
2. Salt-Free Solutions Exist: Conditioners can preserve healthy minerals while preventing damage to pipes and appliances.
3. Consider Health & Environment: Added sodium from softeners can pose health risks, and salt discharge can harm the ecosystem.
4. Tailor Your Approach: Different regions have varying hardness levels—choose a system (or combination) that best suits your local water and personal needs.

Resources & Links

• Check Water Quality Reports: Environmental Working Group (EWG)
• Connect with Drs. Glenn & Ina:
  • Call Us Today: (732) 300-1925
  • Instagram: @drsglennandina

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Transcript

Glenn: 0:01

Welcome to the Toxic Truth About Water. We're Drs. Glenn and Ina, and in this podcast, we're uncovering the hidden dangers lurking in your water and how those contaminants impact your health.

Ina: 0:12

After decades of exploring natural health, we've learned the importance of clean, safe water. And we're here to share that knowledge with each of you, from the effects of toxins and contaminants to the solutions that you need. We've got the inside scoop. So as we say, let's dive in. Let's get started. And what are we talking about today, my baby?

Glenn: 0:34

Today, water softeners and water conditioners.

Ina: 0:37

And let me just say like a lot of you are like, oh, whoop dee doo. Who cares? And some of you may care because maybe you own a water softener. Some of you, maybe are thinking about getting a water softener. So we want to talk about what they are, why you would even use one, what the downside is, and some, alternatives and so forth.

Glenn: 0:58

Things you need to know.

Ina: 0:59

Yep. So typically homeowners. would potentially want a water softener for their home. And a water softener primarily removes hard minerals, mostly calcium, but magnesium, could be other minerals. It's removing it from the water, making it soft. So the soft water, the reason why, what's the point? Because when people live in states or areas where the water is hard. That means the mineral content is high past a certain point. So it's considered hard water and it will have a very negative impact on your pipes and your plumbing and on any appliances where water travels through such as washing machine, dishwasher, coffee maker.

Glenn: 1:51

I was going to say there's people, there are people who may watch this who didn't even realize that's exactly what it is. If you see a scaly buildup on your faucets, that's a sign of you have hard water.

Ina: 2:03

Often sometimes, not always, but the spots on your glasses or your shower could also be indicative of hard water. Some people notice that with hard water their hair and their skin doesn't feel so good. Water softeners use salt and exchange sodium for these minerals so the water feels a bit slimy. And it will prevent that buildup, that calcium carbonate, which is mostly what that scale buildup is. So when people decide to purchase a softener, it will be healthy for the house. Meaning that the plumbing, the pipes in the house, the appliances where water travels through, will live longer. So it will sustain the life of those appliances and all of your plumbing. So that's the plus side.

Glenn: 2:58

But not good for your body necessarily.

Ina: 3:02

And also not good for the environment.

Glenn: 3:03

So again, just to remind you, softeners use either salt or potassium and they're an ion exchange system that removes the calcium and the magnesium and other hard minerals that are naturally in the water that don't affect the taste, by the way, or clarity. Just so we're clear on that. It doesn't affect that, but again, does show up as spottiness on glass things like shower doors, possibly your glasses and build up on your appliances and definitely can take years off your appliances, having hard water.

Ina: 3:33

Correct. So there's, basically the reason that people would. by those softeners. Now, the downside is, as we just mentioned, first of all, it's not healthy to add sodium to your water, and it's not like a softener will cause your water to taste salty, Some people taste it because they're that sensitive, but for the most part It's not necessarily something you would pick up, but over time Adding sodium to your water is not healthy Particularly with people that have a tendency for high blood pressure, over time that sodium content not good for our health It's definitely not good for the environment,

Glenn: 4:19

There are a lot of municipalities that are stopping or now banning it, you know cut entire countries are actually yeah

Ina: 4:25

And in our country since that's really what we gear our conversations towards for the most part There are a couple states that are starting to ban softeners So the one thing we want you guys to understand because a lot of people that do have softeners They also think that Their water is not only being softened, but also filtered. And since we're talking about, the toxic truth about water, we want you guys to understand that a softener in and of itself is not a filter.

Glenn: 4:57

No, absolutely not. It's a big deal. And there are people, many people I've run into believe that they're, that's what was being done to their water. When they said, yeah, I have a softener system that cleans my water and, it takes the heart. And I go, no, it only takes hardness out of your water. It doesn't remove, impurities, contaminants,

Ina: 5:15

unless some people do purchase a softener with filtration. So that's a whole different story. But when people just have a softener that is not a filter. So that's the point we want to bring.

Glenn: 5:26

want to make sure that's clear

Ina: 5:28

now the other option. So again, we understand like when you have hard water. You want to protect your house, right? Absolutely. So a good alternative when we're just talking not filtration, but just handling the hardness is a conditioner versus a softener. So remember, so a softener will remove the hard minerals. Making it soft while a water conditioner actually alters the structure of these minerals to prevent them from building up on surfaces.

Glenn: 6:03

So let's clarify that because that's really important. So what you really ideally want to do is simply remove the scaling. You want to prevent scaling from happening, but ideally you want every natural mineral that's in your water to remain in the water. Healthy water contains, calcium and magnesium.

Ina: 6:25

And other minerals. It's just what's naturally found. It's what's in nature. So we don't want to remove those. But we want to remove the problem that results from it. So the cool thing about conditioners is it will prevent the scale from forming without adding salt and ruining the environment. So conditioners tend to be a better option, right? They tend to be a better option. However, again, like softeners, conditioners are not filters. So in and of themselves, softeners and conditions are not filters. They are often sold together, so

Glenn: 7:04

With a basic carbon filter,

Ina: 7:07

so that, so we, that's really the whole point of today is not a whole lot of information, but we did feel that it's important because since we've been living in Florida has hard water in most of Florida Utah, Arizona Florida those are some of the other states. There's, throughout the country, there are states that have much harder water. And in New Jersey, we never really had to think much about it. But down here in Florida, it's, definitely a concern. So that's why we wanted to bring it to your attention. Again, Glenn had said, so many people that have softeners, they do believe that their water is You know, the softener is handling the contaminant and by itself, a softener will not do that by itself. A conditioner will not do that. It will make the house healthy, your pipes healthy, your appliances last longer, but it's not going to do anything for your health and your wellbeing. So that was the point for today's episode.

Glenn: 8:05

Absolutely. So remember again, if you need to have hard water, our recommendation is think towards conditioning, rather than softening because the salt, there's a number of things, that we've talked about that are negative about it. So we'll stick on the positive side. So think conditioning when it comes to that. And always remember, Okay. Conditioners and softeners are not filters. So again, we want to thank you guys for tuning into this episode of the toxic truth about water. We hope you're walking away with valuable insights on how to protect yourself and your loved ones from the hidden toxins that we find in our water. And if you found value in today's episode, just be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of our upcoming episodes. And as always, feel free to share this podcast with your friends or family, anyone who could benefit from the information we've shared.

Ina: 8:54

So until next time, guys, remember, we are all in this together. So keep questioning, keep learning, stay healthy, and stay informed. Much love to all you guys. Bye for now.