Can You Eat Water Softener Salt?

Water softener salt is a necessary part of your water softener. Without it, your softener would cease to eliminate hard water minerals.

Softener salt is used during regeneration cycles to recharge the media so your softener can continue its ion-exchange process.

This also means that an annual cost of maintenance is in salt consumption and purchases. So often you may wonder if softener salt is useful for more than one purpose?

Water softener salt can be used to melt ice in some instances too. But that isn’t the only alternative. Other alternatives include using rock salt as well!

But is water softener salt safe for human consumption?

Well, read on ahead to find out!

Water softener cartridge with salt and a wooden spoon full of salt

Is Water Softener Salt Edible?

Water softener salt is categorized as sodium or potassium chloride. 

During the regeneration cycle, these water softener crystals or pellets are broken down to use sodium or potassium only. 

A small percentage of sodium or potassium may enter soft water. However, that water is completely safe to consume!

But water softener salts aren’t edible or safe for human or animal consumption. 

This is because they have different properties compared to food-grade salt and are in the form of pellets or crystals. 

If you happened to try consuming these, it would cause a stomachache or a more serious issue, especially if a large quantity was consumed. 

Food grade salt is derived from sodium chloride. However, the process of making these salts into pellets makes them harmful to be used for food processing as well!

Conclusion

As answered, water softener salt is neither edible nor safe for consumption.

So be careful before you think about adding it to your food!