Hard water is basically water that’s packed with calcium and magnesium minerals. They’re not harmful, but they leave crusty scale on your faucets and make your soap feel sad and slimy. A water softener swaps those hard minerals for something else—sodium ions—using a process called ion exchange.
Here’s the twist: the sodium comes from a salt brine used to recharge the system, but it’s not poured directly into your water. Think of it more like a trade—the hard minerals get kicked out, and a tiny bit of sodium stays behind. We’re talking about an amount so small, it’s often less than what’s in a slice of bread.
