Think of salt like coffee beans. You have grocery-store basics, fancy boutique blends, and the stuff that might just wreck your machine. For your softener, you’ve got three main contenders: rock salt, solar salt, and evaporated salt.
Rock salt is the cheap, lumpy cousin who shows up uninvited. It’s cheap, but it leaves behind a nasty sludge of insolubles that gunks up your tank. You’ll be cleaning that thing out with a spatula and a lot of grumbling.
Solar salt is the middle child—better, but still not perfect. It comes from evaporated seawater and looks like shiny crystals. It’s a solid choice if you’re on a budget, but watch out for the dreaded “salt bridge.” That’s when the salt hardens into a crusty dome inside your tank, tricking the system into thinking it’s full. It’s the water softener equivalent of an empty gas tank with a full gauge.
If you want the VIP treatment, go for evaporated salt. It’s the purest, most expensive option. It dissolves like a dream and leaves nearly no mess. Think of it as the single-origin pour-over of water softening.
