Hello: We are using potassium chloride in our water softener and would like to change to sodium chloride. We were told by our realtor when we purchased the house that if we switched to a salt from the potassium then it would ruin the water pipes in the house. Is this true?
No. The process of ion exchange adds a very small amount of sodium or potassium to your water (ppm level – normally only measurable by laboratory methods). Generally, it can be stated that cations of sodium and potassium exert little effect on corrosion rate. Whether there is sodium chloride or potassium chloride in your water at these levels should have no effect on your piping.