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Potassium As a Nutrient in Drinking Water

Although sodium chloride has long been the standard water softener salt, potassium chloride works exactly the same way and has certain advantages over sodium. Potassium is a nutrient that promotes liver function, prevents bone loss, and promotes the secretion of insulin. Potassium water softeners work exactly like the sodium kind.

  1. How It Works

    • Potassium water softening tanks have resin beads that contain potassium chloride ions. When water passes through the chamber, the beads remove minerals that make the water hard--magnesium and calcium--and replace them with potassium ions. The amount of potassium in the water depends on the hardness of the water.

    Levels

    • The World Health Organization (WHO) states in its 2009 Guidelines for Drinking Water that the amount of potassium in softened water will have little or no effect on healthy people, who get their potassium from food--fruits and vegetables being the best source--or from supplements. There isn't enough potassium in water to make it a primary or supplemental source. The harder the water is, though, the higher the level of potassium it will take to treat it. At some levels there are health risks for people who are sensitive to potassium.

    Risk Groups

    • People with hypertension, heart disease, kidney malfunction, diabetes, coronary disease, and adrenal insufficiency should avoid drinking water with high levels of potassium. African-Americans are particularly susceptible to hypertension, and older people are more likely to have reduced liver and kidney function.

    Benefits

    • Although the health benefits of potassium water softening may be negligible for humans, it can be beneficial to plants and soil. When you regenerate the water softening chamber with a potassium or sodium softener, the excess passes through the sewage system into the soil. Sodium is detrimental to soil and vegetation whereas potassium is a much-needed nutrient, making the soil more stable and the vegetation lush. The Water Quality Association notes, though, that too much potassium in the soil can be detrimental to plants and recommends the instillation of another tank to catch the excess, which the homeowner can then dilute and add to the soil.

    Cost

    • As of 2010, the price of potassium seems to be on the rise. "Agronomy for Sustainable Development"--an agriculture magazine--noted in 2009 that the demand for potassium as a fertilizer in developing countries had driven the cost up significantly.

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