What Type of Water Softener Salt Should I Use?

The form of salt you need depends upon the water softener system that you have installed. Without salt, your water softener cannot do its job of removing hardness minerals from your water. Ordering the wrong salt for your water softener system can be an expensive mistake and can cause blockages within the machine and lead to costly repairs.

There are four main different forms of water softener salt:

• Block salt
• Tablet or crystal salt
• Granular salt, or
• Bulk PDV salt (for specialist large scale commercial water treatment equipment, often called salt saturators)

If you are unsure, it is best to check with your manufacturer which salt format is needed for your water softener or our team of experts can offer some general guidance around water softener salt.

Block Salt

These high purity blocks of salt are intended for the use in block salt water softeners. Normally block salt is sold in 8kg packs, with two 4kg blocks in each pack, with a handle for easy carrying. The leading brands also include small ‘grip’ indents in the sides of the blocks, to make them easier to hold when lowering into the salt cabinet of the water softener.

Each block is individually manufactured by filling a mould with fine salt (table salt) and applying very high pressure. Consistency of compression is essential to achieving a block that does not crumble in the pack or fall apart. PDV (vacuum salt) is the best feed salt for this purpose, because of the consistent particle size distribution, with the added benefit that it is very pure, with a low level of insoluble.

Block salt softeners are popular within homes across the UK as block salt is easy to load into the specially designed salt bays. Kinetico are the world leaders in water softening technology and their block salt is suitable for use in most major block salt water softeners.

Tablet Salt

Tablet salt is intended for use in a variety of domestic and commercial water softeners. They are normally available in both 10kg and 25kg bags as standard. 10kg bags generally have a handle for ease of handling and loading, whereas 25kg bags are perfect where salt demand is high as it offers best value for money.

Tablet salt is typically manufactured from high purity vacuum salt, which is extracted from underground mines and is then purified through the vacuum process, and compressed into tablet form (typically either round tablets or pillow shaped tablets) through applying very high pressure.

Some tablet salt on the market is made from refined sea salt, to varying quality levels and it is important to make sure that any tablet salt you use meets the high standards required for water softening. Tablet shapes, hardness of compaction, and tablet sizes can vary between brands. Aquasol tablet and Hydrosoft tablet are both well known brands, valued for their high quality, manufactured from PDV (vacuum salt) right here in the UK.

Crystal Salt

Soft-Sel Crystal salt is an excellent alternative for more traditional tablet salt that has been introduced into the UK market in the last few years and can be used in all tablet salt water softeners. Crystal salt’s purity matches the most trusted brands of tablet salt, with the added benefit of being more environmentally conscious. Due to the fact that crystal salt is refined with solar energy, it can have up to a 75% lower carbon footprint than traditional tablet salt brands.

Granular Salt

Granular salt water softeners are less common in the UK now, although these were very popular so there are still a number of residential and commercial units that are designed to use granular salt. Granular salt cannot be used in a tablet water softener as the crystal particles are too small and can cause blockages, so to avoid costly repairs check carefully with your water softener provider.

PDV Salt

Large commercial sites can use a salt saturator in place of a commercial water softener, which creates a brine from fine PDV salt (or sometimes granular salt) to use for softening water in a wide variety of business and services including hotels, hospitals, food manufacturing, and water treatment facilities. The PDV salt is typically delivered in a bulk tanker and is blown directly into the salt storage unit for constant supply of high quality water softener salt.

For large supply of PDV salt by bulk tanker, please talk to our commercial team who would be more than happy to discuss your specific requirements.

Remember, not all water softener salt is created equal.

Choose PureSalt for Reliable Water Softener Salt

Here at PureSalt, we only stock water softener salt brands that we trust to offer consistent high purity. For more support on what salt would be best for your water softener salt, please contact our expert team who will be happy to help.