Yes, any water softener will work with potassium chloride salts, however some loss of capacity between regenerations can occur. Please consult with your dealer. If your reasoning for using "potassium salt" is for health concerns remember that potassium chloride is also a salt. Consult with your doctor whenever there is a health concern about your water.

Potassium vs. Salt

Most water softeners remove hardness, (calcium and magnesium) and iron from the water through an ion exchange process. With salt pellets in the softener, as hardness and iron are held in the resin, sodium is released to the softened water. The harder the water, the more sodium is added. In addition, even more sodium may be naturally present in water.

With potassium chloride pellets, no additional sodium is added to the water during the ion exchange process, and native sodium is reduced, if not totally removed.

Water, softened with potassium would add no sodium to a person's daily diet. Instead, the person would receive a dietary bonus of healthful potassium: 427 milligrams (or 22% of the minimum recommended daily requirements of 1,950 milligrams of adult dietary potassium. Other dietary sources of potassium include bananas, oranges, lettuce, beans, peas and fresh vegetables).

The positive effect that potassium has on human health goes beyond its role as a salt substitute

.Your plants thrive better with potassium treated water, versus water treated with conventional salt systems. Additionally, bathing in water treated with potassium doesn't leave the "slick and slimy" feeling traditionally associated with salt based systems.

Potassium Chloride and the Environment

The key advantage of potassium over sodium is that potassium is a primary plant nutrient. Salt is not. This by itself greatly increases the potential uses for softened water and offers disposal options for waste brine. One good example is where the sewage sludge or effluent from a facility are being used for fertilization and/or irrigation of agricultural land. Both sewage sludge and effluent are deficient in potassium. Where sewage effluent is being used for irrigation of crops or lawns, sodium build-up in the soil is of concern to farmers and environmentalists.

Today, more and more, softeners are being targeted as one of the major sources of sodium and chlorides to the effluent. By using potassium as a regenerant, you reduce the amount of sodium present in the effluent and replace it with potassium. Potassium is less damaging to the soils and less mobile than sodium, especially in high-clay soils. Potassium is absorbed by plants; sodium is not. This reduces the potential for migration into ground water.
The use of potassium chloride as a regenerant will also result in a reduction of 12-20% in total chlorides being discharged to septic or sewage systems.

Any type of clean salt can be used. J H Barlow Pump & Water Conditioning recommends the use of either potassium chloride or solar salts. These two types of salt seem to be the cleanest and will cause the least problems in the brine tank.

J H BARLOW PUMP & WATER CONDITIONING at no time recommends the use of iron cleaner additives or "iron fitting type salts" with the use of its equipment. These cleaners will be harmful to the media.

Once in a while you get a glass of water, and it looks cloudy; maybe milky is a better term. After a few seconds it miraculously clears up! The cloudiness is due to tiny air bubbles in the water. Like any bubbles, the air rises to the top of the water and goes into the air, clearing up the water. The water in the pipes coming into your house might be under a bit of pressure, and gases (the air), which are dissolved in the pressurized water, will come out as the water flows into your glass, where is under normal atmospheric pressure.

Most of the chemical data that is reported for water is expressed as a concentration: 
One-Part-Per-Million can be thought of as one inch in 16 miles or one cent in $10,000. 
One-Part-Per-Billion can be thought of as one second of time in 32 years.

It is EXTREMELY MISLEADING to interpret these analogies to minimize the magnitude of the risks. Even miniscule amounts of certain contaminants can poison water. 

For most people, consuming small amounts of nitrate is not harmful. Nitrate can cause health problems for infants, especially those six months of age and younger. Nitrate interferes with their blood's ability to transport oxygen. This causes an oxygen deficiency, which results in a dangerous condition called methemoglobinemia, or "blue baby syndrome." The most common symptom of nitrate poisoning is bluish skin coloring, especially around the eyes and mouth. Infants six months of age and younger and pregnant and nursing women should avoid consumption of water high in nitrate. Cattle, horses, sheep, and baby pigs, are also susceptible to nitrate poisoning.

There are two types of water problems: Primary problems — the dangerous sort of problem and Aesthetic problems — things that affect the taste, look or smell of the water. Strange as it may seem, you could have an aesthetic problem (such as iron or manganese) that will not pose an actual health risk.

Nitrate travels easily through the soil, carried by rain or irrigation water into groundwater supplies. Wells that tap groundwater may be affected. Shallow wells, wells in sandy soil, or wells that are improperly constructed or maintained are more likely to have nitrate contamination.

Nitrate is a naturally occurring compound that is formed in the soil when nitrogen and oxygen combine. Small amounts of nitrate are normal, but excess amounts can pollute supplies of groundwater.

Common sources of nitrogen in the soil are fertilizers, livestock waste, and septic systems. Excess nitrate in the soil is most often found in rural and agricultural areas.

If sodium is a concern to you, your water quality improvement professional can explain the amount of sodium in softened water. This varies, depending on the hardness of the water supply. Any person on a sodium-restricted diet should follow the advice of his physician. All municipal water supplies contain some naturally occurring sodium. If the sodium-restricted diet is very strict, discuss the use of RO, or some other water quality improvement system to reduce the sodium to meet your requirements.

For the sake of comparison, one slice of white bread contains about 114 mg of sodium, and an eight ounce glass of milk contains 120 mg of sodium. If your water contains 10 grain per gallon (GPG), and if you consumed a total of one quart of softened water a day, your intake of additional sodium would be 75 mg - less than either a slice of bread or a glass of milk.

Hydrogen sulfide gas is a naturally occurring contaminant, which gives water a disagreeable rotten egg odor or taste. This usually indicates the presence of some form of non-harmful mineral reducing bacteria in the well. Testing is very difficult because it is a gas and it comes out of solution very quickly. There are no known health effects; however hydrogen sulfide can also make the water somewhat corrosive.

Water 'hardness' is caused by the minerals calcium and magnesium in ground and surface water. If either or both minerals are present in your drinking water in high concentrations, the water is considered 'hard.' These minerals come from sedimentary rock such as limestone that dissolves into our water. The result of hard water is difficulty making lather or suds for washing and a build-up of minerals on taps and on other fixtures. Water containing low concentrations of calcium or magnesium is called 'soft' water.

A water softener replaces the 'hardness' minerals with sodium or potassium. The amounts of these elements added to the water are relatively insignificant in comparison to what is ingested from your food and should not pose a health problem.

Most often, water softeners are regenerated with salt and water. Regeneration is a process by which the softening materials inside the softener can be used over and over again. Once the regeneration is completed, the salt and water solution is flushed into the drain.

As water passes through the atmosphere in the form of rain, snow, sleet, hail, dew, or fog, it picks up impurities and gases. And, because water is the universal solvent, it picks up even more impurities as it travels through the earth as ground water. What ever the water comes in contact with it will dissolve a part of it.

Water hardness is demonstrated by scale in water heaters or on plumbing fixtures, by soap deposits on dishes and fabrics, and by soap scum in sinks and bathtubs.

Costs vary depending on the number and type of tests you request. Call J.H. Barlow for pricing.

On an average it takes 1 to 2 weeks to receive the results of the water testing.

While do-it-yourself test kits are available on the market, these tests are never as accurate as those performed by a state-certified lab. Safe water shouldn't be a guessing game. To know what's in your water for sure, utilize the services of J.H. Barlow.

Many state and federal authorities recommend having your water tested annually for coliform bacteria and nitrates. Other contaminants should be tested for at least once every five to ten years.

While some contaminants will change the appearance or taste of the water, others cannot be seen, smelled, or even tasted. The only sure way to know is to have your water tested.

Yes. Water from a private well can be just as safe, if not safer, than municipal water. However, regular testing is needed to ensure a continued supply of clean, safe water.