With more than 30 years’ experience in the residential and commercial water treatment space, Mark Nelson is a Class 1 Drinking-Water Operator and a CBWA (Canadian Bottled Water Association) Certified Plant Operator. As founder and president of Nelson Water in Ottawa, Mark focuses on dealing with challenging water treatment system designs for problem water. He also heads the largest water bottling plant in the city of Ottawa with a delivery network throughout the Valley.

When you have a dog, it becomes part of your family, and you want the best for your furry friends. One of the most essential aspects of daily dog care is to ensure that there is a dish of clean water available at all times. Remember that a dog cannot perspire; the only way a canine can cool itself down is to pant and drink water. But, if you live in a home with a supply of hard water and you want to make the switch to soft water, will this affect the quality of drinking water for your dog? In this article, we will take a closer look at these issues to help you make an informed decision.

What is Hard Water?

Hard water has an elevated concentration of certain mineral content, including calcium, magnesium, and iron. The level of hardness can vary, and this phenomenon is entirely natural. Water is an effective solvent; as it comes into contact with minerals, they are dissolved and added to its makeup. Calcium, magnesium, and iron are all essential nutrients for life, but the take-up of them is poor in water, and we get more from our diet. Both private well and municipal water users are affected because hard water can be added to waterways and aquifers. Hard water can have a number of negative effects on a home due to the accumulation of scale, which damages plumbing pipes and water using appliances. Another problem is the mineral content that’s left behind on skin and hair after washing. This can lead to tangled hair, clogged pores, dandruff, acne breakouts, dry skin, and other problems.

What is Soft Water?

We don’t get many sources of naturally soft water supplied to homes in North America, and most people install a water softener if they want to remove the hardness. There are many types of water softener methods, but the most reliable is an ion-exchange system. The incoming water passes through a bed filled with resin beads where the mineral ions are exchanged with a more benign salt ion. Over time the resin bead surfaces can be covered with mineral ions, and they are periodically flushed clean with a regeneration cycle. A very tiny amount of sodium (salt) is added to the water, but this may be a concern if your dog is on a low salt diet. A good alternative is to use potassium; instead, it’s still a salt, but it is a gentler solution. Soft water is easier to use around the home; it’s better for your skin, hair, and nails and kinder to your plumbing system.

Is Hard Water Good for Dogs?

Water experts are clear that drinking hard water is not a health concern for humans or dogs. In certain cases, a veterinarian may advise a pet owner to avoid giving untreated tap water to a cat or dog. But, this isn’t due to an inherent risk caused by the elevated levels of mineral content. It’s due to the addition of chemicals that are added to the public water by the local water treatment plant. Many public water suppliers add chlorine, chloramine (chlorine and ammonia), and fluoride to your drinking water. These chemicals are added as a disinfectant or to improve health, but some people and pets are very sensitive to them. If your water is sourced from a private well, you have the responsibility to test your own water for contaminants. It is also possible to find contaminants in public water due to breaks in the water delivery network. Even a small crack can allow bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants to enter the water supply.

Is Soft Water Good for Dogs?

As we mentioned earlier, an ion-exchange water softener could add minute quantities of sodium to the drinking water. A human on a low sodium diet would probably be advised to avoid sodium softened water, and that’s equally true for a dog. It’s important to realize that the quantity of sodium added would vary depending on the hardness of the incoming water. If your water had moderate levels of dissolved minerals, you won’t need much softening to remove them, and less sodium is added. But, if you or your dog are especially sensitive to sodium, you may find that a potassium water softener salt is a better solution. A water softener used in isolation cannot remove other contaminants, such as chlorine, chloramine, fluoride, bacteria, viruses, pathogens, heavy metals, total dissolved solids (TDS), and others. If you want to remove these contaminants to get close to pure drinking water, you need a reverse osmosis system.

What is Reverse Osmosis?

Reverse osmosis or RO is a mechanical water filtration system that adds no chemicals to the water. The incoming water is placed under pressure and forced through a semi-permeable membrane with tiny pores that only allow water molecules to pass through. This type of filtration method is very effective, and it can remove around 99% of contaminants from water. This process can take a while, so the cleaned water is stored in a tank ready for use. Many people install their RO system under the kitchen sink as point-of-use system at that tap only. This gives them very clean drinking water that they can then use to make beverages, fill jugs for the fridge, and fill pans for cooking purposes. As you can imagine, this is excellent drinking water for the entire family, including your dog(s).

What About Bottled Water?

Many bottled waters contain similar levels of contaminants to the drinking water that comes from your tap. Even if you invest in better quality bottles of mineral water, you will run into a few problems:

  1. Good quality bottled water is expensive when you compare it to the cost of installing and maintaining a RO system in your home.
  2. It’s hard to store multiple bottles of water because they can take up a lot of space.
  3. You have to carry all those bottles of water from the store to your car and into your home, which is an exhausting hassle.

If you want to install a reverse osmosis filtration system in your home, contact your local water treatment specialist today.