Meet a neighbor helping protect our freshwater from salt pollution! Peter, a Middleton resident, is one of the first in the area to install a blending valve on his home water softener—an easy upgrade that reduces salt use while keeping great water quality. Hear from Peter in this video.
Peter joined a pilot program led by the District in partnership with the City of Middleton, which offered free blending valves to Middleton households to test in their homes. His motivation was simple: protect the environment for future generations.
“As a parent and grandparent, I would like to make sure that I can keep the Earth alive as long as I can for my progeny,” he said.
Another motivator to install a blending valve was the minimal impact it would have on his home’s water quality.
“You said the change was not a dramatic change at all, that it was just a little bit of change that we would very doubtfully notice, and you were right,” said Peter. “I have noticed, and my wife has noticed, no change whatsoever in our water.”
How blending valves work
A blending valve adjusts the hardness level of the water leaving a softener. In the Middleton pilot, Dave Jones plumbers installed and set valves that produced a blend of roughly 25% hard water and 75% soft water, instead of the typical 100% soft water when no blending valve is installed. This small shift leads to a 25% reduction in salt use over time, resulting in less salt passing through the wastewater system and into freshwater streams.
Some people prefer very soft water, while others like a bit of hardness. Blending valves give residents the ability to find the balance that’s right for them. For many households, the change is unnoticeable or even welcome. For Peter, the change was undetectable.
“I’ve tested the water a couple of times, and it still shows that it’s soft,” he said. “A better criterion than that is that our dishes coming out of the dishwasher are the same, and our clothing coming out of the washing machine feels the same as before.”
Would he recommend it? Absolutely.
When asked if he’d encourage his neighbors to install a blending valve, Peter didn’t hesitate.
“It saves you money, there is really no visible change that you can find in the water from pre-installment to post-installment, and I would strongly advocate for it.”
