Softened Water Taste

Q: What’s wrong with the taste of my water? I just installed a water softener and my water now has a sort of plastic-like taste now. I ran the cleaning cycle after installation, then added rock salt to the reservoir, following the instructions. I find the water almost undrinkable.

A: It doesn’t sound like you ruined anything, since it’s common for water to taste different once it has been artificially softened. The most common way around this problem is to install an unsoftened water line to the cold-water tap in the kitchen. If you don’t notice soap and shampoo lathering more fully when used at other sinks and showers, have a service technician check the unit, just to be sure it’s working. I’d bet that everything is fine.