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Madison sewer district offers a dozen free blending valves to Middleton residents to cut salt pollution
Summary
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District said it has about a dozen free blending valves for Middleton residents to test on water softeners as part of a pilot with the City of Middleton; the district said valves reduce salt use but provided no details on pickup or sign-up.
Emily Jones, pollution prevention specialist with the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, told Middleton residents the district has "about a dozen blending valves left to give to you for free" for homeowners who want to test one on their water softener.
The outreach is part of a pilot the sewerage district is running with the City of Middleton to evaluate whether blending valves can reduce salt pollution from household softeners. "Blending valves are a simple add on to water softeners that are compatible with many types of softeners in our area," Jones said, describing the devices as broadly usable.
Jones said installation is straightforward: "A plumber can install a blending valve in a quick service call. They'll adjust the valve to allow a little bit of hard water to mix with softened water leaving the softener, which reduces the amount of salt your softener uses." The announcement framed the valves as a way to lower salt discharges to the environment but did not include details on how residents should obtain a valve or any eligibility criteria.
No timeline, pickup instructions, or contact information were provided in the announcement. The district presented the distribution as a small-scale pilot to test effectiveness with local residents; next steps or evaluation metrics were not specified.
