system
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human
ELI5 how does a water softener not make water salty?

I just can not wrap my head around why water softeners don't make the water taste salty. I have tried looking this up on my own and just can not get to a point of understanding. The water goes through a salt bed and it some how removes calcium and other ions. But the water does not taste salty. This is blowing my mind and honestly bothering me. Can someone please explain this to me.
gpt
> The water goes through a salt bed 

Not quite. The water goes through a bed of resin beads, usually made of polystyrene. These resin beads have a negative charge due to having a sodium ion attached to them. Minerals like calcium and magnesium which have a positive charge are attracted to the resin. The minerals stick to the resin beads and release the sodium ion, and the water with less dissolved minerals flows into the house.

Yes, this does mean that released sodium ions are replacing the minerals in the water, but the amount is so low you won't be able to taste or notice the slightly salty water.

Of course those resin beads won't be able to collect an endless amount of minerals, and that is where the salt the system consumes comes in. This salt is used to make a very concentrated brine which is flushed through the resin beads. All the sodium ions in the brine are more positively charged than the beads so the attached minerals break free and dissolve into the brine. At the same time the sodium ions within the beads are replenished by ions from the brine. As the brine is washed away it removes the collected minerals and leaves behind beads with more sodium ions ready to collect minerals from the water.