While we had a water softener, it didn't prevent the water from developing a rusty tint. It didn't keep our bathtubs and sinks from turning orange. It didn't prevent heavy alkali deposits on everything.
Even though we are now in town and on city water we still have deposits. Nothing like that ugly orange that ruined everything back then, but we do have minerals that leave a white residue behind. It's like that science experiment I did in school - take a pie plate of water and add some salt. Let it sit on the windowsill in the sun and see what's left behind.
So for the answer to Day 377's mystery picture...
While this bowl didn't have any salt added, you can clearly see what happens when just plain tap water winds up evaporating in a blue cat bowl.
