Morton softener salt quality getting worse?

[dc4517]

I'm coming across an issue with Morton softener salt purchased from Home Depot where the pellets are no longer white, but now a greyish, brownish, dirty color. Hopefully this is visible in the photos that I attached. Earlier bags with this color salt pellet didn't leave any residue, but just made the water brownish in color. My current bags of salt are now leaving a visible residue, which you can hopefully see on the sides of my tank in the photos. I'm concerned that it's going to clog up my softener as it's recharging.

Are you finding this issue as a common one? Are there other brands of softener salt that I should consider? My local Home Depot only has Morton.

I'm debating on whether to empty out the remaining salt in my talk and clean up the residue. Not relishing that task.

 

[Charlie Bosco]

WOW!!! I'd send those photos directly to Morton Customer Service.. is it superficial? or is that all the way through the pellets?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[dc4517]

The entire pellet is consistent (i.e. it is not just the surface of the pellet). I have reached out to Morton directly and waiting to hear back. I read a review on Home Depot's website of someone else coming across the same thing, and they showed it to Home Depot staff in the store. They examined every bag of Morton's Clean and Protect (yellow), and they were all the same brownish pellet. I have yet to do the same with my local Home Depot store.

Any suggested alternatives? Not sure who else produces softener salt of good quality.

 

[ditttohead]

Most salt is locally sourced. Shipping 50 pound bags of cheap stuff is difficult as shipping can quickly cost more than the product. This is common with items like gravel. We purchase 40,000 pounds every couple of weeks, the shipping is way more than the gravel. Morton pellets in California are not likely the same as Morton pellets in New York. I would try the solar crystal salt they have available to you locally, see if that is any better. Regardless, this is normal and cleaning your brine tank should be done regularly if your locally sourced salt is dirty.

 

[Reach4]

Diamond should be good. Costco carries 50 lb bags, but smaller in the iron-treating verison.

I have not opened my latest Morton Clean and Protect Water Softener Pellets (44 lbs.) from, Sams.

 

[ErnieO]

The entire pellet is consistent (i.e. it is not just the surface of the pellet). I have reached out to Morton directly and waiting to hear back. I read a review on Home Depot's website of someone else coming across the same thing, and they showed it to Home Depot staff in the store. They examined every bag of Morton's Clean and Protect (yellow), and they were all the same brownish pellet. I have yet to do the same with my local Home Depot store.

Any suggested alternatives? Not sure who else produces softener salt of good quality.

I have noticed the same thing. I was at a customer's house who had been buying that salt and the tank was really dirty. I cleaned out the tank and switched over to Diamond Crystal Bright water softener salt pellets. Seems to be cleaner and not leaving the black film in the brine tanks.

 

[Frandy]

Hi All,
Its now 2023 and my water softer has a lot of what appears to be dirt at the bottom from the grey morton salt. We also noticed that the water pressure has dropped and comes back to normal when i bypass the softner. Anyone else having these issues?

 

[Bannerman]

No salt is 100% pure. The brine tank should be cleaned out fully and sanitized every few years.

Loss of flow through a water softener is most often caused by damaged resin.

Any type of water softener resin will be damaged by constant chlorine exposure. Many softeners available from big box stores and online sellers are equipped with cheap resin with less than 8% crosslinking and so those system's resin will be subpar and the lifespan will be reduced, particularly when softening municipal (chlorinated) water. Standard water softener resin has 8% crosslinking but resin with premium 10% crosslinking will better tolerate constant chlorine exposure so suggest either rebedding your system with 10% CL resin, or better yet, install a backwashing carbon filtration system to remove chlorine before your softener equipped with either 8% or 10% CL resin.

 

[Frandy]

No salt is 100% pure. The brine tank should be cleaned out fully and sanitized every few years.

Loss of flow through a water softener is most often caused by damaged resin.

Any type of water softener resin will be damaged by constant chlorine exposure. Many softeners available from big box stores and online sellers are equipped with cheap resin with less than 8% crosslinking and so those system's resin will be subpar and the lifespan will be reduced, particularly when softening municipal (chlorinated) water. Standard water softener resin has 8% crosslinking but resin with premium 10% crosslinking will better tolerate constant chlorine exposure so suggest either rebedding your system with 10% CL resin, or better yet, install a backwashing carbon filtration system to remove chlorine before your softener equipped with either 8% or 10% CL resin.

Never knew that.. Really appreciate the insight.

 

[WrenchBoy]

I have just had this same exact experience with the same Morton salt. See picture is the color that the Morton Pellets were normally, and the salt in the tank show the grayness. Morton customer service has responded with 'no worries' we will send you a coupon. I ran 4 bags and coincidentally the resin became clogged on my 7yr Fleck 5600sxt. I cycled 4-5 times with new salt but the softener continued to drop the water pressure within 2 minutes but by using the bypass valve did eliminate the pressure drop. I am on city water but also had a 10% crosslinked resin. Replaced the resin with new General Technologies 10% and we are back in business. Don't know if the salt was the problem, but just the same I will not use salt that color again.

 

[Bannerman]

the softener continued to drop the water pressure within 2 minutes but by using the bypass valve did eliminate the pressure drop. I am on city water but also had a 10% crosslinked resin.

As stated above, what you describe is the common symptom of chlorine damaged resin. While 10% crosslinked resin will have greater tolerance to constant chlorine exposure, 10% will also become chlorine damaged, but at a slower pace compared to standard (8%) resin.

More and more municipal water suppliers are adopting chloramines (chlorine + ammonia) for disinfection, with chloramine causing rapid degradation of softener resin and soft components (seals, O-rings etc). Because chloramine is also more difficult to remove, suggest installing a point-of-entry backwashing filtration system containing 2.0 cubic feet or more of Catalytic Carbon, or for plain chlorine, 1.5 ft3 or more of GAC (granular activated carbon).

Due to the high cost of transporting salt, most salt is sourced locally. No salt is 100% pure, but salt obtained from a mine will typically contain some amount of sand, rock particles and other ground sourced contaminants.

One of the initial stages of softener regeneration is the Backwash cycle, which will flush out sand particles and other contaminants that have entered the resin bed, as well as eliminate broken and worn resin beads. The appropriate backwash flow rate is conditional on the diameter of the tank as well as incoming water temperature. You didn't specify the size of your media tank, but if 10" diameter (typical for 1.5 ft3 resin), the usual drain flow rate (= backwash flow rate) will be 2.4 GPM, or 3.2 GPM for a 12" diameter (2.0 ft3) tank.

 

[Dino71]

Morton's Clean and Protect (yellow) is junk. It is was clean and clear until 2023 where the dirt, sludge and grime took over the tank. Do not use this stuff.