General Questions
Q. What is hard water and how is it measured?
A. Hard water contains minerals such as calcium, magnesium and manganese. These minerals cause the embarrassing stains in your sinks and showers as well as scale buildup in your pipes and water heater. Hardness is measured in grains per gallon or mg/L or ppm. One grain per gallon is equal to 17.1 mg/L or 17.1ppm.
Q. How do I know how hard my water is?
A. Call your city or municipality or you can request a free test strip here.
Q. What does Grain Capacity mean?
A. Grain Capacity is the maximum number of water hardness grains per gallon that the unit can remove before it automatically regenerates. For example: if your family uses 400 gallons of water per day and you have 10 grain per gallon hard water, you would need 4,000 grains of water softener capacity per day (400 gallons x 10 grain hard water).
Q. What does Demand Regeneration mean?
A. Demand Regeneration monitors your water usage and only regenerates as needed. If you go on vacation and don’t use any water it will not regenerate and if you have visitors over and use more water than usual it will regenerate more often. All Morton® Water Softeners have Demand Regeneration to maximize water efficiency.
Installing Morton® Water Softeners
Q. What are the requirements for a Morton® Water Softener?
A. You need a standard outlet to plug in the Morton® Water Softener and a drain nearby for waste water from regeneration.
Q. How much electricity does a Morton® Water Softener consume?
A. A Morton® Water Softener uses about the same amount of electricity as a standard alarm clock.
Q. How much water does a Morton® Water Softener use to regenerate?
A. About the same amount of water as doing 1 load of laundry.
Q. What is the warranty on Morton® Water Softeners?
A. Visit the Warranty Page or consult your Owners Manual (Demand Control Water Softener, Elite Water Softener, Premium Water Softener, Ultra Water Softener and Select Water Softener) for details.
Q. Can I discharge the water from the water softener into a septic system?
A. Yes, it’s very common for consumers to drain the water softener into a standard septic system and it will not affect the septic system operation or drain field.
Q. Is it a problem if I install a water softener that has a greater capacity than what I need?
A. No, a water softener cannot have too much capacity.
Q. Can I have a water softener with a Morton® Household Filtration System?
A. Yes, we recommend installing both a water softener and filtration system for a complete water treatment solution.
Q. How often does my water softener regenerate?
A. Typically, your water softener will regenerate every 3 to 7 days. This will vary given the number of people in your household and the amount of water used.
Q. How long does the regeneration process take?
A. It will take about 2 hours for your water softener to complete the regeneration process.
Q. Will the Morton® Water Softeners remove Iron from my water?
A. Yes, but for best results use in conjunction with Morton® Clean and Protect™ Plus Rust Defense™ Pellets.
Q. Will I really save time and money by installing a Morton® Water Softener?
A. Yes, below is the estimated average annual savings from using a Morton® Water Softener as compared to having hard water. You’re particular savings may be different depending on your usages and lifestyle.
Annual Cost Without Softener |
Annual Cost With Softener |
% Savings With a Softener |
$ Savings With a Softener |
|
Plumbing & Appliances |
$120 | $30 | 75% | $90 |
Personal Care Items |
$60 | $42 | 30% | $22 |
Clothing & Linens |
$600 | $420 | 30% | $180 |
Soap & Cleaning Aids |
$148 | $30 | 80% | $118 |
Energy Consumption |
$320 | $256 | 20% | $136 |
Annual Total |
$1,248 | $778 | 38% | $470 |
Salt Questions
Q. What type of salt should I use?
A. Morton® Clean and Protect™ or Clean and Protect™ Plus Rust Defense™ Pellets are recommended.
Q. How much salt will I use?
A. Salt consumption will vary depending on how hard your water is and how much you use, but the average household uses approximately two bags every two months.
Q. Can I use Potassium Chloride in my water softener?
A. Yes, Potassium Chloride can be used in place of water softener salt. Call 1-888-64WATER (1-888-649-2837) for advice.
Q. How much sodium will be added to my drinking and/or cooking water?
A. An extremely small amount of sodium is added to you water. On average only an equivalent to the amount of sodium in a slice of white bread per liter.
Maintenance Questions
Q. How much water should be standing in the salt storage tank?
A. 2 to 5 inches of water at the bottom of the salt storage tank is typical.
Q. What happens if the power goes out?
A. You may need to reset your clock time, but all other settings will be kept.
Q. Troubleshooting
A. Consult your Owners Manual if you have any questions please call 1-888-649-2837.