Morton Salt

You may have hard water if your soaps and laundry detergent don't lather very well, or if glasses and dishes are left with spots, or colored clothing looks dull. Tubs and bathroom fixtures may be covered with an unsightly film.

You can have your water tested by your water dealer or you may use a home water testing kit.

Yes, you can use any Morton water softening product in your water softener. The list of Morton water softening salt products include: Morton® System Saver® II Pellets and System Saver® Blocks, Morton® Rust Remover, Morton® Solar Salt, Morton® White Crystal® Rock Salt, Morton® White Crystal® Brine Blocks and Morton® Rust Rout Brine Blocks. Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets are an alternative water softening product. Morton® Rust Raze® is not a water softening product but is a cleaner that can be used to remove rust from water softener resins and household items.

Each water softening salt product has a unique formula, and is tailored to different water softening needs based on mineral levels in your hard water. Please check each product description on the website for further details.

Morton® System Saver® II, Morton® White Crystal® Rock Salt, Morton® Solar Salt and Morton® Rust Remover are all high-quality water softening salt products for use in your water softener.

Morton® System Saver® II Pellets are specially formulated with very high purity salt, guaranteed to be 99.5% pure, containing virtually no insolubles to be cleaned from your brine tank. Made from a proprietary formula, Pellets with System Saver® II Formula are designed to aid in:

• Improving regeneration efficiency of the resin in your softener through continuous cleansing of the resin
  
• Preventing the buildup of various damaging hardness minerals that can accumulate in valves and screens in your softener, potentially causing it to malfunction Laboratory Testing* shows that the use of Morton® System Saver® II Formula helps enable a water softener to do MORE…
• Removes nearly twice as much dirt and impurities
• Removes up to 5% more hardness minerals from your water

Morton® White Crystal® Rock Salt is 98.9% pure salt mined from underground salt domes. White Crystal® Rock Salt is available in coarse and extra coarse grades both of which can be used in your softener. Because Rock Salt is mined from a dome contained in a rock, it will contain a small percentage of impurities. These minerals may build up in your brine tank and will require periodic brine tank clean-outs to remove sediment.

Morton® Solar Salt is 99.7% pure salt harvested from natural salt brine through solar evaporation. Solar Salt is also available in coarse and extra coarse grades. Because solar salt is produced in open ponds, some impurities from the environment get in the salt. The presence of these impurities also requires periodic cleaning of your softener tank to remove sediment.

When iron is noticeably present in your water supply, we recommend that you use Morton ® Rust Remover Salt, a pellet-type salt product with rust remover dispensed throughout each pellet. Rust Remover salt automatically helps fight the build-up of rust in your water softener and it removes 15 times more iron from your softener resin than plain salt.

*Based on laboratory testing for dirt and impurity removal during brine and backwash cycles using 22 grain hard water comparing System Saver® II Pellets with regular pellet salt.

Morton® White Crystal® Brine Blocks are 50-lb. salt blocks formed from high purity, food-grade salt. Morton® System Saver® Brine Blocks are made with the patented System Saver® formula which removes more dirt and impurities from your water than other water softening salt. In fact, laboratory tests show that the use of the System Saver® formula results in 60% fewer impurities and microscopic dirt particles in softened water. Tests also show that use of System Saver® formula salt improved water clarity and produced up to 5% more soft water from every regeneration cycle.

Both products are made with the patented System Saver® II formula. Thus, both products are equally effective at softening your water. Only some softeners can use blocks. If your softener can use blocks, it can also use pellets. Please consult your softener manufacturer.

Yes, all of the products are compatible.

Yes, if you wish to reduce the sodium content of the softened water. The products can be mixed in any ratio you desire. We would recommend starting with a 50/50 ratio and see how that works for you. If mixing potassium chloride with salt, it is important to note that softened water will contain a higher ratio of sodium to potassium at the beginning of the service cycle and a higher ratio of potassium to sodium near the end of the service cycle.

Yes, all Morton water softening products are safe for septic systems. In recent years the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a special facts sheet summarizing studies by NSF and the University of Wisconsin on home water softeners and onsite treatment systems. What they found was softener effluent has no deleterious effect on bacterial functions, increased volume of wastewater does not cause hydraulic overloading and that the calcium and magnesium actually improve soil stability and percolation in the leach field. A link to the EPA web page is given below:

http://www.epa.gov/ordntrnt/ORD/NRMRL/Pubs/625R00008/html/fs3.htm

Yes, softened water is safe to drink for people that are not on sodium or potassium restricted diets.

The amount of sodium in soft water is directly proportional to the hardness of the untreated water, and for most water supplies it is not very high. For each grain per gallon of hardness, multiply by 7.9 to convert to milligrams of sodium per liter (a liter is slightly more than a quart). For instance, water with 15 grains/gallon hardness will contain118 milligrams of sodium per liter after softening. Thus, 2 liters of water per day provides less than 250 milligrams, which is small compared to the normal daily intake. If you have any health concerns about consuming or cooking with salt-softened water, please consult your physician.

Many people choose to either leave the water for outside taps unsoftened, or bypass the water softener when watering the lawn because the volume of water needed will deplete the supply of softened water quickly; the water softener will need to recharge more frequently, thus using more salt. Since the lawn does not need softened water, this may be the best course of action.

If you do not want to bypass the system, you should be aware that normally the small amount of sodium that is discharged into your water from the water softener is not a problem for most lawns. However, if your soil already has a high content of sodium, that may not be advisable. In this case and because potassium is a major and essential plant nutrient, some people use potassium chloride to recharge their softener.

No, Morton does not recommend adding either Morton® System Saver® II or Rust Remover directly to fish ponds or aquariums. Both products contain additives that are specific for water softening, so they are not appropriate for direct addition into a fish pond or aquarium. For the same reason, we would not recommend adding other products like Morton® Table Salt directly to ponds or aquariums.

Some fish thrive in softened water, while some others may prefer harder water. Knowing basic information about the water supply is essential to determining if or how much soft water should be used for aquarium water. Extremely hard water will contain high levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), which may not be ideal for fish. Since water softening only exchanges sodium or potassium for hard water cations (calcium and magnesium), the TDS level does not change. Some soft water supplies are perfectly fine for fish, but soft water made from extremely hard water may need to be diluted with distilled, deionized or reverse osmosis water before it is acceptable. When beginning the changeover, note that any drastic change in the water supply could jeopardize "sensitive" fish. Partial water changes could be made at intervals using the softened water, but too much or too often may stress the fish. Please consult your local fish expert or veterinarian to determine if the raw and/or softened water supply in your area is appropriate for the kind of fish in your pond or aquarium, and whether additional variables need to be monitored.

In general, if the fish can handle sodium-softened water, they should be able to handle potassium-softened water. However, any drastic change in the water supply could jeopardize "sensitive" fish. Partial water changes could be made at intervals using the potassium-softened water, but too much or too often may stress the fish. Consult your local fish expert or veterinarian to determine if the raw and/or softened water supply in your area is appropriate for the kind of fish in your pond or aquarium, and whether additional variables need to be monitored.

No. Morton® System Saver® II Pellets are a high quality water softening salt product to be used only in home water softeners. Morton® System Saver® II Pellets or any other water softening salt should not be placed directly into a washing machine. To do so may damage your washing machine.

The yellow color or cloudiness is likely to be colloidal iron, but it could be manganese. Without an actual analysis, we can only speculate. If you have iron in your water supply and have never used salt formulated with resin cleaning additives, your first use of Morton® Rust Remover may loosen rust deposits that have accumulated on the water softener resin. If the amount of rust released is excessive, it may not all be rinsed out during the rinse cycle of the regeneration process and may enter the household water supply. For this reason, we usually recommend conducting several consecutive manual regenerations. This should clean up the resin and rinse water allowing clear, softened water into the household. As for cleaning up any rust stains in your dishwasher and toilets, we recommend using Morton Rust Raze®. Another possibility is if the softener was dormant for some period of time, the soluble iron on the water softener resin may have oxidized to rust during this time frame. Then, as water is run through the softener, the rust will slough off into the softened water. If the softener will sit dormant for an extended period of time (three weeks or more) you may wish to conduct a manual regeneration just prior to leaving for your extended absence.

With a water softener that is operating properly, the water should not taste salty. The salt should be totally rinsed from the system during the brine and rinse cycle of the regeneration process, except for the sodium which exchanges onto the water softener's resin replacing calcium and magnesium. During the service cycle, hardness in the water is exchanged for sodium.

If your water tastes salty, it is likely that the water softener is malfunctioning, such as a stuck valve or valve that isn't seated properly. You could try cleaning the venturi valve and directions for doing this are in your owner's manual. Otherwise, you should call a reputable water dealer to have the unit checked.

The additives used in Morton® System Saver® II or Morton® Rust Remover are normally removed from the water system during the brine and rinse cycle of the regeneration process. Even though it is unlikely that the additives in the salt product could be the cause of the skin itch, you may wish to try a product with no additives, such as Morton® White Crystal® products or Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets. It would be prudent to consult with a dermatologist

No.

The benefits of potassium chloride-based products include:

• Reduces sodium contribution to soft water by 99%
  
• Provides a means to increase potassium, an essential human and plant nutrient, through softened water
  
• Reduces chloride discharge by up to 20% as compared to sodium chloride softened water
  

The level of potassium contributed from potassium chloride softened water is safe for normal healthy people. For healthy individuals, potassium from the diet is absorbed slowly from the gastrointestinal tract and the excess potassium is excreted. However, in certain individuals with medical conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure, the body may not excrete excess potassium. Individuals with these conditions must consult a doctor prior to consuming potassium-softened water. If you have any questions as to whether your health condition allows you to use potassium based water softener products, please consult your doctor.

If your raw water is 22 grains of hardness or higher, a metallic, bitter taste may be noticed. If you find this objectionable, you may wish to switch back to a sodium chloride - based product, such as Morton® Pellets with System Saver® II Formula or use bottled water for drinking.

Yes, you can use Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets in any softener that uses sodium chloride (salt). We do not know of any brand of water softener in which Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets would not work.

No, you do not have to empty the water softener. When you are ready to add more salt, simply pour the potassium chloride product on top of any remaining salt product.

In most cases the same amount of Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets and the same settings can be used. Only softeners at the 4-pound or less setting require a slight

There are no detrimental effects on plumbing or septic systems if Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets or any of the Morton sodium chloride-based products are used.

No. Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets do not contain any additives. Therefore, you will not get the benefit of the resin cleaners found in Morton® System Saver® II Pellets or Morton® Rust Remover Pellets

Use of Morton® Potassium Chloride Pellets will not harm the resin beads. However, if your raw water has a high iron content of over 2 ppm, you may want to use Morton® Rust Remover Pellets. This product contains a resin bead cleaner which will help prevent fouling of clean or new resin beads. Morton® System Saver® II Pellets also contain two food grade resin cleaners that keep resin beads from fouling if your water contains less than 2 ppm of iron.

We recommend the occasional use of Morton® System Saver® II Pellets, Morton® Rust Remover Pellets or Morton® Rust Raze® Resin Cleaner to clean the softener system. For example, Morton® System Saver® II Pellets could be used every fifth bag.

The potassium-based product will probably be more expensive than sodium-based products because potassium chloride costs more to process than sodium chloride.

No. Morton® Potassium Chloride is only available in pellet form. Blocks are not available

Using potassium chloride in your softener will contribute approximately 32 milligrams of potassium per 8 ounces of water for each 10 grains of hardness softened.

Yes. Potassium is one of the 16 elements necessary for plant growth. It also helps plants resist disease and optimize moisture utilization.

If your pet suffers from heart disease, diabetes or kidney disease, consult your vet as to whether or not your pet can drink potassium chloride softened water. For healthy pets potassium chloride softened water is safe to drink.

Yes, the Morton product is mined the same way as salt.

High pressures are used to formulate Morton® System Saver® II Pellets. No glues or binders are used in any of our water softening products.

A water softener removes the hardness minerals, calcium and magnesium, from your water. When water with these hardness minerals passes through the water softener, the calcium and magnesium ions are attracted to resin beads inside the softener. In turn, the resin beads release sodium ions. Water without the hardness minerals is "soft." Salt is used to recharge the resin beads once they are saturated with magnesium and calcium. For further explanation of how water softeners work, please click here.

You can use our 'Ask Morton Salt' section, call us at 312/807-2693 or write us at:

Morton Salt

Consumer Affairs

123 North Wacker Drive

Chicago, Illinois 60606

You may also visit the Salt Institute's website at www.saltinstitute.org, call them at 703/549-4648 or write to them at:

Salt Institute

700 North Fairfax Street

Alexandria, VA

22314-2040