Why is my softened water yellow or cloudy after using Morton water softening products?

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® Clean and Protect™ Plus Rust Defense™ 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. 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.