Morton Pool Salt from Home Depot really messed up my pool

[blueman2]

I had my pool re-plastered late December, and waited until now to add salt. Went to Home Depot and got 16 bags for my 20,000 gallon pool. It was clearly labeled Pool Salt with 'highest purity'. But it was actually brown salt and created a oily film on my pool and totally clogged my cartridge filter. Here are a few pictures. I was not sure if this was normal, so took the pictures just in case. 4 hours later, and the pool shows brown staining on the 4 month old plaster. Entire pool is just icky brown and oily. You can see the picture of my skimmer that was clean before but full of oily scum after adding salt. Any thoughts on what to do? I stopped at 8 bags added given how bad it was getting. Help!

 

[Uhhello]

You put that cut open bag into the pool?

 

[blueman2]

I am not an expert, so kind of thought it was just normal. Clearly it was not. My filters have clogged twice now (cartridges) and pool is only getting more brown. It will not brush off the plaster.

 

[Newdude]

Does it have a salt consistency if you crush it up ? It kinda looks more like sand.

 

[blueman2]

It does seem to dissolve after about 2 hours. But the bad brown stain is still there on the bottom of my new pool. Really makes me sick.

 

[mknauss]

We have seen iron issues with Clorox brand salt. But this is far more extensive. I would take lots of pictures and contact Home Depot/Morton on Monday.

 

[Bperry]

Yea, looks like someone shoveled sand into the bag and sealed it up.

 

[Mdragger88]

Others, including myself have been having problems with the Morton’s professional containing a lot of rocks & pebbles but this a new experience. What a shame

 

[blueman2]

6 hours after adding those bags, and the staining on the bottom has gotten worse. Water is starting to clear up a bit, but the staining is really, really bad on my brand new plaster. As the water has cleared up, I can now see also rocks and pebbles from the bags of salt. This is the biggest mess I have had in 25 years of owning a pool.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Take lots of pics. Save the bag. Call Morton customer service and give them an opportunity to make it right.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

It does look like sand! And when one adds sand to a filter they normally do a rinse of it first before changing the setting to <filter>. Makes me wonder???

 

[proavia]

Certainly doesn't look normal at all.

Did you put in just one bag or all 20 bags of it?
Did you brush it until dissolved?

 

[kimkats]

I have such a big MAD and SAD for you!!

I wonder if you should get some vitamin C tablets (making sure they are white) and rub it on a spot to see if there is any iron in that mess.

 

[blueman2]

I added 10 of the 16 bags. I should have stopped earlier, but I never though Salt could be bad. I brushed constantly for about 2 hours. Took that long to mostly dissolve. But there was still a bunch of sand and rocks that I brushed to the drain. Took 6 hours for the water to clear enough to see the bottom. The staining in really, really bad on the bottom. No amount of brushing seems to help.

 

[blueman2]

I plan to run the pool cleaner all night to see if that helps any.

I talked to Home Depot and they said they would take back what I did not use, but cannot provide any refund for anything I have used. Might try calling back on Monday just to confirm. They also said they do not support products like salt and I must go to the manufacturer.

But there is no way I am going to allow them to take the remaining 6 bags of that stuff that stained my pool. I need that for proof that Morton is responsible for the damage. They are un-opened and will remain that way for proof.

Also, after adding 10 bags, the salinity level should be much higher than it is right now for a 20,000 gallon pool with 400 lbs of salt. It is around 1800ppm. Really strange.

 

[proavia]

Take lots of pictures and video to document what happened.

 

[Bperry]

Sadly there’s probably a use disclaimer that says the only warranty provided is that they will replace the product.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Let Morton know you have over 340,000 friends waiting to see how they handle it.

 

[Mdragger88]

 

[blueman2]

Well, woke up this morning to a really bad brown stain still there on the deep end of the pool. Not going away at all. Ran pool cleaner and filter all night. Ugh.