Morton Pool Salt from Home Depot really messed up my pool

[ManiacalMama]

I'm in Sacramento area and bought and added 2 bags of the Morton's about a month ago. I didn't even think to cut it open and inspect; just dumped it in. It didn't take too long to dissolve (longer than last time, but water was pretty cold) but I did notice it had a few obvious pieces of debris in it and smelled like straight up ocean. I shrugged my shoulders and carried on. It raised my salt by the estimated amount. No staining observed (but only 2 bags).
Sorry you're dealing with all that.

 

[Flboy44]

Well, so far, I’m 6 bags in, looking good! A few obvious sand specs, but as pointed out, 99.5% purity equals a potential 0.5 lbs of ‘stuff’ per 100 lbs (2.5 bags)!
My bags are a product of Bahamas!

 

[Asherk74]

I just used 8 bags morton, pure white, looks nothing like those pics. I bought from local pool store, so good chance these are years older...

 

[hjc4604]

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.

Make sure you get the production codes/dates/lot numbers printed on the bag. All that stuff that looks like it was printed on the bag after the bag was printed. It was in your pick and said something about made in Mexico.

 

[hjc4604]

See if they have this. It was $8 a bag and the water softener salts were $10 a bag

View attachment 485388

That's what I've been using from Lowe's. I think I got some from Home Depot too. Had to drain my pool after having the pool deck redone. I had already added the salt a few months earlier. It dissolved quickly with minimal brushing.

 

[Flboy44]

Make sure you get the production codes/dates/lot numbers printed on the bag. All that stuff that looks like it was printed on the bag after the bag was printed. It was in your pick and said something about made in Mexico.

My new bags were also stamped after bag production. Makes sense to send empty bags to each salt source! Mine, Bahamas.

 

[blueman2]

Received a call back from Morton Salt today. To their credit, that was pretty fast. I had sent an email to their customer system over the weekend. I sent them the pictures and a copy of this forum's URL so that they can see this thread. They offered some coupons for free bags of salt, but I am not sure I will go through the hassle of using them. According to the person I spoke with Home Depot typically will not honor manufacturer coupons.

They will be sending me a sample container so that I can provide a sample from one of the remaining bags. Not sure what they will do for me however. I am already out $130 for the salt $70 for a gallon of pool clarifier to help clear up the water, $200 for 4 new cartridge filters for my Hayward 3030 filter (old ones would not hose off after all that gook got on it), and will probably go ahead with draining the entire pool, acid washing, and refilling. Guessing this will end up being a $2000 out of pocket expense. Not a huge amount, but not an expense (or hassle) I was planning. Worst part is that this happens RIGHT after doing a full re-plaster of the pool and the plaster was so white and beautiful. Oh well, things could be worse. I still have a pool!

Oh, and can I interest anyone in 4 free bags of Morton Pool Salt? That was a joke. Probably I will need to send the unused bags to hazardous materials processing given I live in California. Not able to just throw that into the trash. Jeesh, more cost for me to do that now that I think of it.

 

[midlifecrisis]

@blueman2 I know it isn't much, and I think I speak for a lot of us, but I'm sick about all this, with you. Keep us posted.

 

[hwy17]

I'll be curious for updates on the stain, maybe a vitamin c tablet test.

If it's pacific sea salt as I assume there shouldn't be any reason for iron contamination unless maybe they had ground water intrusion in the evap ponds.

 

[Oly]

Following along here and I too recently bought and used 2 bags of Morton's Professionals Choice Salt for swimming pools purchased at Walmart.
First off the color and texture was no where near the product in your picture. My color was white and texture was small granules like fine rock salt. Now I did observe a slight brown slick on the surface and a small accumulation of brown debris near the bottom drain after each 20# addition. The contaminate was slight and dissipated rapidly with no effect. All is well with my pool but I will be needing another bag and am now a bit wary of the brand.

Check out this movie preview on harvesting lake salt in India, fascinating movie I highly recommend it. Perhaps this is the source?

 

[JamesW]

 

[blueman2]

Another update:

Received another call from Morton. They decided rather than me sending them a sample, they wanted to come by to pick up the remaining bags of salt. I guess that solves the hazardous waste disposal costs for me.

 

[Asherk74]

Another update:

Received another call from Morton. They decided rather than me sending them a sample, they wanted to come by to pick up the remaining bags of salt. I guess that solves the hazardous waste disposal costs for me.

or getting rid of the evidence!

 

[proavia]

In that case - take pics of the bags and keep your own 'sample' of the bad salt.
Have them provide something in writing about taking the salt from you - with a signature from them.
Hopefully you won't need any of this and they take good care of you - but best to be prepared.

Remind them of the 340,000 others who are watching to see if they step up and own it.

 

[midlifecrisis]

Another update:

Received another call from Morton. They decided rather than me sending them a sample, they wanted to come by to pick up the remaining bags of salt. I guess that solves the hazardous waste disposal costs for me.

I don't want to pump sunshine, but at least they aren't blowing you off.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

and will probably go ahead with draining the entire pool, acid washing, and refilling

I would consider other options first rather than doing an acid wash. If the stains are iron-based, you might be able to remove them with the proper treatment. You'll still need to drain and refill, but it's less invasive than an acid wash.

I would demand payment from Morton in the form of a Claim for Damages after you tally up all the expenses. I'm guessing they'll pay you off and have you sign a letter waiving further claims.

Just my 2 cents...Best of luck!

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[blueman2]

All good points. I did ask if I could keep a bag just in case, and they seemed fine with that. So I do not think this is about destroying evidence. But I will go ahead and keep one bag just in case. So far, I am very impressed with Morton Salt as a company. I am sort of with @midlifecrisis on this one. Many companies would just ignore the issue and hope I go away. Morton was fast to respond and seems concerned. But we shall see how it goes.

 

[RickRude]

I am willing to bet that they want those bags at least in part to get the evidence out of your hands and protect themselves from a lawsuit. I strongly advise against handing them over. How can I make this assertion without evidence? I worked for an engineering failure analysis firm that was involved in a lot of litigation.

If you're gonna spend $2K to fix this, consider spending $200 to have a local laboratory do a chemical analysis and see what's in there. Then take 'em to small claims court!

 

[blueman2]

Day 3 update.

Brown stain appears to be getting a bit less bad. I have been running filter and S20 Pool Vac pretty much constantly, and doing 4-5 brushings a day. I do notice on the white grout below the water line is slightly less white that the grout above the water. Since the grout is only 4 months old, should not have changed color much. I am guess one of the reasons the stain is looking less bad is that the entire pool is getting slightly stained? But overall, if the stain continues to 'blend in', I will just live with it.

I have yet to try the Vitamin C test (thank @kimkats for the idea). Plan to go out and buy some and try that today or tomorrow.

No other word from Morton. All they said they would do is to give me coupons for more salt, if I can find a store that will accept them as apparently Home Depot often does not. That, and they agreed to pick up the unused bags 'for free'. I could have returned them to Home Depot and actually gotten my money back, but I do not want to risk them putting that stuff on the shelf for someone else to buy. Home Depot would probably do just that. Aside from the headache and unknown future of my pool stain, I am also out $400 in expenses so far ($130 for salt, $70 for clarifier, $200 for 4 x 3030 pleated filters). Not going to break the bank, but not ideal.

 

[hwy17]

This stuff's all over California probably, I got mine in Campbell so I don't think this was just a few bad bags.