The Morton M45 45,000 grain water softener is tougher to find than many of its competitors, and you need to go direct to Morton itself and find a retailer in your local area to get hold of one. It's designed to filter out trace minerals in your water system, giving you purer tap water from the get go, and the M45 model has an iron removal system too that can handle up to 12ppm. While it isn't quite as accomplished as some of the best water softeners, from the likes of US Water and GE, it's still worth looking into if you're getting a softener installed. User reviews very much rate Morton's softeners, especially when it comes to features.
The Morton M45 water softener uses resin media to remove calcium and magnesium from your water supply, and doesn't require filters. It can absorb 45,000 grains of hardness before requiring a regeneration cycle, and it'll automatically enter this when you reach 97% of capacity, which is a neat feature. This system removes up to 120 grains of hardness per gallon, which is extreme hardness, and up to 12 parts per million of clear-water iron from your water supply. The softener media also acts as a self-cleaning sediment filter that does not require you to change it. This water softening system works with municipal water or well water, and the size of the softener unit means it's ideal for larger properties that use more water.
As a salt water softener, it uses resin media to strip calcium and magnesium from water. Once the media reaches its full capacity of hard water minerals, a brine solution removes the accumulated minerals. The regeneration cycle also flushes out the sediment the resin media has drawn out of your home's water. This process requires a wastewater drain for the used brine solution and an electrical connection to operate the control unit.
The control panel lets you set the time of day, regeneration time and hardness of the source water, which you can find out by contacting your water provider or using a home test kit. You can initiate an immediate regeneration cycle, or wait for the 97% system to kick in.
The system uses a space-saving single-canister design, with the resin tank enclosed in the salt reservoir. The reservoir holds up to 210 pounds of salt. It has a service flow rate of 18 gpm, which is sufficient for a household of any size, but recommended for larger houses. This water softener comes with the basic valves and fittings required to set up the system, and even has a commercial-sized value for 1-1/4 inch plumbing connections. If you prefer a high-functioning, two-tank system for even larger properties, the US Water Aquatrol 56SSE is a good choice.
Morton offers a one-year in-home service warranty on this unit. It also offers a 10-year warranty on the salt storage and resin media tanks, which should give you some peace of mind. Some softeners come with a three year electrical parts warranty too.
Should you choose the Morton M45?
The Morton M45 water softener is a high-capacity unit that softens extremely hard water and removes high levels of clear-water iron. The water softener media acts as a self-cleaning sediment filter, which is great, and it's versatile enough to handle both well water and city water. The fact that it's a larger unit means you'll have to regenerate less, although if you have a smaller home, it could cost you more money long term than, say, the M30 which is much more economical.
