Salty Water Taste in the Morning

Salty water in the morning is a common problem.

It occurs most commonly because the internal seals of the Valve leak highly salty water into the cold water lines during the regeneration cycle.

Typically ( if your Time of Day is set correctly to the current time of day ) this regeneration occurs between 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. once or twice a week.

If water is used in the home ( toilet flush, ice maker drawing water, etc. ) in the middle of the regeneration,

then the valve may allow the salt water being rinsed through the tank to leak into the cold water line.

And this super salty water is still there in the water line when you get up to make coffee, or brush your teeth in the morning.

This salty water can normally be "cleared" from the lines by running the water for 1 minute.

If it takes 5 or more minutes of running the water to clear up,

then you have a more serious problem ( clogged injector, or drain line, or bad connection at the distributor tube oring ).

This salty water problem is most common with Autotrol Valves ( Autotrol 155, 168, 255, or 268 models ), as they all use "flapper" valve discs that are held closed by water pressure.

So, when you flush a toilet in the house, the pressure drops enough to open one valve that should be closed during the "Brine Rinse" cycle,

and results in allowing some salty water to leak into the house lines.

Such leakage can occur in any valve that has "worn" internal seals.

Normally, if you just keep your time of day set correctly,

and you don't use water in the middle of the night, you won't wake up to salty water in the morning.