I have a problem with my plumbing that I can’t figure out. Every few days, I have to clean out the filters in my faucets, because they are clogged with white granules. Some of the granules have a metallic sheen on one side. If you rub them between 2 fingers, the granules dissolve into a white paste. I don’t think they are coming from my cold water supply, because none of my neighbours is reporting a similar problem. I suspect they might originate from my hot water tank. Is my assumption correct, or can anyone suggest another likely source? (BTW all my pipes are copper).
Thanks…..
Replies
Sounds like you have a bad dip stick tube in the WH.
The are made of plastic and there was one company that made most of them and used a bad forumlation I think about 89-96 or there abouts.
There was a class action on that, but it closed a couple of years ago.
You can get replace tubes.
But one problem is that you need to flush your WH a couple of times to get all of the residue out of the tank.
You might want to check with manufacture and with the SN find out how old your WH is.
If it is near the beginning of that time period and depending on how long WH last in your area it might be time to replace it.
Since the granules dissolve into paste, I suspect they are hard water gunk, not plastic. It may simply be that the WH is in need of flushing.
Second the Dip tube, Same thing happened to me.
Pull the supply line and have a look, real easy to figure out, there won't be one there anymore. Don't forget your washer (both dish and clothes) feed in addition to all the faucets or else everything will be washed in Cold. Took no time to fix but forever to flush.
Can't see the granules from here, but........there's a chance you have a valve that hung up in your water softener head after it cycled and your looking at the softener media.
THanks for your reply. I don't have a water softener, so that rules that out as a source of my problem. I'm pretty sure the problem has something to do with my water heater, because that is the only black box in my plumbing system. Otherwise, it's all straight runs from the city supply to either faucets or toilets.
The dip tubes disintegrated pretty thoroughly, so it's possible that rubbing the pieces between your fingers would break them down.
A new dip tube is only about $10.