Why are there floating white specks in my hot water?

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2010, 10:51 AM

Remove a aerator from a faucet and check the screens. Any whiten particles there? Are most of them hard to break up? Do you flush your water heater 9on a regular basis? Any shortage of hot water?
Any more details to give me? Cheers, Tom

sharonmac1 · Sep 18, 2010, 10:59 AM

Yes those white particles plug up my aerators all the time. I remove them and clean them and they're fine for a while. Those white particles look almost like Styrofoam, but aren't. I had my water heater drained recently but seems it didn't solve this problem. The tank is older about 10 years old. So, it may be on it's way out. I thought the floating specks were mineral deposits. I spoke to a plumber's wife recently and she said it was the anode going. But I read up on the the anode dissolving and it doesn't sound like what I have. So, what is this problem and do I need to replace my hot water tank. I can live with the white specks but that hot water tank is in the utility room and my dogs live in there at night and if anything happened to my hot water tank my dogs may be affected by it. The dogs are more important to me that the hot water tank. So, if this is a precursor to the tank failure then I really need to know.

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2010, 11:49 AM

No! This isn't a indication of the tank failing or blowing up. Your dogs are safe out there. Is it gas or electric?
First off I want yo to power flush, not drain, your heater. Let me show you how. '

For long life and fewer troubles you should keep your heater clear of mineral build-up by FLUSHING NOT DRAINING on a regular schedule. Attach a hose to the boiler drain at the bottom of the tank. With the pressure on, open the boiler drain and let it run until the water runs clear. You will see a spurt of red,(rust) followed by white or yellow grains,(lime or calcium carbonate). This shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Do this monthly to keep it clear. Now flush out your hot water lines on ALL fixtures that are affected . Now pull each aerator and clean the screens. Be sure you put them back together the same way you took them out. Don't forget to flush it out every month. Your heater will thank you for it.
Do that and get back to me with the results. Lottsa white stuff come out? If it crushes it sounds like calcium carbonate to me. Clean a aerator screen for testing. As you have it off turn the hot water on to flush out the pipe. Hope this helps and thank you for rating my answer, Tom

sharonmac1 · Sep 18, 2010, 12:04 PM

Okay Tom, I recently said I drained the tank. It's a gas tank and I have plenty of hot water and I believe I need to turn off the gas to do all of this flushing thing. When I drained the tank a couple of months ago, I saw no white things in my driveway. I might tell you I had my neighbor help me with this job. Turning off the gas is daunting to me. I ended up with these lovely household tasks due to my husband's death and I hate these things. My neighbor turned off the gas when we drained the tank and HE relighted the thing. Hate gas when it comes to stuff like this. The white stuff does crush, so why is there calcium carbonate in there, from the minerals in the water? Somehow I didn't think we had heavily mineralized water but we must. I turn off the water to begin with at the top of the tank and I attach the hose to the bottom drain and put it out to the driveway, and then turn on the top faucet to the hot water tank? So, do I turn off the gas? I'm thinking I ought to. But who knows. I am not a Mrs. Fixit...How long does this flushing take? I mean how long to I let the water run inside the tank and out? T
Thanks..

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2010, 12:17 PM

You don
T have to shut off the gas when you power flush your heater, It will only take a few minutes. It's easy! Attach the hose, open up the boiler drain and watch the end of the hose. When the water runs clear you're done. Is there any noise or banging when the fire kicks on? Good luck and let me know the results. Tom

sharonmac1 · Sep 18, 2010, 12:24 PM

Okay, I may do this on Monday...so all I do is hook up my hose to the drain, leave the burner on and also leave the top faucet on as well. Undo the spigot and it just does the cleaning until the water runs clear and then I turn off the spigot and remove the hose line. Boy that's easy...we didn't do that last time, all we did was drain the entire gas tank. But I can see how the new flushing of the tank would remove deposits, maybe. But they are most likely stuck to the sides of the insides and will continue to slough off. My faucets run funny when they are plugged up so I can remove the nozzle and clean it when that happens. Okay, will do and I'll let you know if I'm still in one piece after all of this..thanks Tom.

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2010, 12:36 PM

Yeah got it Sharon. Flush the heater. That's the source of your problems. Your pipes will be loaded with this stuff but hopefully 9once you remove a aerator you'll be able to open up the faucet and flush out then pipe. If not we'll deal with it when it happens. Good luck, Tom

sharonmac1 · Sep 18, 2010, 01:58 PM

Thanks so much for your help...Sharon

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2010, 03:47 PM

We aren't through yet. Even after you clear the tank we still have then whiten particles in your system to deal with. We'll take it one step at a time. Tom PS. I have a real soft heart for anyone names Sharon. I've lived with one for the last 16 years.

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