This weekend all my house faucets were running very slow. When I took off the aerators they were filled with small round orange yellow looking things about 1mm in size. Some have brown dots in the middle. They look like small fish eggs. We have city water and no plumbing work has been done. Can you help, Thanks

I'd take a sample of them in a jar to your local water authority... and start using bottled water for all cooking and drinking (brushing teeth too, until its determined what those are. I'm assuming they aren't fish... but possible reptile or insect... NONE of which should be in a city water system.

You may want to send an additional sample elsewhere to have identified for your own peace of mind... so you really know what they are.

Hi Cas...

Can you squish these and they dissolve/break down or are they a hard pellet material?

Do you have a whole house filter, a water softener, or anything like that. Here, in the case of a water softener, the resin could be getting into the system. In this case, the water softener will probably need to be replaced. Also, to test this, you could BYPASS the softener and see if the issue is resolved.

Let us know if you have a water softener or at least more about this "material", OK?

Mark

Yes, I do have a water softener. Its about 1/4 teaspoon per sink. They are fairly hard. Thanks

PS Its only in the cold water.

After doing some reading I found this, Thanks

Cation Resin

Written by: Brian Hayden Boyett CWS-VI,CI

What is the main ingredient of the Water Softener?

The main ingredient of the Water Softener is cation resin. This is a polystyrene material that absorbs the calcium and magnesium ions. When the cation resin is fully coated it will no longer soften the water. A little known secret about cation resin is that it removes the chlorine from the water. The cation resin material absorbs the chlorine from the water. The chlorine from the water causes the resin to disintegrate. The resin we utilize will take out 100% of the chlorine. You do not need several expensive units. You need one good heavy (high capacity) unit which will remove the hardness ions and also the chlorine ions.

Certainly sounds like the resin has managed to get into the water system. I would also suggest that it has goten into the hot water only the resin beads are probably settling in the water heater so they don't appear to be showing up as of yet... ;)

I would recommend that you BYPASS the water softener for now and call the water softener company... probably time to replace the unit... *UGH*

Good luck!

Mark