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Old 02-21-2014, 06:40 PM   #1
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Mysterious substance in potable water

I had let my bathtub cold water run too long in my Mini Lite, ran out of water, and lost the prime on my pump. This happened on the last day driving back from my most recent trip, so I just stored the TT for the time. A couple days later (today) I went back, poured some water from my house water hose into the tank, and started up the pump.

It went good, got the prime back, except I noticed that the bathtub was still not up to full flow, although everything else seemed to be. I let it run some more.

Then I noticed what I thought was dirt coming out of the bathroom spigot. On closer examination, It was small particles of whitish grit, slightly larger than, say, beach sand at the largest. If I picked it up and rubbed it, it crushed into smaller powder-ish grit.

I have only put clean water from reliable sources in my tank. In addition, I have a water filter that came with the unit that filters all water before in goes to any fixture in the trailer, not just some.

Any Idea what this stuff could be? And what would be the best way to get rid of whatever it is?
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Old 02-21-2014, 06:44 PM   #2
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maybe something from the pump internals? Have you let any other faucets run to see if same residue?
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Old 02-21-2014, 06:48 PM   #3
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maybe something from the pump internals? Have you let any other faucets run to see if same residue?
All the other faucets seemed to not only be running at full capacity, but I didn't see any grit. I didn't look that close, though, I just shut everything down, and came back home to my computer.

I need to check that, but I think I would have seen it in the kitchen sink.
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:03 PM   #4
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Having this stuff come out in the tub and not elsewhere might be explained by the fact that my tub is the lowest faucet in my TT. I wouldn't have noticed the toilet water. But it still doesn't explain how it got past my filter.
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:06 PM   #5
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have you examined the filter to rule it out?
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:06 PM   #6
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Probably crud from the anode rod, thats what uou're discribing.
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:11 PM   #7
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Probably crud from the anode rod, thats what uou're discribing.
2X .........anode rod .........
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:13 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Rmack View Post
I had let my bathtub cold water run too long in my Mini Lite, ran out of water, and lost the prime on my pump. This happened on the last day driving back from my most recent trip, so I just stored the TT for the time. A couple days later (today) I went back, poured some water from my house water hose into the tank, and started up the pump.

It went good, got the prime back, except I noticed that the bathtub was still not up to full flow, although everything else seemed to be. I let it run some more.

Then I noticed what I thought was dirt coming out of the bathroom spigot. On closer examination, It was small particles of whitish grit, slightly larger than, say, beach sand at the largest. If I picked it up and rubbed it, it crushed into smaller powder-ish grit.

I have only put clean water from reliable sources in my tank. In addition, I have a water filter that came with the unit that filters all water before in goes to any fixture in the trailer, not just some.

Any Idea what this stuff could be? And what would be the best way to get rid of whatever it is?

Sounds like minerals from the water you have been using.
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:18 PM   #9
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have you examined the filter to rule it out?
I looked at it in it's clear holder, and it looks OK, but frankly, I don't have a clear image in my mind of how the water flows. I probably flows into the middle ad seeps out around the perimeter, then flows back up the top. I will have to take the whole thing out to fully examine it.
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:19 PM   #10
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Probably crud from the anode rod, thats what uou're discribing.
Is there a procedure for cleaning the rod? Can it be removed?
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:25 PM   #11
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Is there a procedure for cleaning the rod? Can it be removed?
with no pressure on system, just unthread it from side of tank. Flush tank out while its out. You will be surprised what comes out of there.
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Old 02-21-2014, 07:42 PM   #12
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After compiling everybody's kind advice, here's what must have happened, and what I'm going to do:

Pulling my plumbing dry by negligently leaving the faucet on after the tank ran out stirred up funkage somewhere. Maybe my water tank, since it comes out of the cold side, maybe my hot water tank, maybe both.

My filter was not installed until after a couple of trips, so lots of hard water went threw the plumbing at first. Or, the filter could be somehow failing lately. Or both

I'm going to have the whole system flushed, including both hot water and cold water tanks, the filter replaced, and the anode rod replaced on the hot tank.

I'll tell the DH that it probably was time to do it anyway to justify the expense of throwing money at the problem.

Thanks, everyone. I would have worried myself crazy on my own trying to figure this out.
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Old 02-21-2014, 09:36 PM   #13
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I reviewed all of this, and was thinking of how the calcium or whatever deposits could be coming from my cold water faucet.

I had turned on both hot and cold knobs at first. Later, I determined that hot (though not hot at the time) was flowing better than cold. by a lot. The cold was the line I sucked dry. It would have been releasing air against the solid hot line flow.

What if the disturbed hot water debris got pushed down the cold water channel in the mixing area of the bathtub faucet. It would explain the restricted flow, and the white chunks coming out when I only had the cold open.

The particles probably did come from the hot water side.
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Old 02-21-2014, 09:58 PM   #14
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Probably crud from the anode rod, thats what uou're discribing.
Correct,the (Hot Water) is After the Filter! Youroo!!
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Old 02-21-2014, 10:07 PM   #15
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Since you prob.dont Winterize your W/Heater,you should remove the anode rod and drain & clean it,per need by water type & usage. Youroo!!
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Old 02-21-2014, 11:29 PM   #16
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Anode bits and calcium nodules can also enter your cold water lines if you use the low point drains to drain your water heater.

Always isolate the water heater using the bypass valves before removing the anode rod for inspection and draining the water heater from the anode hole.

This prevents that crud from entering the COLD water pipes (the low pipe in the water heater). Running the water empty allowed that crud to enter the cold water pipes. Once you repressurized the system the incoming cold water pushed that crud up to the faucets.
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Old 02-21-2014, 11:35 PM   #17
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Hard water scale was probably in the pump and when it went dry it flaked off then when you added water it moved through the lines. Take the screens off the faucets run some water through the lines and it should flush out.
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