Black residue coming out of the bathtub faucet

[JF Nadeau]

At two occasions I saw black residue coming out off the bathtub faucet. It was a black soft residu about the size of a match head. It was easy to clean my fingers only under water after rubbing it between my fingers. It was not smelling anything. Here is a video :

What is it? Can it be the anode in the water heater? It's about 10 years old.

thanks

 

[Reach4]

Is your water heater water or tub water going thru braid-covered flex hoses? Sometimes those can deteriorate.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JF Nadeau]

Is your water heater water or tub water going thru braid-covered flex hoses? Sometimes those can deteriorate.

Not the water heater. But the bath I don't know. The building is 11 years old. It's a moen faucet with two handle.

 

[Reach4]

Look at the aerator screens on the lavatory faucet and the kitchen faucet. Any black gunk there?

Try flushing your WH.

Flushing can be done different ways. The simplest is to
1. Turn off the water, and put the WH in vacation mode, if it has one. Otherwise off.
2. Open a hot water tap to pass air.
3. Drain the WH completely. You can put the water through a hose.
4. Turn the water supply on fully for a few seconds, and turn off. You are trying to cause turbulence to the bottom of the tank.
5. Do steps 3 and 4 several times. If you have a way to monitor the drained water, you could judge by what you are getting out.
6. Turn the water and WH back on. Close the hot water tap once the air has been expelled and just water is coming out.

If you could run the draining water through a strainer, you might catch some solids to examine.

 

[JF Nadeau]

Thanks Reach4. I followed your instructions. I emptied the WH. After that I opened the faucet in the bathtub and there was all kind of crap at the bottom of the tank. See picture: https://imgur.com/gallery/14elJ

After refilling the tank. The water come out clean. As long as we don't empty the tank we will not see other particle in the water. Is this normal? Is the water safe to use?

 

[Terry]

After refilling the tank. The water come out clean. All long as we don't empty the tank we will not see other particle in the water. Is this normal? Is the water safe to use?

Safe to use? I would say yes. Safe to drink? They don't recommend drinking from the water heater anyway. No.