Sediment in faucet screens and shower head

[NovicePete]

We have had an a build up of sediment in our faucets and shower head for the better part of a year. We can also see the sediment whenever the bath faucet is run for more than a few minutes. I have flushed the hot water heater and had the City come out to flush the water line. This seemed to help for about a month, then the sediment came back in full force. We called the city again, and they came out and put on a "straight runner" for a few hours. I have no idea what this is, and can't seem to google it. The city hasn't returned our inquiries about the straight runner yet either.

Does anyone have any ideas about what could cause this sediment? Should we get a whole house filter? Or is there a possibility it is in our pipes? How do we test where it is coming from? It comes out of all water lines and doesn't seem to correlate with hot or cold water. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Reach4]

Does the material burn or melt in a hot flame? If so, it could be from a disintegrating dip tube in the WH. If not, it could be deposits flaking off of an electric element in the WH.

A whole house filter would be nice to catch sediment from the city water, but stuff from the city is usually more black than white.

Maybe drain and flush the WH, running the water through a strainer to inspect what comes out.

To do a simple water heater flush:
1. Put the WH into vacation mode (or off), and turn off the water to the WH
2. drain the WH. Open a hot water faucet to admit air.
3. When empty, turn on the incoming water quickly for several seconds to spray against any sediment on the bottom.
4. Drain the WH.
5. Repeat #3 and #4 a few times.
6. Close the drain
7. Turn the water back on.
8. When water is freely coming out of that open faucet, close the faucet.
9. Turn the WH back on.

I am not a plumber.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Dj2]

Take the 1st step right now: install a whole house filter.
As said, it will catch stuff from city pipes, but not from your house pipes. See the results and let us know.

 

[Reach4]

I think most washing machines have filter screens at one or both ends of the fill hoses, and they are separate for hot and cold. If you found debris on just the hot side or on both sides, that would be informative.