Well water - clogged screens on faucets and hot water heater

[speedbump]

Here in my area soft water with a high PH is surface water and in farmland, has a bit too many chemicals in it for my comfort. Once water travels down through the normal layers and gets into the aquifer, the hardness is raised above ten grains and the PH rises to a neutral level. Then its safe to use. I don't know what that pink stuff is, but it looks like it has fibers in it.

 

[Egon]

The chances are biocides treatment will be required.

 

[Alan L.]

Turn your tank around, otherwords plumb the inlet side down low and the outlet side up high, I had the exact same problems that you described and an old well and pump man told me to do what I described and I have not had any more problems since all the sediment, sand etc falls to the bottom of the tank well below the outlet hole. Good luck, Charlie.

This is a galvanized tank - not a bladder tank. The inlet and outlet are the same height - way down low. What I am getting is not sediment, at least it's not sand. Just some kind of debris that some here are calling biofilm. I had to replace my shower faucet innards today - totally clogged up. The shower head which I put in new a week ago was severely limited today and I found the screen on it was almost totally clogged.

 

[Alan L.]

Check your hot water heater. I had a similar problem several years ago. It turned out being the dip tube in the hot water heater had deteriated and was clogging all the faucets and the screens on the washing machine. Drove me crazy for a few months until someone at work told me about the dip tube problem.

The stuff is happening before it gets to the hot water heater which is a tankless unit with a prescreen. The prescreen is on the cold water input into the heater and it keeps getting clogged. The cold water side of my shower faucet keeps getting plugged as does the shower head. Also all the aerators on all the faucets and the water inlet on the washing machine. This is getting serious.

 

[Alan L.]

I dropped in a dry 1/4 inch piece from this filter, and it didn't even want to break apart. I let it set, stirred some more, it separated somewhat, but did not dissolve.

View attachment 318227 View attachment 318228

Notice how it is on both sides of the filter, that is why I think it is a biofilm bioslime. Anything else small enough to get through a screen or filter would not stay there, it would move on with the water flow.

Mine is only on the inlet side of the filter/screen.

 

[WayneB]

You might try putting a clear filter housing right in front of the On Demand Hot Water system. It would permit you to see the filter and contamination.