What are these little white chips inside my faucet?

What are these things? They fell out inside the faucet head in droves, when I unscrewed it, and were also jammed up inside the plastic aerator. What the hell are they? At first I thought they were bits of shredded plastic. They do look like them. You can crush them, however, but it isn't easy. They look like tiny hard lumps of detergent, with green speckles in some of them. What are they? Calcium deposits or, my immediate more paranoid thought, was, undissolved chemicals from the water plant. That isn't possible, is it?







Here is the likely answer: hot water heater. I had no idea a hot water heater could do this. From the web:

If the sediment is coming from just the hot water line the problem might be traced to faulty water heater design. Faulty dip tubes are commonly found in water heaters manufactured in the mid-1990s. They are constructed of a material that breaks down over time and the white or gray sediment found in clogged faucets is the result of that break down. If the sediment is light green, on the other hand, the likely culprit is high pH water that reacts with an aluminum anode in the water heater.


Clogged faucets can thus be traced to a variety of problems. Cleaning and replacing the aerator screen is a quick fix in most cases. More long-term fixes, however, involve the addition of a water softener, the replacement of the water heater’s dip tube, the replacement of an aluminum anode with a magnesium one, or even a replacement of the water heater itself. In cases where mineral buildup has occurred over a number of years it might even be necessary to replace some of the water lines in the house. By employing just a little investigative effort when confronted with a clogged faucet, the homeowner can glean the information that will allow them to make an educated decision as to whether to attempt to fix the problem on their own or to hire professional help.

UPDATE: Well, it's taken most of the day, when I was supposed to be doing a zillion other things, but I got the water back running in the bathroom. My method of repairing something not working is to take "the thing" apart by finding anything that unscrews or pops off. Last resort: try to find information on the web about how to repair something. Then, I try to remember how everything went back together with the goal not to end up with mysterious extra parts.

Unfortunately, at faucet repair central today, I ended up with several forgotten extra parts and had to repeatedly take the thing apart again, to put those parts back in, wherever I felt they seemed to fit. And yay, it all worked out.

Now I have to go get a car battery. I'm going to be installing that myself also, because it's cheaper. Then I'll return the old core, for a refund on that.

UPDATE UPDATE: I got the battery, brought it home, installed it, vroooom, vrooom, to check it's function and it functions, now to return the core and off to pick up the cats fixed today.

Robinhood is leaving for a home tonight. I am very excited about this. With Atom and Last Kitten Standing, a.k.a. Luke, leaving Thursday, this is going to help ease things up around here, except for I did take in the two tiny Starvation Kids2. Oh well.

Who do I have remaining, who need homes? Bisquits, Bones and Hungry, Starvation Kids original. Sami, the pneumonia girl, now well, and about to be spayed. And the latest Starvation Kids. Six kittens.