I’ve been fighting a problem with my hot water supply for several years and none of the reputable local plumbers have been able to resolve the problem.

The hot water lines plug up with a white sediment that appears soft and cottony when “fresh”, but then hardens into a granular form that is caught by the faucet screens. I have to clean the screens about once every week or two, or the flow is seriously restricted. The line to the master bath is also restricted at some point and the shower runs out of hot water after one to two minutes.

We built this house twelve years ago and the problem appeared about six years ago. The original 50gal smart water heater apparently failed when the sediment reached the lower element. Shame on me for not draining the tank periodically! The second 50gal State heater lasted three years and despite draining a couple teaspoonfuls of sediment every week, there was still sediment buildup inside the tank. The third 50gal State was installed a few months ago and is working fine though I still have to drain it every few days.

During the duration of this problem, I had at least six journeyman plumbers and one engineer unable or unwilling to find a fix for the sediment problem. After consulting with a company rep, the engineer suggested I install a Halo Heater Guardian-HG-75 to ionize the water entering the heater. That was seven months ago. The supplier suggested the filter be replaced once a year, and it seemed to have some effect for a while and I could then get a three-minute shower, but now it has returned to the original amount of sediment trapped by the screens, and 1-2 minute showers. To top it off, so far, I’ve been unable to find a supplier for a replacement filter.

My water supply is from the city and the source is several local wells. I contacted the water department, and they said no other customers in my area have had my sediment problem and they can offer no suggestion. The one variable is that I am the only one in the area who has geothermal heating and cooling. It is a Bosch, closed loop system, so the only contact the unit has with the tap water is when the supply line splits and routes water through a heat exchanger and then back to the water heater. The hot water is circulated throughout the house by pump. I’ve been trying to contact a geothermal expert to get his opinion about any effect the pre-warming system could have or if something in it would react with the gas-chlorinated water to cause the sediment formation. For what it’s worth, the city water contains a moderate amount of calcium and when in contact with vinegar, there are a few bubbles emitted.

If a whole house filter would definitely resolve the problem, I’d bite the bullet and cough up, the $7k estimate I got, but I’m not sure that would help if the trouble spot is related to the geothermal unit, or something else. Thanks for any and all opinions!

have you sent the white powder to a lab for analysis ?

It does sound strange that no one has mentioned a lab test! I guess all the players have been assuming that it's calcium, but no question what causes it to form so quickly. I don't know of a local lab that can do that, but our city water folks should know the best place to have that done. I'll give them a call today.

>I contacted the water department, and they said no other customers in my area have had my sediment problem and they can offer no suggestion.

>I don't know of a local lab that can do that, but our city water folks should know the best place to have that done. I'll give them a call today.

I'm thinking you might want to find your own independent lab in Houston or Dallas. As in don't ask one of the possible perpetrators to send over their friend.

exactly.. how can you try to sell a filter system when you don't know what needs to be removed from the water ?