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My faucet constantly clogs up with crap, and I have to clean the end of the faucet manually every week or two weeks.

What is this and what can I do to stop it clogging up my faucets? And is this coming in the house or is it built up in the house's pipes?

Here is a picture what is in the shower faucet after about 2 weeks of not removing it:

enter image description here

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  • Are you on well water or city water? Sep 28, 2020 at 14:56
  • @DeanMacGregor city water, in Belgium near the coast (in case it's relevant)
    – vrwim
    Sep 28, 2020 at 14:56
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    Yikes! It almost looks like the output of the garbage disposal from the kitchen sink is being directed into your shower head. I'd suggest contacting the city water department to see what they have to say.
    – FreeMan
    Sep 28, 2020 at 14:58
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    A bit over the top, @FreeMan. A bit of calcium carbonate with some copper oxides.
    – Ecnerwal
    Sep 28, 2020 at 15:09
  • How compressible is it? Sep 28, 2020 at 19:25

1 Answer 1

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Hard to know without doing some investigation or starting to take steps to address it and see where it pops out.

One thing to try, if you have not, is to flush the fixtures while the end of the faucet or showerhead is off - run 10-20 liters of water though, full-blast, both hot and cold. That should remove anything just sitting in the pipes. You might also want to turn off your water heater (depending what type it is - this is primarily for a tank-type heater) and flush it from the drain connection.

Most likely is that this is coming from the water heater, as various dissolved minerals are prone to come out of solution when water is heated. But it could possibly be coming from the street supply. A filter might address that adequately - one for the output of the hot water needs to be specifically made for handling hot water. I like the so-called "spin down" filters that do most of the filtering by swirling the water to throw particulates out, and then have a central screen - the nice thing is that they also have a valve on the bottom to remove accumulated debris without actually needing to change the filter, so they are economical and convenient to maintain .vs. filters with replaceable filters. The screens can be cleaned or replaced if needed, but they usually don't need to be replaced.

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    Water heater Tanks are great at accumulating calcium deposits! With that much solids in the line, im surprised they dont honk up the cones in the faucet valves. (Ecnerwal's purging idea should do wonders)
    – mark f
    Sep 28, 2020 at 15:31
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    If you think it's coming in from the outside supply, check an outdoor spigot (run water for a while through a screen and see what accumulates). Spigots are normally the first thing off the line, and will bypass anything inside the house that might be contributing.
    – bta
    Sep 28, 2020 at 23:13

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