I had let my bathtub cold water run too long in my Mini Lite, ran out of water, and lost the prime on my pump. This happened on the last day driving back from my most recent trip, so I just stored the TT for the time. A couple days later (today) I went back, poured some water from my house water hose into the tank, and started up the pump.It went good, got the prime back, except I noticed that the bathtub cold water was still not up to full flow, although everything else seemed to be, including the bathtub hot water. I let it run some more.Then I noticed what I thought was dirt coming out of the bathroom spigot. On closer examination, It was small particles of whitish grit, slightly larger than, say, beach sand at the largest. If I picked it up and rubbed it, it crushed into smaller powder-ish grit.I have only put clean water from reliable sources in my tank. In addition, I have a water filter that came with the unit that filters all water before in goes to any fixture in the trailer, not just some.Any Idea what this stuff could be? And what would be the best way to get rid of whatever it is?

Take it to a swimming pool supply place and have them do a chemical test on it. It could be plastic, salt, or calcium.

I wonder if it could be material from the water heaters anode. If you have a Suburban WH (Atwood = no anode) then perhaps when you ran out of water and it ended up pulling some of the junk of the bottom of the WH's tank somehow. Or if you have hard water then it could have just been calcium deposits in the bottom of the fresh water tank that were sucked through the system.

ScottG wrote:I wonder if it could be material from the water heaters anode. If you have a Suburban WH (Atwood = no anode) then perhaps when you ran out of water and it ended up pulling some of the junk of the bottom of the WH's tank somehow. Or if you have hard water then it could have just been calcium deposits in the bottom of the fresh water tank that were sucked through the system.As a matter of fact, the last place we stayed; Rio Del Sol RV park near Parker, AZ, had hard water, according to a knowledgeable inhabitant.I thought that it would just shorten my filters life, but the filter would take out the extra minerals. Especially stuff this big and chunky. What is in those filters? Could this be something from the filter element? It just looks like paper-like membrane folded over a bunch to form a starred cylinder. Like fuel filters, and such.

Hard water doesn't have "big and chunky" stuff when it flows into your tank- you can't even see the bits of minerals in it. The teenytiny pieces all get together in there and glom onto each other, usually by settling. That's where the chunky stuff comes from.

Mysterious substance in potable water | Good Sam Community

trop-a-cal
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
Take it to a swimming pool supply place and have them do a chemical test on it. It could be plastic, salt, or calcium.
ScottG
Nomad
Feb 21, 2014
I wonder if it could be material from the water heaters anode. If you have a Suburban WH (Atwood = no anode) then perhaps when you ran out of water and it ended up pulling some of the junk of the bottom of the WH's tank somehow.
Or if you have hard water then it could have just been calcium deposits in the bottom of the fresh water tank that were sucked through the system.
Rmack1
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
ScottG wrote:
I wonder if it could be material from the water heaters anode. If you have a Suburban WH (Atwood = no anode) then perhaps when you ran out of water and it ended up pulling some of the junk of the bottom of the WH's tank somehow.
Or if you have hard water then it could have just been calcium deposits in the bottom of the fresh water tank that were sucked through the system.

As a matter of fact, the last place we stayed; Rio Del Sol RV park near Parker, AZ, had hard water, according to a knowledgeable inhabitant.

I thought that it would just shorten my filters life, but the filter would take out the extra minerals. Especially stuff this big and chunky. What is in those filters? Could this be something from the filter element? It just looks like paper-like membrane folded over a bunch to form a starred cylinder. Like fuel filters, and such.
SCVJeff
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
Calcium
Francesca_Knowl
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
Hard water doesn't have "big and chunky" stuff when it flows into your tank- you can't even see the bits of minerals in it. The teenytiny pieces all get together in there and glom onto each other, usually by settling. That's where the chunky stuff comes from.
Rmack1
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
SCVJeff wrote:
Calcium

It kinda looks like that, but how did it get past my water filter?
ScottG
Nomad
Feb 21, 2014
Rmack1 wrote:
SCVJeff wrote:
Calcium

It kinda looks like that, but how did it get past my water filter?

Exactly as Francesca described. The material is too small to be caught by any filter. Then it collects together to make chunks. But, it usually takes a while to do that.
Rmack1
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
ScottG wrote:
Rmack1 wrote:
SCVJeff wrote:
Calcium

It kinda looks like that, but how did it get past my water filter?

Exactly as Francesca described. The material is too small to be caught by any filter. Then it collects together to make chunks. But, it usually takes a while to do that.

Huh. That would explain it, but I read my filter's info in my manual, and it said it would filter out chlorine. It also said something about filtering 'hard water' so it doesn't enter the water system.

Could the filter either be incorrectly installed, loose, or compromised in some way? It's in a clear holder, and it looks OK, but I'm not sure.
Tom_N
Explorer
Feb 21, 2014
If you use a filter, the filter medium may started to disintegrate.

-Tom
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Feb 21, 2014
Hard water is only removed by a water softener and not a filter. It frequently accumulates inside the water heater on the heating element itself as well as flaking off and sitting in the bottom. The anode rod is there to help these kinds of minerals from eating up the inside components.

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