No matter which water source in your home we’re talking about, ensuring water is clean and healthy is a vital task for homeowners. Unclean, contaminated water can pose several threats to human health, especially when consumed regularly as drinking water.
At Action Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical, we’re happy to help with any and all areas of improving your home’s water quality as part of our plumbing services. We offer reverse osmosis water filtration systems that will allow you and your entire family to drink safely from the taps in your home, plus will help you identify other potential contaminants or issues in primary water streams.
One possible such contaminant: Small black materials, called “black specks,” which may show up in a few different formats when using the tap or faucet and can be dangerous if ingested in large enough amounts – and also might signal other plumbing issues nearby. Here are a few different circumstances under which you might see these black specks, what they mean in each case, and what you can do about them.
Cold Side of Faucet
If you have begun to notice these small black specks coming from the cold side of your faucet, the most likely cause is general corrosion to the pipes leading to this faucet. These are often city pipes, not your own home’s, and you’ll often see these specks right after your water has been turned back on by the city after an outage or some similar event.
Unfortunately, even the best pipes may corrode over time, leading to small pieces breaking off and causing these black specks. In these cases, both our plumbing pros and city officials can help correct your issue.
Hot Side of Faucet
On the other hand, you may see similar specks coming from the hot side of the faucet. This is also usually due to corrosion, but in this case it’s generally coming from the hot water heater rather than any pipe source. However, it’s also possible that the corrosion is due to the water lines between the water heater and your faucet, which you can check after examining the hot water heater itself. Our plumbers will provide full flushing and maintenance services to water heaters and all connected water lines.
Rubber-Like Appearance
Finally, have you begun to notice specks large enough to spot their rubbery qualities? In these cases, these pieces could be coming from items like washers, gaskets or even supply hoses that connect to various plumbing areas. Rubber can break down due to long-term wear-and-tear plus the presence of certain disinfectants. Replacing these small pieces of equipment will generally solve this issue.
For more on identifying and remedying black specks showing up in your faucet’s water supply, or to learn about any of our plumbing or HVAC services, speak to the staff at Action Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical today.