Or, at least, I’m calling it scale. Little white granules of some sort. I haven’t had it tested or anything.
I live on the east coast of Central Florida (near Cocoa Beach). The water is fairly hard around here, so I know that scale is an issue, but it seems to be more of an issue in the kitchen faucet than anywhere else in the house. I am noticing a distinct reduction in flow virtually every day, sometimes more than once a day. When I unscrew the pullout spout from the hose, I will find the little screen on the hose end plugged with small, hard, white granules. I’ll flush them out and everything will be fine, until it’s not. I don’t seem to be having this problem anywhere else in the house. I removed the aerators from all the bathroom faucets and they were clean. I have not noticed any reductions in flow rate in the shower, and the clothes- and dishwashers seem to be working fine.
We’re parttime residents, and I don’t do anything when I leave in the summer other than shut off the circuit breaker to the water heater. Is there something else I should be doing that might prevent this? In case it matters, it’s a Moen single-lever faucet very similar to this one. The guts of the valve were replaced within the last year, so it should be in good shape.