No water to bathroom sink and toilet but shower/tub is ok

[Beernutzbob]

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I disconnected the water line into the toilet today and a large amount of the same grit that was blocking the sink aerator came out. Luckily I'd put a towel down and caught it all.

I turned the water pump on and all bathroom water is back to normal.

[chuckster57]

Thank you for posting a follow up, it may help another person/member.

[LHaven]

Yup this is water heater anode sediment. You're lucky it made it through to the aerator, mine got stuck in the faucet valve and it had to be taken off and cleaned. (You may have some still stuck back there.)

If you find the cold water (and toilet) continually clog up but the hot water doesn't, you may have this problem [LINK], which happens if your bathroom cold feed takeoff is immediately before your water heater. The thread is long but instructive. You probably need to clean your toilet intake screen now as well.

Switching from the magnesium anode to the aluminum slowed the problem way down but didn't eliminate it. At some point I will bite the bullet and install the Sharkbite check valve I bought way back when to keep the sediment from migrating back into the cold water line. Meanwhile, we learned that running the hot water first thing after setup (before the cold or toilet) keeps the sediment from backing into your cold fixtures, but we don't always remember.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by LHaven

Yup this is water heater anode sediment. You're lucky it made it through to the aerator, mine got stuck in the faucet valve and it had to be taken off and cleaned. (You may have some still stuck back there.)

If you find the cold water (and toilet) continually clog up but the hot water doesn't, you may have this problem [LINK], which happens if your bathroom cold feed takeoff is immediately before your water heater. The thread is long but instructive. You probably need to clean your toilet intake screen now as well.

Switching from the magnesium anode to the aluminum slowed the problem way down but didn't eliminate it. At some point I will bite the bullet and install the Sharkbite check valve I bought way back when to keep the sediment from migrating back into the cold water line. Meanwhile, we learned that running the hot water first thing after setup (before the cold or toilet) keeps the sediment from backing into your cold fixtures, but we don't always remember.

Perhaps sediment from the water heater in a sink water tap but the toilet isn't involved in the hot water system. We live in the country and sediment is very common from well water. We don't get much in the house since we have a 3000 gallon tank and it filters to the bottom for the most part.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Perhaps sediment from the water heater in a sink water tap but the toilet isn't involved in the hot water system.

Yeah thanks, I'm aware of that. Go back and read the thread I linked to.

The cold water system is sucking water out of the INTAKE of the HOT water system, along with its sediment... because that intake is on the BOTTOM of the heater and not check-valved -- unlike the hot feed which comes out of the TOP the heater and so the sediment stays put.