There is still some debris in the cold water line.
Remove the hose again to clean the screen again, and before reconnecting it, run several (10 or so) gallons of water through the hose into the laundry sink or down the drain to flush out any remaining particulates.

What Randy said sounds right. I wonder if you also need to have your water lines flushed out too... because what's with all the grit coming through them?

Agree with previous about flushing the lines thoroughly. However, I suspect the problem will occur again. If it does, you're going to be looking at some kind of particulate filter or a re-pipe.

Can you describe nature of the particles? Does it appear sandy/gritty all-the-same-size granuals.....or various-sized thingies that look like maybe deteriorated piping flakes? Do you have any galvanized piping segments in your supply lines? The time frame you've described makes me wonder if you've got an undiscovered galvanized section in there that's begun it's final stages of breaking down......in which case, this is actually a good thing happening before it begins leaking and causing damage.

Don't know....not trying to get anyone in a panic....just wishing I could get a good look at the crud you're collecting on that screen. I suspect an experienced eye could tell you what it is and where it's coming from just by looking.

Oh, darn--I'm pretty good at closeup photography, and if I hadn't chucked the stuff I could have taken a picture to show you. I can tell you that it was jet black--all of it--and the pieces I noticed were about 1/16". It looked like something that would have come out of the ground rather than flaked off a pipe. They were faceted rather than flat, for one thing.

Does it help to know I have well water?

Any idea why I always have the problem with the cold water, but never the hot? I suppose the hot water heater could have a filter in it, but wouldn't that filter be pretty full by now? The hot water heater is old enough that I'm thinking of replacing it this summer.

Remove the hose again to clean the screen again, and before reconnecting it, run several (10 or so) gallons of water through the hose into the laundry sink or down the drain to flush out any remaining particulates.

Would it defeat the purpose to run the water into the washing machine? This is my little laundry alcove: no sink and no drain. Or is there a drain in back of the washer that we could access?

Thanks so much for taking an interest in this!

Well water? OK, some things to think about.

Sorry, busy right now...will return later.

I'm sorry.....because I'm going to suggest you need to spend some money.

Quality from the well is numero uno, importante....joking....meaning what comes up from your well basically determines the rest of your life. What are you dealing with? Well crud? Pump crud? Piping crud? Can you see where I'm going?

Sorry, have to go again .....back later,.

OK....your water heater does NOT have a filter in it....I have little doubt its silting up. If it's older, by all means save yourself some grief and replace it. However, before you do...............

From your description, I have little doubt your problem begins at the well: Water that comes from it; pump that the water passes through; pipes that the water passes through after that. I can't tell from cyber-distance what the combination is. However, I DO suggest that you deal with ALL of it.

May involve re-boring well. May involve replacing pump. May involve some re-piping. Almost certainly will involve 30-micron particulate filtration (which is easy/cheap, by the way) before the supply reaches your washer or heater or anything else.

I have zero doubt there are well-water people in your area that deal with this stuff all the time. It is apparent to me that you, personally, are not very familiar with what may be involved. I suggest you hire somebody locally who knows their stuff and do what they say. I have little doubt that the path from here to there will be a thousand or two....or three. Whatever. Main water supply is basic. Must be right. Learn what's required at your location and take care of it. You'll suffer as long as you don't.

Wish I was on-site to give you a better opinion but that's what it looks like from here. Please do spend a few bucks and bring somebody to your site that knows stuff. It's not complicated. It just is what it is and you need somebody to tell you about it.

That's probably pretty accurate. You are not getting junk from your hot water lines because it's probably settling out in your tank. Many wells will pull crud when the water demand exceeds the supply.

I have zero doubt there are well-water people in your area that deal with this stuff all the time. It is apparent to me that you, personally, are not very familiar with what may be involved. I suggest you hire somebody locally who knows their stuff and do what they say. I have little doubt that the path from here to there will be a thousand or two....or three. Whatever. Main water supply is basic. Must be right. Learn what's required at your location and take care of it. You'll suffer as long as you don't.

Suffer in what way? I have to say so far, at least, my suffering has been minimal: detaching a hose a couple of times a year and rinsing out the little screen.

You're right that I know next to nothing about how a well works. I don't know when the original well was dug (this is an 1850 house), but around 25 years ago it was overhauled in some fashion. I remember a concrete slab was poured after the work was done. And I can tell you that seven years ago the pump was replaced.

As far as supply and demand goes, the present situation makes very few demands on the well. For the past eight years I've lived here by myself.

And you're right that the thought of an expensive repair is not a welcome one. As a widow who had to come out of retirement to go back to work, I like the idea of the easy/cheap 30-micron particulate filtration. :-)

No reason you can't do it bit-at-a-time if you want. Adding particulate filtration will almost certainly take care of it in the short run. Suspect you can have local person do this start-to-finish using easily replaceable parts for a couple hundred -- depending on your situation. Really doesn't amount to much. Examining the filter from time-to-time will also give you an idea of how bad your problem is. You WILL have to change the filter at appropriate intervals -- also easy and cheap. I'm on city water and change mine once per year. I've also lived through periods of the city doing main-line upgrades during which I changed them every two weeks. Your mileage may vary.

I would like to see you obtain a water quality report for your location and expert advice about what's going on there. However, do understand money problems.

Hello, I usually hang out in other forums but came here today looking for info on washing machines and read your post. I, too, have well water and had the exact same problem, the filter filling up with grit and stopping the flow of water. The grit also clogged my faucets filter too. I had a repairman come and check out what the issue was and he said grit from the well. I called the well guy who drilled my well and he installed a filter at the well that catches the grit. Cost me about $500.00 but no more grit in my water and I don't have to worry about Me drinking the water anymore. Maybe you just need a filter at the well itself. He said I may need to flush that filter out about every three to four years. I plan to give him a call when I have issues.
This may be a solution for you.
Now do you know what the best top loading washer is???? LOL
Murphy

My kids have that problem and when I was mentioning supply and demand.....I didn't mean your usually patterns. Their well has an adequate recoup time for their needs too, but they have a toilet what sometimes keeps running and it runs the well dry. The last time that happened they had to get a plumber in to clean out the lines to their appliances. It can impact everything you run water too from your well pressure tank, hot water tank, wash machine and dish washer. Just one service call can be an expensive fix.

Thanks, Asolo, Calliope, and Murphy.

I live out in the country, on 31 acres, my property surrounded mostly by woods and fields. We used to make tofu commercially here, and our water had to be checked regularly. It always received excellent reports. Granted, that was in the 1970s and 80s, but as far as I can tell nothing much has changed insofar as my property and the neighbors' properties are concerned.

Perhaps my ignorance is showing, but there are things about this situation that still puzzle me. The hot water is one of them. Yes, the sediment may have settled out in the hot water heater tank, but I would think 20 years worth of sediment would have caused a problem by now. Maybe not, but I still wonder why the problem is limited to the laundry water. We've never had a problem with water flow in the shower--and for many years five clean people lived here. Ditto the kitchen and two bathroom sinks and the dishwasher.

I've never ever seen any kind of particulate in our drinking water, and believe me, I would have noticed. And any visible impurity would have been immediately apparent when we had the tofu business--tofu being a pure white product.

I'll put in a call to the guys who installed the pump, and talk filters.......

Interesting new info. From this, I'm back to suspecting deterioration in hidden pipe-section. If you can collect and save your next batch of crud from that hose-screen I'll bet an experienced eye can set you straight immediately. When you first turn it on after a day or two of non-use, do you see any rust or other color in the first quart or so of flow?

Other issue, if that water heater is twenty years old I hope its in a place where failure won't result in any damage being done. For example, I live in a slab home with the water-heater just sitting there with no plinth or drain-path of any kind. If/when that tank ever leaks, it will flood the entire house. Hopefully, yours isn't like that.

No, it's in my dungeon dirt-floor basement. But this conversation has reminded me that I really need to replace it. This is a particularly busy time right now, but I'd better start reading up on hot water heaters.

hi, alisande,

Now may be very good time to replace that water heater because there were (are?) some good EnergyStar rebates available.

Just do a Google search... some are sponsored by your state energy dept., others may be available from your local utility company.

We just replaced our hot water heater and after much research decided to go with a Bradford White. Ours is natural gas with a power vent. Not cheap, but hopefully built to last.

Hi again...just a follow up and a thought. Most of the country was/is in a major drought situation the past few years. Droughts affect wells and water tables. Maybe the grit is just now becoming a problem because the water table is lower. Which would explain why the water heater has not been "clogged up" in twenty years of use. :)
Don't know where you live, but I suspect that may have been part of my problem. Since the filter at the well has been in place I have zero problems with the filter in my washing machine or the kitchen and bath faucets.
Something to think about as you try to find the solution to your problem.
Good luck
Murphy

When you checked the hose filter, did you check both ends? Some washers have built in stainer at hose connection.

Cuffs, your message showed up in my Inbox just as I was writing an email to my son about this very thing. He had mentioned the possibility of a strainer at the washer end, and we plan to pull the machine out and take a look this weekend. Then we'll run some water through the hose into a bucket.

Interesting possibility, Murphy--thanks!

Oh, and my cousin Dave called this morning to offer me a six-month-old electric hot water heater. Now I can stop trying to read those "how to choose a hot water heater" articles online. :-)