Water Heaters - Mystery Flakes

My Delta single lever kitchen faucet was leaking so I took it apart and found the diverter valve and aerator full of mysterious plastic flakes. The wife says they look like Kellogg's Frosted Flakes only smaller and with tiny holes.

Is this junk coming from my 5 year old Kenmore gas water heater? If so what is the fix?

If the flakes are plastic ( check to see if they dissolve in vinegar...mineral deposits will, plastic wont). If is plastic, it is symptomatic of the famous dip tube class action issue. But your heater is a little young. That problem dated to the mid 90's. Go to the website of your manufacturer and they should confirm by serial number if your WH as affected.

In any case, the fix was to replace the diptube and flush the system. If it is a system problem, you may start to have clogs in aerators on all your faucets.

If in fact you have one of those defective dip tubes, your water heater is a lot older than you think. Replacement of the water heater may not be a bad idea.

I am not sure about your flakes. However, I had a problem with white flakes. It turned out to be a PVC tube inside the water heater that carries the cold water to the bottom. It had almost completely deteriorated and the pieces had flown into my hot water lines. A plumber could check that tube and replace it if necessary.

The AO Smith WH I bought 10 years ago had this problem. By the time I realized my unit had this defect, it was too late to be part of the class action suit. Not that those lawsuits amount to much anyway (except to lawyers). Nowhere did I see or hear about anything about dip tube replacement, which is probably a economical solution. Instead, I had to replace the entire water heater which wasn't that old. I am still finding bits of the disintegrated tube in my aerators. Glad it isn't toxic or I would be dead by now.

I had this dip tube problem on my bock water heater too. I too had the white plastic in the filters. Fortunately for me it was covered by my service contract with my oil guy.