White Flakes in the Ice Cubes

[kaneohe]

Today my wife filled her clear plastic water bottle with cool water from
the dispenser on the front of the refrigerator door and ice from the automatic icemaker. Some hours later when she went to drink it she noticed a large number of small white flakes in the water----kind of like snowflakes----not to gross you out but to give you some size perspective....think dandruff suspended in water. The flakes appear to be slightly heavier than water since they will suspend if the water is agitated but will settle slowly to the bottom eventually.

Water from the cold water faucet appears to be clear. Water from the cool water dispenser on the refrigerator door appears to be ok......a much smaller quantity of even smaller particles is probably residue from particles from the ice (I did the ice test first, rinsed out the glass w/ tap water, then did the cool water dispenser test ) . So......initial tests suggest the particles are coming from the ice.

I will confess to not changing the water filter as often as recommended.
Doesn't the water filter filter both the cool water from the dispenser and the
supply for the ice? I also don't really know when this problem started.
Normally when we use ice, it is in some non-transparent liquid like lemonade, grape juice,etc. Also the condensation on the outside of the glass obscures visibility after a few minutes.

Any guess as to the root cause of this problem, what the particles are, etc.
Just for full disclosure, the kitchen was moved in a remodel and so some new plumbing is involved.

 

[figner]

I get similar white flakes when using ice cube trays filled with tap water in southern california. Given the hardness of the local water, I think they're just mineral deposits that form into flakes when the ice has had a chance to sit and evaporate/sublimate for awhile. Does the ice in your icemaker sit for a while (sometimes a few days will do it) before it gets used? Maybe you can try cleaning out the whole icemaker, wiping it down with a mild vinegar or soap solution, then see if the fresh ice has the same flakes in it.

Also, if the water for the ice maker is going through your old filter, and if the filter is the kind that removes minerals from the water, replacing the filter might solve the problem.

 

[Kwirk]

We sometimes have dark flecks in our ice. I think it's breakdown of the lining of the icemaker. I'm not sure but I suspect that the icemaker is lined with a nonstick surface to let the ice slip out more easily.

Your problem sounds like some sort of mineral condensation.

 

[USK Coastie]

Most likely your white stuff is carbonate coming back into solution. There is no cure for this if using softened water in your ice maker. If you have to get rid of it for peace in the family you could install an under sink RO unit and pipe the output to the ice maker and a separate faucet on the sink for drinking water.

 

[Walt34]

You said recent plumbing was involved - possibly this is plastic particles from pipe fittings and such?

 

[kaneohe]

Thanks all for the responses. I am always amazed by the diversity of knowledge here.

I found this later by googling : white particles ice

15. Sometimes ice cubes made from the tap water, or the melted water from ice cubes contains white particles. What are these particles and where do they come from?

Ice cubes freeze from the outside in. Ice is formed from pure water (hydrogen and oxygen) therefore the minerals such as calcium and magnesium normally found in the water sometimes end up as visible particulates in the core of the ice cube. The white particles are not toxic.
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I am hoping that Figner is right and that a new long overdue filter will be an easy tho
expensive fix. We have the same kind of hard water here in N.CA that you have in
S. CA (in fact, yours prob came from here---just joking) and yes the ice does sit for
a long time before being used. I think I'll try testing your sublimation theory by
emptying the collection tray and using the new ice right away. Oh, the original
plumbing before remodel was copper and I think the new mods were also so I'm
guessing not plastic.

 

[figner]

Ice cubes freeze from the outside in. Ice is formed from pure water (hydrogen and oxygen) therefore the minerals such as calcium and magnesium normally found in the water sometimes end up as visible particulates in the core of the ice cube. The white particles are not toxic.

That sounds like a compellingly reasonable explanation.
Please let us know what your experiments turn up!

Now scuse me while I go drink a glass of the water my local government stole from you...

 

[Westernskies]

Wasn't this mystery previously solved in the "Snip-Snip" thread?

 

[kaneohe]

guess I must have too much time on my hands.........thought I would test the search function of this forum and was impressed that it found this nearly 3 yr old thread that you've been holding your breath for while awaiting the final results
1) interim results w/ previous setup.....aged ice vs new ice....(sublimation theory)....no difference, still lots of white particles
2) new water filter.....now about 6 mos. old..........................................................
particles are totally gone.

 

[GregLee]

Searching on "clear ice" gives several web references attributing the white particles to mineral impurities and trapped air bubbles. E.g. Clear ice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . If this was already clear, or at least no longer cloudy, from the earlier discussion, I apologize for not having read it all.