In short, the lesson learned is that it is probably smart to flush water supply lines every once in a while on a line that has a filter on it to get the dirt out that can't pass through.
The ice maker on my fridge stopped working this weekend so I started looking into why. The manual said that one reason could be due to dirt in the water lines so I checked it out. There is a water line that goes from the wall to the bottom of my fridge. Another line then goes from the bottom up to the top and into the freezer to make ice. I disconnected it and no water came out...until about 30 seconds later it came out and I turned the water off so I'm thinking it is clogged somewhere upstream. I then disconnect the water line that comes from the wall and goes to the bottom of the fridge and point it into a bucket. When I turn the water on the water is full of green stuff in it. Yuck! I had to fill it about a third of the way before clear water came out. I dumped it out then filled another bucket full of clear water. I did that again this morning and at lunch. Both times today it was clear. I knew the water was dirty because whenever I change the water filter it had been green. I change it about every six months and had changed it at the beginning of this year. Whenever I do change it the water flows much faster at first then gradually it slows down as the filter gets clogged. This last time I noticed that about after a week it was already slow. I have never noticed any dirt in the water of any of my other faucets. I'm thinking the filter kept dirt from getting through and that somehow dirt in the water supply collected in this line. The flow from the water dispenser and ice maker is really low compared to other faucets and adding a filter makes it slower. I could keep changing filters but that would take forever to get all of the dirt out. The one question I have is what was that green stuff and will it kill me?
The ice maker on my fridge stopped working this weekend so I started looking into why. The manual said that one reason could be due to dirt in the water lines so I checked it out. There is a water line that goes from the wall to the bottom of my fridge. Another line then goes from the bottom up to the top and into the freezer to make ice. I disconnected it and no water came out...until about 30 seconds later it came out and I turned the water off so I'm thinking it is clogged somewhere upstream. I then disconnect the water line that comes from the wall and goes to the bottom of the fridge and point it into a bucket. When I turn the water on the water is full of green stuff in it. Yuck! I had to fill it about a third of the way before clear water came out. I dumped it out then filled another bucket full of clear water. I did that again this morning and at lunch. Both times today it was clear. I knew the water was dirty because whenever I change the water filter it had been green. I change it about every six months and had changed it at the beginning of this year. Whenever I do change it the water flows much faster at first then gradually it slows down as the filter gets clogged. This last time I noticed that about after a week it was already slow. I have never noticed any dirt in the water of any of my other faucets. I'm thinking the filter kept dirt from getting through and that somehow dirt in the water supply collected in this line. The flow from the water dispenser and ice maker is really low compared to other faucets and adding a filter makes it slower. I could keep changing filters but that would take forever to get all of the dirt out. The one question I have is what was that green stuff and will it kill me?