New Home Construction: Sand in Pipes?
 

We moved into our new build a few weeks ago before which we had both a whole home filtration system and water softener added.

Within a couple weeks, while doing laundry, our brand new - and expensive - washing machine threw an error while midway through a cycle indicating no water supply. I figured it was a "glitch" and let it sit for about 20 minutes before restarting which seemed to work fine. I also ran a Rinse Only cycle which also seemed to work.

Then a couple days later one of our bathroom faucets - the one that shares the wall with our washing machine - completely stopped working.

I called TV Warranty who had Mike Scott out and immediately they suspected sand in the line. The plumber used a plastic tool to open the end of the faucet and, sure enough, sand had clogged it. He let it run again and it again slowed to the point where he needed to clean it. While he was doing this, I ran an empty Quick Wash cycle to ensure the washing machine was working and it seemed to be.

But shortly after he left, we ran another load of laundry and our washing machine threw the same error indicating the water supply was cut.

I'm going to call them back out, but I wonder if anyone else has had this similar issue as it seems to be fairly common here. The plumber actually said he figured there was sand in the line before we added the filtration and it had just taken time to reach our faucets.

Ugh.

I’d recommend unscrewing the water feed (hot and cold) that goes into the machine. Sometimes there is a sediment filter/cap installed. I’d also recommend cleaning (if there is one) the waste filter on the machine itself. It’s usually behind a door towards the bottom front of the machine.

As a precaution, I also inspect any other water filter devices that you might have.

Also look for any sediment in toilet bowls, faucets, refrigerator water filters, instant hot water tanks, etc.,

Sorry to read that you are having problems. The Villages is usually good about getting them resolved quickly.

Thank you so much for this - very helpful!

I'm checking with our manufacturer too on how best to clean and inspect the machine before using it again - hopefully we can find the sand is caught at the line, clean it, and it's a one-off thing here.

I appreciate your advice.

do not run the washer machine again until you are sure the sand is cleared out. Sand will quickly wear down the pump impellers, which will make for some wet clothes if not all the water is removed.

I would also check with neighbors to see if they are having this problem.

Thanks - I posted in our local Facebook group.

And my wife spoke with someone last night who said another homeowner reported their washing machine apparently leaked water over the floor as outflow drain was clogged with sand. This doesn't make sense to me, but that's what was reported.

I was able to unscrew the two water intake pipes and noticed that the hot water had sand against the plastic filter. When removing the plastic filter, fortunately the manufacturer (LG) also has a finer mesh that also trapped some of the sand. It didn't appear there was enough sand to completely clog the line, but there was definitely enough to impede it and likely set off the warning.

I cleaned both the plastic piece and mesh, reinstalled, and have since run a couple of loads with no issue. I figured due to both the dual filtration and the fine mesh at the intake, any grains that their way into the unit were small enough to be discharged through the sprayers and likely out with the greywater.

Fingers crossed we're in the clear now. The folks at Mike Scott plumbing were very helpful and mentioned that the installed (Home Depot in our case) should have run the water through the lines for several minutes before connecting. To me, that's didn't seem necessary as one wouldn't expect sand in plumbing.

Do not over look the possibility of the water softener being installed backwards. Water going in the out connection and coming out of the IN connection to the rest of the house. It allows the sand to flush out of the softener. Had it happen. Same symptoms.

Interesting. By why would sand be in the softener in the first place? We're NaCl but even with KCl where does sand fit in?

Did anyone check if the Tankless hot water heater has a input screen?

When you watch them install the water lines here, is impossible to imagine there would not be sand in the lines...

SOP should be to flush them during construction

The builder does not warrant appliances. However, if sand in the potable water system is causing appliances to fail, this could be a warranty issue with the water system. The sand should have been flushed out before connecting the appliances. If the appliance manufacturer confirms that this is causing the problem, I would file a warranty claim with the builder. Take photos.

All appliances on our new build came with a 2 year warranty.

My Villages warranty booklet, on page 9, Section IX, "manufacturers and other similar warranties", states:

"Your warranty does not apply to any manufactured item, such as appliances, fixtures, equipment ... or any other item which is covered by a manufacturer's warranty ..."

Also, it specifically names appliances that are not covered. Some appliances will include a 2-year warranty from the manufacturer, but others only have a 1-year warranty. If the manufacturer determines that an appliance failed due to sand in the potable water system, they could exclude warranty coverage.

If your Villages warranty says anything that is different, please post it. Thanks.

Should this continue you might have a crack in one of your in ground water pipes which is allowing sand to get into the pipe. Home Warranty will cover it, but that will be a huge mess to repipe. If sand got into your pipes while they were connecting them that should wash out fairly quickly, otherwise you have a crack somewhere.

Sand in pipes
 

You are lucky it was only faucets! When we moved in, it was the HVAC lines. The safety valve was also defective, so AC did not shut off & the A/C kept running and water/condensation backed up into our master closet under the carpeting, so we didn't notice any water until I kneeled down in the closet to get something. There were gallons of water! They had to completely uninstall everything, rebuild the box the unit sat on, tear out carpeting & drywall in closet. Not to mention we had to remove everything from our master closet which backed up to the HVAC unit in the garage. What a mess!