Is there a Chemist in the house?

[piskieinboots]

Right, that's why I asked about it being small grains. If it wasn't particulate then fungus would be my next guess. Now you say it is slimy then I'd definitely call it fungus.

gawd!! so what would you do - fill kettle/iron etc straight from 'aaard tap and to heck with it or keep filtering and drink fungiiii

[FionaH]

If it wasn't particulate then fungus would be my next guess. .

Are you sure particulate is a real word? ignorant soul me!

[Capsid]

Are you sure particulate is a real word? ignorant soul me!

Yes.

particulate definition | Dictionary.com

[Capsid]

gawd!! so what would you do - fill kettle/iron etc straight from 'aaard tap and to heck with it or keep filtering and drink fungiiii

Do you really need to filter the water for drinking? It'll be OK to use it for the iron. Boiling in the kettle should kill any nasties.

[FionaH]

Yes.

particulate definition | Dictionary.com

lol I should know better than to joke with a chemist! I always lose

[piskieinboots]

Do you really need to filter the water for drinking?

you know I really don't know - I know that we have hard water and that I love the taste of it from the tap (well, actually I use a glass but you get my drift) .... I have always been under the impresion that if water is hard it must be filtered for kettles else you end up with a up of scale

Thanks Capsid

[jackie j]

We have nice soft water, slurp ahhh

[Flummery]

The cancer link with burnt toast is unproven but that's benzopyrene not carbon. So I gave a poor analogy. Charcoal?

The tastiest bits of toast, roast meat etc. are said to be a bit dodgy. They are known collectively as BCBs (Burnt Crunchy Bits)

[Flummery]

We have hard water. Everybody here drinks it. However, there is some doubt that we come into the category of 'normal' -!

[kernowyon]

you know I really don't know - I know that we have hard water and that I love the taste of it from the tap (well, actually I use a glass but you get my drift) .... I have always been under the impresion that if water is hard it must be filtered for kettles else you end up with a up of scale

Thanks Capsid

we don't use filters for the tap water at all, just use a descaler on the kettle every couple of months, (usually after I get a cup of crunchy tea) and that stuff that makes washing machines live longer.

[lainey lou]

We have hard water here, wouldn't use a filter though, think they're a breading ground for all sorts of nasties.
Just de-scale the kettle with vinegar once a month, easy!

[jackie j]

Burnt toast brings back memories of an aunty who always managed to burn the toast. She has been gone a long time now and we still say aunty Pymms here the toats is burnt.

[BrideXIII]

we don't use filters for the tap water at all, just use a descaler on the kettle every couple of months, (usually after I get a cup of crunchy tea) and that stuff that makes washing machines live longer.

yep same here, and rent my washing machine so i don't have to buy a new one every 3 years lol.

[Two_Sheds]

I have always been under the impresion that if water is hard it must be filtered for kettles else you end up with a up of scale

only if you never clean your kettle
Rinsing it out and using fresh every day will help to keep it descaled. As will boiling up a bit of 50/50 vinegar and water every now and again.

[bluemoon]

Could you sterilize your jug from time to time using Milton fluid? The stuff they used to sterilize baby's bottles with. As I recall you didn't have to rinse it off before the bottle was used, so if it's safe for babies it's probably safe for this type of use and will do less damage than boiling.