that's limescale
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Limescale from the tap, or a dirty dish with limescale.
Either way it's harmless.
This is why water softeners, aka soft water is a thing in many US homes.
The kettle doesn't have whitish looking residue though. It's spotty specks of grey that leaves chalky white powder on my finger when I wipe them, is that still limestone?
Yup. It takes a minute for the scale to build up on the metal.
Maybe the kettle has some kind of non-sticking internal surface?
Yes, that sounds like limescale.
The pot you boiled the water in has fats stuck to the bottom which came unstuck during the boiling.
Could you explain how fats would end up in kettles? Since tap water should be the only thing going in
Kitchens can be very greasy places. Do you ever cook food in a pan near your kettle? It could also be from whatever container you poured the hot water in.
It's a rented apartment, so very likely the previous tenants have cooked near the kettle
What container is the water in? If it is a mixing cup or glass cup, there will likely be residual fats that linger after washing. There are also various grease,s fats, and other lipids in you water pipes, faucets, and the kitchen air since particles linger around. Everything in a kitchen will start to develop a small film of grease if it isn't cleaned constantly. It's not harmful and you have been consuming it for literally your entire life
Looks like a glass jar to contain water. Previous tenants could have used them to store literally anything so yeah, residual fats doesn't sound that surprising now that I think about it.
Maybe I should be paying more attention to the stuff around me instead of only while I'm overseas 🙃
Something else I've noticed about my own kettle that might be contributing. I store my kettle very near or sometimes just on my stovetop. If you fry anything nearby, even with a wipe down/cleaning you can still get small amounts of fat splatter on enough of the kettle that some of it may be making it's way into the spout or underside of the lid that then gets mixed in by the steam inside when you boil water next.
Yeah I forgot about oil particles (?) being ever present in kitchens
Should be, but did someone boil milk at some point?
I wouldn't rule that out, no idea how many tenants came before us. They could have boiled orange juice in them for all I know
Comments you can taste.
In a kettle?!
Bet you can guess what went into our kettle when I lived with a prior partner.
I hope you're doing better now. LOL
Is it a dusty room?
The whole apartment looks pretty clean, but the base of the kettle looked a little funky. Only realised it after drinking a cup of water
Do you know if it's a hard water area? It may just be calcium.
When you say "funky", was it a little furry and white? If so, that's probably calcium deposits (aka "limescale").
Wow I just learned of Hard Water vs Soft Water. I googled and yeah its a moderately hard Water area. So I assume this is normal (or at least nothing to be alarmed about)?
Yup, completely normal. I have hard water and my kettles get calcium buildup after a handful of uses. Soak with white vinegar to remove the buildup. Or if you're like me and forget until last second, boil 50/50 vinegar/water and deal with the vinegar smell, lol.
Ahh thank you! Kinda freaked out seeing so much weird stuff on the water's surface. Out of curiosity would regular consumption of such water have any adverse effects?
Hard water is fine.
I'm guessing your UK, but in America it's a lot worse and most people need salt exchangers.
Just think of it as "mineral water".
But I think other people talking about residual fat are probably right. If you have hard water, you'll notice a white chalky substance on faucets and stuff, or if you leave a glass of water out to evaporate, it'll leave behind the minerals.
I'm from Singapore, and fortunately the tap water is clean enough that I basically drink straight from the tap.
Damn that's an experiment I'll be trying for my stay here! Pretty cool to learn about these stuff
Hard water is still safe to drink.
The issue is it leaves residue in pipes, on faucets, and the biggest issue is inside hot water heaters because it hurts efficiency.
If you're renting you've got zero to worry about.
If you want to get rid of accumulation on dishes/faucets just wipe it down with vinegar and that breaks it down
Very good to know! Just trying to avoid potential stomach upsets while overseas. I'll be gone in a week or so, so not concerned about the other stuff :P
Scaleaway Household Descaler for £1.35 will (dis)solve the problem in less than one hour. I'm never going back to using vinegar, this stuff works much better. ;)
mfw I saw the surface of the water right after drinking a full cup from it
Lol. Minerals?
This is way better than the poop guy
I don't wanna know what that is but part of me is aching to know
give it a few days & that ache will mature into a stabbing sensation
There's few poop guys you should know of
-
poop-throwing shower guy Classic ragecomic from 9gag
-
poop knife a reddit legend
-
3 days without pooping Lemmy original
Yup, was 3 day guy Dude went on to post normal stuff and act like nothing happened and then poof, gone As bad as the safe
Oh God, I never saw the rest of the no poop challenge. From "Help me not poop for three days," to "Help I ate gummy worms and have to not poop for three days," to "I didn't poop for three days and now I can't poop help."
Another picture
That looks suspiciously like Havva...
Hava nice day??
Thanks, you too!