White 'flakes' (FOD) in thawed frozen water

[DaylanDarby]

[I don't see a water filter forum so am posting here. Mods feel free to move]

I first noticed white FOD (Foreign Object Debris - almost like old style soap flakes - my wife says it is more like cellulose flecks) in a glass of melted ice cubes (from a brand new fridge!), but not visible in the water.

Further testing* shows this FOD exists in pre and post water softener - probably the city water (West Jordan, UT), but is filtered out in a reverse osmosis under the sink filter and not at all in bottled water.

*Testing: Fill a glass drinking glass 1/2 full of water. Twirl it and hold up to a light. Observe no visible particulates. Place glass in freezer. Wait 4-6 hours (until completely frozen). Place glass in microwave for about 2 minutes (or on the counter and wait for it to thaw). Twirl it and hold up to a light. Observe lots of FOD. I suspect the freezing crystallized the water, forcing the FOD to also form crystals and is now visible.

My wife and family are a bit freaked out about this and have gone to bottled water until I get it fixed. For a solution I'm thinking a whole house filter installed before the existing water softener. Does this sound correct? Any preferences? (I saw GXWH40L mentioned in another thread). Any other solutions? Do any of you get the same freeze/thaw results? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[Ian Gills]

Are you sure it's not just minerals coming out in the water. Do you have hard water where you live?

Oh, of course you do because you have a softener. It's probably carbonates coming back into solution.

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.

[ballvalve]

For what its worth, freezing most white wines causes the extraction - seperation of
tartaric acid crystals. Perfectly harmless.

You are seeing some mineral or "salt" from that little bit of chemistry. Probably better for you than the RO water with nothing in it at all.

[hj]

If you are drinking R/O, (it is NOT a filter), water, what do you care what the composition of the soft water is. Connect the ice maker to the R/O water line.