An Electric airpot danger

[Excalibur]

My parent's own an electric water boiler for the obvious, boil their drinking water and the device is designed to keep the water at near boiling temperature constantly.

The only name brand I can get from it is that it's called "Clever Electric Airpot" and from the language, it's most likely made in China and it is designed for Chinese speaking people because the language on the device is Chinese. Anyway, we've had this for over a year now and it's almost been constantly running. Which could have been the first mistake, that it was most likely not designed to be kept on all the time.

Anyway, about a month ago, I discovered every time I open the lid, there is this unknown white substance in the water. I ignored it at first until I find out it is persisting. I immediately washed the pot until its clean and filled it with water. Then later on, the white stuff kept coming back. I noticed it was very powdery from just observing it. At first I thought it came from my Breta water filter jug I have that also filters out water. Because the pitcher filter is colored white and the white substance is white so logic says it was that, but then I figured it out on accident.

First I saw a rather large chuck of...something in the water and when I picked it up, almost immediately it crumbled to my touch. I thought it was a piece of cracker or something, so I brought it to sniff it. No smell and the more I touch it, the more I see that this small piece is the source of the spots of white powder. I kept wondering where this came from because the faucet is too small for such a large chunk of whatever to get through without me noticing. Then I stared at the lid. I took a wooden chopstick and poked at the hole, when I saw through the metal plate and on the otherside, something that was crumbling from damage.

Under the lid of the water boiler is a metal plate that I assume helps with the boiling of the water. There was a series of holes where the hot steam flows out and through the plate is a series of plastic like filters that pretty much guides the steam out through a port at the top of the lid.

The source of this crumbling white powder substance is a piece of the device. I can't tell if it is ceramic or very cheap plastic, but the startling discovery is that the center of it is crumbling to the touch of anything. I don't know if this has been filling into my drinking water, but I began to pour out everything that contained the hot water from this device.