Strange Water Problem...

ruicosta10

Howdy,

The water in my house has been loaded with sediment and dirt for as long as I can remember, yet about six months ago I decided to try and flush out the hose pipe leading into the washing machine, as I was replacing it. This I did for about 5-10 mins into the sink. The water then became much, much better inside the house for a number of days. Ever since, I have repeated this 'trick' every week or so, as the water becomes yellowish and dirty within a few days every time, like clockwork. In addition, I had our incoming line checked for leaks, and nothing seemed to be wrong. I really can't stand doing this any longer, as its a pain in the hole to do this all the time to have clean water, which should be required anyway, as Im on a mains supply in Dublin. The CC will only flush out the nearby hydrant, that also helps, but again, its effects last only about a week or so.
Does anybody have any possible explanation for why this is happening? I've found it impossible to get answers on this problem, its very acute.

GreeBo

Im a little confused, so bear with me
Is it flushing something out that fixes it or jsut running your mains tap for a while?

ruicosta10

Strangely, running the mains tap does nothing in terms of clearing the system. The washing machine is located at the end of the mains line after the kitchen sink. I turn the water off at the stopcock, twist off the pipe that feeds the WM, and then turn the water back on again and drain the WM pipe into the sink at full mains pressure. I can see why you're vexed though, but it seems to be the only way to clear whatever it is from the system. 'Tis a very, very strange water supply problem.

GreeBo

weird to say the least.
If you leave the washing machine disconnected does the problem come back?
If Im understand you correctly flushing the WM hose is the same as running the kitchen tap, as in both come directly from the mains and the WM is after the kitchen sink?

when you flush it do you get major crap coming out at the start or what?
Also when you flush it, try running the kitchen tap at the same time and watch what happens to its water...

ruicosta10

I've run the kitchen tap and the WM simultaneously, and you don't see anything that would indicate the water is dirty, which again, is strange. One of the problems we have had for a long time is the presence of small black particles in our water, I think this could be black rust from the road main. There is also a lot of sandy looking stuff in the attic tank.

I've been told that my house could be located at, or close to a dead leg in the mains supply, so basically all the crap thats in a mains pipe would settle close to where we draw our water from. But I don't know, and the county council pass me from one person to another, so its not like I'll find that out.

10-10-20

You mentioned, in one of you many previous posts on this subject, that you had green floaters in a standing bottle of water.
I'd advise that you look at getting a BOD test done on the supply.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemical_oxygen_demand

This will give you an indication of what's going on.

Actually - here:
Blue/Green staining of blonde hair and fittings - http://www.acornwater.com/education2.php
Sediment - http://www.acornwater.com/education9.php

You're going to have to shell out come cash to resolve this one...

ruicosta10

10-10-20 wrote:

You mentioned, in one of you many previous posts on this subject, that you had green floaters in a standing bottle of water.
I'd advise that you look at getting a BOD test done on the supply.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemical_oxygen_demand

This will give you an indication of what's going on.

The green colour has gone in the last while, there aren't any floating bits now, just the tiny black particles, which I find objectionable because I've never seen the likes of it in any other mains supply. As I said, I suspect it is just rust. What is confusing me now is why the water improves so drastically when I undertake this awkward flusing of the washing machine inlet pipe.
BTW, sorry about the many previous posts. It's tough to find any help over the phone with the county council, and the plumbers I know give me the same 'WTF?' look every time. I mean, I have never experienced water problems anywhere else, but it really bothers me where I live now.

10-10-20

Black sediment is unlikely to be rust (Iron Oxide).
Have a look at: http://www.thameswater.co.uk/UK/region/en_gb/content/FAQ/FAQ_000058.jsp
"Black Water" & "Brown/Orange..."

And, look at "Earthy/Musty Taste".

ruicosta10

I have heard of ferrous ferric oxide, or magnetite, which is one of the colour types of rust, and is black. I just hope that is what it is. The only lab analyses done on water seem to be prohibitively expensive if they're the private ones. I was quoted something in the region of 300 Euro for one in Dun Laoghaire for instance!! Screw getting the council to do it, they did one about six years ago, and never got back to me about the results. When I enquired after a few days, the person told me that as they had not heard back from the lab, I can presume the water is 'grand.' Lol....