.....in the water, that is.

Two problems:

(1) When I run the cold mains at full blast (e.g. the bath tap) I get a
few black flecks in the water. Not a massive amount, but I didn't think I
should get any.

(2) When I take the head off the electric shower and run it full blast on
cold, a large amount of cr*p comes out. This seems to be mainly limescale,
black on one side, but there are also some coppery blue bits. I expect the
very old Triton T80 shower to have some clag in as this is a very hard
water area, but it just seems to keep on coming. I thought the shower has
a fairly small area of heating coil and there seems to be an awful lot of
stuff coming out.

We should be getting rid of the shower soon - new heating system which
will run a mains pressure shower - so I'm not too worried about that. I'm
more concerned about the black bits in the cold mains.

If this is from internal pipework this isn't too bad as this is also going
- ripping it all out back to the stopcock (and changing the stopcock
because it doesn't stop).

If it coming in from the mains water supply I would prefer that it did not.

Is there any easy way to filter incoming cold mains without drastically
reducing the pressure?
I presume the filter should be easily changeable as well.

TIA

Dave R

In article ,
David WE Roberts writes:
....in the water, that is.

Two problems:

(1) When I run the cold mains at full blast (e.g. the bath tap) I get a
few black flecks in the water. Not a massive amount, but I didn't think I
should get any.

(2) When I take the head off the electric shower and run it full blast on
cold, a large amount of cr*p comes out. This seems to be mainly limescale,
black on one side, but there are also some coppery blue bits. I expect the
very old Triton T80 shower to have some clag in as this is a very hard
water area, but it just seems to keep on coming. I thought the shower has
a fairly small area of heating coil and there seems to be an awful lot of
stuff coming out.

I got the same two-coloured pieces in the hot supply from an old
Main multipoint water heater. It was replaced about 5 years ago
with the then current model which has an internal teflon coating
on the heat exchanger pipework, and that seems to prevent scale
building up in the heat exchanger, as it hasn't happened since,
and it's never needed descaling.

We should be getting rid of the shower soon - new heating system which
will run a mains pressure shower - so I'm not too worried about that. I'm
more concerned about the black bits in the cold mains.

If this is from internal pipework this isn't too bad as this is also going
- ripping it all out back to the stopcock (and changing the stopcock
because it doesn't stop).

If it coming in from the mains water supply I would prefer that it did not.

It's probably coming from iron pipework. Do you have iron pipes
either before or after the main stop cock?

--
Andrew Gabriel

On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:09:31 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
snip
(1) When I run the cold mains at full blast (e.g. the bath tap) I get a
few black flecks in the water. Not a massive amount, but I didn't think I
should get any.
snip

We should be getting rid of the shower soon - new heating system which
will run a mains pressure shower - so I'm not too worried about that. I'm
more concerned about the black bits in the cold mains.

If this is from internal pipework this isn't too bad as this is also going
- ripping it all out back to the stopcock (and changing the stopcock
because it doesn't stop).

If it coming in from the mains water supply I would prefer that it did not.

It's probably coming from iron pipework. Do you have iron pipes
either before or after the main stop cock?

I think the pipes embedded in the kitchen wall after the stopcock may well
be iron. There are certainly a few bits of iron pipe around the central
heating so iron may also be in the cold water supply.

If the piping before the stopcock is iron, then presumably I have to fit a
new run of plastic pipe from the road, or fit some kind of filter?

Running new pipe could be a problem - the drive is block paved and the
current water runs under the floor of the garage (or of the house).

What are the dangers associated with black flecks and iron pipes (if any)?

Cheers

Dave R

What are the dangers associated with black flecks and iron pipes (if any)?

According to Dr Tom Makin of Liverpool University a bacteria called
Gallionella feeds on iron in some water supply situations (not all
situations). I shall probably get screamed at by Ostriches who inhabit
this group but just passing on information from a world respected
source.

In article ,
David WE Roberts writes:

What are the dangers associated with black flecks and iron pipes (if any)?

None, other than eventually it will leak, but that could be
100 years off yet.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article .com,
Merryterry wrote:
According to Dr Tom Makin of Liverpool University a bacteria called
Gallionella feeds on iron in some water supply situations (not all
situations). I shall probably get screamed at by Ostriches who inhabit
this group but just passing on information from a world respected
source.

Mains water supplies are chlorinated to kill such bugs - unless you have
evidence to suggest the bacteria named is immune to it?

--
*Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article .com
Merryterry wrote:
What are the dangers associated with black flecks and iron pipes (if any)?

According to Dr Tom Makin of Liverpool University a bacteria called
Gallionella feeds on iron in some water supply situations (not all
situations).

So what?

I shall probably get screamed at by Ostriches who inhabit
this group but just passing on information from a world respected
source.


All you have to do now is show that Gallionella could be dangerous to
the OP. You can do that, can't you?

I get a lot of black 'gunk' collecting on the taps and shower head,
places in the shower cabinet where water collects, etc. I always
assumed it was something from my cold water tank, but since I moved
house to a pressurised mains water system I can only imagine it's now
coming from the hot water, or the cold main supply. It also collects
inside the toilet cisterns around the inlet valve, and under the toilet
rim.

I've not idea what it is or if it's harmfull, but it's easily removed.

The message
from Rob Morley contains these words:

All you have to do now is show that Gallionella could be dangerous to
the OP. You can do that, can't you?

It's pretty though - those spiral "stalks" are really neat.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

The message .com
from "Alan" contains these words:

Black stains around water services
I've not idea what it is or if it's harmfull, but it's easily removed.

May well be manganese salts.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.