[None]

We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

[Chris J Dixon]

None wrote:

We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

[None]

On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:
None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

[JimK[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:



None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

[None]

On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:
On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:



On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:

None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,

I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).

[NT[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 5:41*pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:



On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:

On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:

None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,

*I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).

bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.


NT

[[email protected]]

bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.

I agree its probably bacterial growth, with a firm hold on part of the
system walls - hence it dislodges under high flow.

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

[Harry Bloomfield[_3_]]

After serious thinking NT wrote :
On Mar 1, 5:41*pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:



On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:
None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?
I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.
Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.
Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.
There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,

*I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).

bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.

Could this 'growth' possibly be due to your cylinder temperature being
set too low? Check the temperature of the hot water as it comes out of
the hot tap - good excuse to buy one of those IR meters BTW.

The 'snot', sounds very much like the stuff which forms in car
windscreen washers and blocks them. I would be inclined to (besides
checking the temperature), turn the supply off to the header tank and
drain the entire HW system down, flushing through each tap in turn
until completely empty, let it refill and repeat. Finally, set the
cylinder stat up to maximum, to kill everything in there and flush
again. Finally set the stat back to normal.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[None]

On 1 Mar, 18:13, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
After serious thinking NT wrote :



On Mar 1, 5:41*pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:

On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:
None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?
I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.
Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.
Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.
There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,

*I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).

bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.

Could this 'growth' possibly be due to your cylinder temperature being
set too low? Check the temperature of the hot water as it comes out of
the hot tap - good excuse to buy one of those IR meters BTW.

The 'snot', sounds very much like the stuff which forms in car
windscreen washers and blocks them. I would be inclined to (besides
checking the temperature), turn the supply off to the header tank and
drain the entire HW system down, flushing through each tap in turn
until completely empty, let it refill and repeat. Finally, set the
cylinder stat up to maximum, to kill everything in there and flush
again. Finally set the stat back to normal.

--
Regards,
* * * * Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Thanks for the input guys, really helpful. I actually just finished
performing another cleansing of the system, using some Milton
sterilising solution. Possibly won't be enough to kill very much in
the cylinder though... I don't fancy using bleach, could cause issues
if someone accidentally uses water too soon afterward.

The cylinder I have doesn't seem to have a stat unfortunately...
though the water can get hot enough to really burn your hands, so I
would think that wouldn't be too much of an issue.

[None]

On 1 Mar, 18:13, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
After serious thinking NT wrote :



On Mar 1, 5:41*pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:

On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:
None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?
I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.
Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.
Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.
There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,

*I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).

bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.

Could this 'growth' possibly be due to your cylinder temperature being
set too low? Check the temperature of the hot water as it comes out of
the hot tap - good excuse to buy one of those IR meters BTW.

The 'snot', sounds very much like the stuff which forms in car
windscreen washers and blocks them. I would be inclined to (besides
checking the temperature), turn the supply off to the header tank and
drain the entire HW system down, flushing through each tap in turn
until completely empty, let it refill and repeat. Finally, set the
cylinder stat up to maximum, to kill everything in there and flush
again. Finally set the stat back to normal.

--
Regards,
* * * * Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Harry, how would I drain down HW system btw?

[JimK[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:



None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

[Steve Firth]

wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

[JimK[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 6:29 pm, JimK wrote:
On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:



On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:

None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

sorry for double post :~)(

with the bleach thing you could probly calculate the likely
time/"number of cylinders worth of water" to dilute however much
bleach you put in down to "nothing".

Size of cylinder + level of water in header tank + rough guesstimate
of length of pipework involved = total amount to treat then factor
down (using bleach instructions/ideas from on here) how much bleach to
put in header tank to treat, how much to draw off to get it into
cylinder, how long to leave, how long to dilute down and drain out??

Cheers
JimK

[Harry Bloomfield[_3_]]

None presented the following explanation :
On 1 Mar, 18:13, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
After serious thinking NT wrote :



On Mar 1, 5:41*pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:
On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:
None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?
I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.
Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.
Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.
There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,
*I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).
bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.

Could this 'growth' possibly be due to your cylinder temperature being
set too low? Check the temperature of the hot water as it comes out of
the hot tap - good excuse to buy one of those IR meters BTW.

The 'snot', sounds very much like the stuff which forms in car
windscreen washers and blocks them. I would be inclined to (besides
checking the temperature), turn the supply off to the header tank and
drain the entire HW system down, flushing through each tap in turn
until completely empty, let it refill and repeat. Finally, set the
cylinder stat up to maximum, to kill everything in there and flush
again. Finally set the stat back to normal.

--
Regards,
* * * * Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Harry, how would I drain down HW system btw?

Turn the water off, where it goes into the header tank or tie the float
up - then turn all the taps until the all go dry. But make sure there
is no source of heat into the cylinder first.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[JimK[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 7:06 pm, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
None presented the following explanation :



On 1 Mar, 18:13, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
After serious thinking NT wrote :

On Mar 1, 5:41 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:33, JimK wrote:
On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:
On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:
None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?
I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.
Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.
Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.
There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were
isolated to a pipe length, it would be flushed out eventually. It
comes from any hot tap when demand is high in the house,
I just wish I could find out how to get it sorted. We've had our
current hot water cylinder for almost four years, and I know it
occurred in the previous one too (that cylinder ended up leaking, I
wonder if this stuff is corrosive too).
bacterial & fungal are easy to sort, put a bottle of bleach in the
header tank, leave it there for a bit, then draw enough water for it
to enter the cylinder. Flush out through all the taps later. At least
you'd eliminate one major possibility that way.

Could this 'growth' possibly be due to your cylinder temperature being
set too low? Check the temperature of the hot water as it comes out of
the hot tap - good excuse to buy one of those IR meters BTW.

The 'snot', sounds very much like the stuff which forms in car
windscreen washers and blocks them. I would be inclined to (besides
checking the temperature), turn the supply off to the header tank and
drain the entire HW system down, flushing through each tap in turn
until completely empty, let it refill and repeat. Finally, set the
cylinder stat up to maximum, to kill everything in there and flush
again. Finally set the stat back to normal.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Harry, how would I drain down HW system btw?

Turn the water off, where it goes into the header tank or tie the float
up - then turn all the taps until the all go dry. But make sure there
is no source of heat into the cylinder first.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

If I recall correctly there will still be (in an average UK system)
quite a bit of water left in the cylinder after this procedure?

JimK

[Harry Bloomfield[_3_]]

After serious thinking JimK wrote :
If I recall correctly there will still be (in an average UK system)
quite a bit of water left in the cylinder after this procedure?

There will be, but getting most of it out plus the rush of the flow
will help clear it.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

[None]

On 1 Mar, 19:33, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
After serious thinking JimK wrote :

If I recall correctly there will still be (in an average UK system)
quite a bit of water left in the cylinder after this procedure?

There will be, but getting most of it out plus the rush of the flow
will help clear it.

--
Regards,
* * * * Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Problem with this stuff is that its been VERY resilient...

[Andy Champ[_2_]]

Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

Andy

[Andy Dingley]

On 1 Mar, 18:19, None wrote:

Thanks for the input guys, really helpful. I actually just finished
performing another cleansing of the system, using some Milton
sterilising solution. Possibly won't be enough to kill very much in
the cylinder though... I don't fancy using bleach

What do you think is in Milton?

[Andy Dingley]

On 1 Mar, 18:38, JimK wrote:

with the bleach thing you could probly calculate the likely
time/"number of cylinders worth of water" to dilute however much
bleach you put in down to "nothing".

Read Treloar for how to do it properly: Quantities, times, clean out
afterwards.

[Steve Walker]

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 1 Mar, 18:38, JimK wrote:

with the bleach thing you could probly calculate the likely
time/"number of cylinders worth of water" to dilute however much
bleach you put in down to "nothing".

Read Treloar for how to do it properly: Quantities, times, clean out
afterwards.

I googled.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plumbing-R-D.../dp/1405139625

[Roger Dewhurst]

None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.


Drain the hot water cylinder completely and see what comes out last.

R

[JimK[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 8:20 pm, Andy Champ wrote:
Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

Andy

shurely the "active" ingredient in either is chlorine?

JimK

[Rod]

On 01/03/2010 21:49, JimK wrote:
On Mar 1, 8:20 pm, Andy wrote:
Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

Andy

shurely the "active" ingredient in either is chlorine?

JimK

There are some that are iodine-based. You categorically do not want to
overdose on that. And no, the active ingredient in them is not chlorine.

--
Rod

[Steve Firth]

Andy Champ wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

No, "bleach" is a generic term for any chemical that removes colouur,
the term covers a wide range of chemicals mostly oxidising agents.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

I suggest you go and learn some chemistry.

[Adrian C]

On 01/03/2010 20:59, Roger Dewhurst wrote:
None wrote:

Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.


Drain the hot water cylinder completely and see what comes out last.


If it's a green, large, festering, glutinous, heaving lump with an
obvious 3/4 heartbeat and bloodshot alien eyes, the way to run is

----------- that way.

--
Adrian C

[SS[_2_]]

"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
On 01/03/2010 20:59, Roger Dewhurst wrote:
None wrote:

Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.


Drain the hot water cylinder completely and see what comes out last.


If it's a green, large, festering, glutinous, heaving lump with an obvious
3/4 heartbeat and bloodshot alien eyes, the way to run is

----------- that way.

--
Adrian C

Probably off the mark here but just in case. Have you tried cleaning the
taps from the tap end? I do this when I remember usually every couple of
years and I get some (although not green) junk out. The tap end is
probably more exposed to heat and air being in the heated house as opposed
the the attic.
Just my pennies worth.

[Andy Burns[_7_]]

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

None presented the following explanation :

how would I drain down HW system btw?

Turn the water off, where it goes into the header tank or tie the float
up - then turn all the taps until the all go dry. But make sure there is
no source of heat into the cylinder first.

That'll leave the hot cylinder full, look for a drain point at the base
of the cylinder where the cold enters, or failing that you may need to
undo the threaded connection at the top where the hot exits, and syphon
it with a hose.

[Chris J Dixon]

Andy Burns wrote:

That'll leave the hot cylinder full, look for a drain point at the base
of the cylinder where the cold enters, or failing that you may need to
undo the threaded connection at the top where the hot exits, and syphon
it with a hose.

Whatever you do, don't close the inlet valve to the hot tank, and
open the kitchen hot tap. This can be an effective, but costly,
way to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

[JimK[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 10:51 pm, Rod wrote:
On 01/03/2010 21:49, JimK wrote:



On Mar 1, 8:20 pm, Andy wrote:
Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

Andy

shurely the "active" ingredient in either is chlorine?

JimK

There are some that are iodine-based. You categorically do not want to
overdose on that. And no, the active ingredient in them is not chlorine.


Firstly and for the bewilderingly pedantic amongst us, I am refering
to Andy's mentioned Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, and the earlier
mentioned sodium hypochlorite and your assertion that neither use
chlorine as the active:-

wiki advises that
sodium hypochlorite: releases free chlorine when dissolved in water.
sodium dichloroisocyanurate : mechanism of action is the release of
chlorine in low concentrations by constant rate.

Do you know differently? (with references please)

Cheers
JimK

[NT[_2_]]

On Mar 1, 6:19*pm, None wrote:

We're on a mains water supply, not a private system. It does seem to
be some sort of bacterial growth in the hot cylinder, if it were

Thanks for the input guys, really helpful. I actually just finished
performing another cleansing of the system, using some Milton
sterilising solution. Possibly won't be enough to kill very much in
the cylinder though... I don't fancy using bleach, could cause issues
if someone accidentally uses water too soon afterward.

Really I'd use a couple of litres of man bleach rather than a little
baby bleach.

Re cylinder temp, even set to hot might not clear it as usually the
bottom of the cylinder doesn't get so hot. Worth a try though. So is
leting the hot go stone cold for a day, some bugs that like heat cant
survive cold.


The cylinder I have doesn't seem to have a stat unfortunately...
though the water can get hot enough to really burn your hands, so I
would think that wouldn't be too much of an issue.

Sounds like its heated by a gas or oil boiler, in which case
temporarily upping the boiler thermostat setting will make the water
hotter. (Not the room stat.)

I'd start with bleach, its the only thing that'll reach every nook &
cranny. Adding washing up liquid might help it penetrate the slime
more. Notes can be posted over the taps for the day in case anyone
forgets.


NT

[terry]

On Mar 1, 7:51*pm, Rod wrote:
On 01/03/2010 21:49, JimK wrote:





On Mar 1, 8:20 pm, Andy *wrote:
Steve Firth wrote:
*wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.

And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.

Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. *These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

Andy

shurely the "active" ingredient in either is chlorine?

JimK

There are some that are iodine-based. You categorically do not want to
overdose on that. And no, the active ingredient in them is not chlorine.

--
Rod- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Could be that the hot water is not hot enough! As result bacteria may
be growing in the HW tank?
In the USA some connection has been made between that and Legionnaires
disease!
There were a series of postings on a similar North American (Canada-
USA) quite recently; although nothing as dramatic!
Here the Dept. of Health require 160 deg F. for safe dish washing and
when we operated a school cafeteria for some 30 years their inspectors
would test the water temp.
'Snot' growing in the hot water sytem sounds extremely unhealthy/
unsafe?
Suggest urgent action.

[Andy Champ[_2_]]

Steve Firth wrote:
Andy Champ wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

Safer than bleach though, is water purification tablets (the type for
using in drinking water in dodgy parts of the world - buy them in
Boots) - chuck a whole packet of them in the header tank.
And water purification tablets are an expensive way of buying bleach.
Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O.

No, "bleach" is a generic term for any chemical that removes colouur,
the term covers a wide range of chemicals mostly oxidising agents.

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

I suggest you go and learn some chemistry.

Steve,

this is the kind of post that makes a lot of people put you in their
block list.

When I said "Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O." I menat
usually. Not always. That bottle you have in the bathroom cupboard for
cleaning, that everyone calls bleach because that is what is on the
label? It's probably NaClO. Usually (and I mean the word precisely) if
you look at a container marked "Bleach" that is what is in it. Not
always. Major industrial processes - paper springs to mind - often use
different chemicals to reduce environmental impact.

Now perhaps you'd like to consider how your post helped anyone.

Andy

[Steve Firth]

Andy Champ wrote:

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

I suggest you go and learn some chemistry.

Steve,

this is the kind of post that makes a lot of people put you in their
block list.

Andy,

You smugly posted your reply thinking it made you look big and clever.
yawn I'm unimpressed by someone who can parrot what he scans off the
web but who doesn't understand a word. But thanks for flying off the
handle and proving what a loser you are.

Oh and Andy, using someone's first name in the way that you did, Andy,
is another sign of weakness, Andy.

[Fredxx]

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
.. .
Andy Champ wrote:

The purifying tables I have are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, C3 Cl2 N3
Na O3. These are for camping, but the same stuff seems to be used in
swimming pools (which might be cheaper for large quanitities!)

Although both smell of chlorine they are different chemicals.

I suggest you go and learn some chemistry.

Steve,

this is the kind of post that makes a lot of people put you in their
block list.

Andy,

You smugly posted your reply thinking it made you look big and clever.
yawn I'm unimpressed by someone who can parrot what he scans off the
web but who doesn't understand a word. But thanks for flying off the
handle and proving what a loser you are.

Oh and Andy, using someone's first name in the way that you did, Andy,
is another sign of weakness, Andy.

Try getting out of the other side of the bed for a change.

I thought Andy's post was helpful.

[Steve Firth]

Fredxx wrote:


I thought Andy's post was helpful.

Helpful as in "a load of old ********"?

Still, let's not let the objective subject of chemistry be a hinderance
to "having an opinion". After all, an incorrect opinion misrepresenting
science but one which we all agree with and find "helpful" is obviously
far more worthwhile than any objective comment.

[clot]

None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Hi None, I've refrained from answering until now as we both know the
principal problem! I think you've had some good advice regarding both
clearance of the present situation and how to minimise problems in the
future. Sadly, the main cause is coming in via the mains and somehow that
grot has to be stopped. I take it you have had no joy with the Water Dept.?

[Fredxx]

"None" wrote in message
...
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

How hot have you set your cylinderstat?

I'm convinced that in one house I was in, things improved a great when I
lowered the temperature and after continued use. There I also got snots of
what I presume was lime which regularly blocked a shower head.

[Man at B&Q]

On Mar 2, 8:56*am, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Andy Burns wrote:
That'll leave the hot cylinder full, look for a drain point at the base
of the cylinder where the cold enters, or failing that you may need to
undo the threaded connection at the top where the hot exits, and syphon
it with a hose.

Whatever you do, don't close the inlet valve to the hot tank, and
open the kitchen hot tap. This can be an effective, but costly,
way to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure.

Rubbish! I've done that lots of times.

The hot water take off is at the top of the cylinder, with an overflow
up to the header tank. All that happens is that the pipes to the taps
drain down and air is sucked down the overflow to replace the water.
The cyclinder is left full of water, as other have pointed out.

MBQ

[Man at B&Q]

On Mar 1, 6:38*pm, JimK wrote:
On Mar 1, 6:29 pm, JimK wrote:



On Mar 1, 5:07 pm, None wrote:

On 1 Mar, 17:01, Chris J Dixon wrote:

None wrote:
We've had issues for ages now with our water supply. The mains supply
itself contains sediment, but the hot supply is giving us problems we
are baffled by.

The worst problem is when more than one hot tap is opened and demand
is higher around the house. What happens is that fairly large
particles, which I can only describe as being similar in appearance to
snots (no joke!) flow out with the water. I've been wondering for a
good while as to what the hell this stuff can be. You don't really see
it with just one tap opened, or demand being lower, but its an
unpleasant thing to have in your supply right?

I've talked to plumbers, they don't want to know really (because I
presume they have no clue how such crap could form in the hot water
cylinder). Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but
mine. Would appreciate input, cheers.

Do you have a header tank? If so, have a look in it.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

There is some sediment on the bottom of the tank, I clean and
disinfect it every year. This problem with the hot tap has always been
there though..

Is it a private supply?
we had something similar a few years ago, lots of sediment in the
header tank - since removed for new system - I suspect the snots were
hot water dwelling "fungi" or equivalent lurking in the hot water
cylinder.

JimK

sorry for double post :~)(

with the bleach thing you could probly calculate the likely
time/"number of cylinders worth of water" to dilute however much
bleach you put in down to "nothing".

At first reading that sounds a bit like a homeopathic solution :-)

MBQ