None wrote:
On 27 Sep, 16:17, "clot" wrote:
None wrote:
On 27 Sep, 00:16, "clot" wrote:
None wrote:
Hello,

Basically we have a bacterial slime build up along our rising
main, which, when it flares up, makes our water slimy and
horrible to wash in/drink etc. It probably happened some years
ago when the house was left idle, ie stagnation occurred. The
only thing that temporarily helps is turning off the water at the
outside stopcock, and back on again after opening the garden tap.
The water flows through at full whack, and this clears the
problem, albeit only for a few days...

Should I replace the whole rising main, or come up with something
a little more cost effective? Its doing me nut.

I need more information to understand what is going on. What do you
mean by a rising main? Is this from a public or private supply? If
from public, there should be sufficient disinfection to prevent
bacterial growth in the supply pipe. That you mention a stopcock
suggests a public supply - but not necessarily the case. I'm loath
to provide advice without a better picture of your situation.

Replacing the rising main would do nothing, if you have a continued
supply water quality problem. More info. please.

By rising main I mean the supply pipe from the outside stopcock
(driveway) to the attic tank and kitchen sink. It is from a public
mains supply, and the neighbours do not have this problem. When I
flush this pipe out through the back of the house at the highest
pressure possible, the water loses the 'sliminess.' There isn't much
of a chlorine residual, it was tested very low (0.02 mg/l or
something), so that has probably contributed.

I just find it strange that when I do this, that the quality
improves so much for a few days, then goes back to its previous
state.

Sorry None, I should have checked your name before replying. Still
having the problem, I see. Does the water service accept that you
have a problem? I appreciate that your neighbours are not getting
the same difficulty, but it is possible that you are on a balance
point as previously discussed and thus receiving "old water" so that
the chlorine content has been all but consumed. It would seem to me
that the main and your service pipe are in need of an air scour.
Could you see whether the water dept. will do this?

Hi clot,
Yeah I didnt actually check your name either, lol. Anyway, would an
air scour involve much disruption to the road? Our neighbours are very
closely all around us too, so I don't really think that there would be
much difference in our chlorine content tbh. The water depot doesn't
accept that we have a problem, saying our test results back in June
were 'clear.' The chlorine tested very, very low, and that was no
surprise as you can never smell or taste it really.

Would it even be possible to air scour our individual service pipe
though?

Hi,

I honestly don't know I'm afraid. Might be time to do some googling for
"air scour"/ plumbing contractors and the like. I've just been googling
for chlorine guidelines in E&W and could not find anything - must admit
I didn't go into every crevice. It does not appear that the chlorine
issue has not moved on since I was involved in the potable supplies side
of things.

I seem to remember that we set a standard of either 0.4 or 0.6 mg/l
leaving the treatment works and from samples in customers' taps would
expect a concentration of 0.1 mg/l as a minimum. At the level you are
quoting, I would be concerned about the potential for bacterial growth.
What did the water dept. say about 0.02? Do they have internal target
minima? I would be leaning on Dublin's water dept. with that sort of
concentration.