On Jun 23, 1:01*am, "Clot" wrote:
None wrote:
On Jun 22, 10:43 pm, "Clot" wrote:
None wrote:
On Jun 22, 8:40 pm, blackbat wrote:
On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:44:54 -0700 (PDT), None
wrote:

We have an outside tap in the side passage that runs off the mains
supply (we're not on a well), and when that is run, the pressure
on the kitchen sink tap drops immensely, which would mean they
are both running off the same feed.

If you pour yourself a glass of water from the kitchen tap during
this time, it will be filled with brown particle debris. The same
thing happens if you pour a glass of water from the kitchen tap
while the shed washing machine is running. The bottom of the attic
tank is covered in this debris. It appears to be iron bacteria, as
it is slimy stuff, but that's just my best guess. When only the
kitchen tap is running, or anything 'downstream' of it is running
(other sinks/ showers), then the worst you'll see is a couple of
specks of the stuff.

Would hugely appreciate some advice or even answers.......

Is it possible to get to the mains pipe as it enters, or even
before it enters the house? Or at least as early as possible in
the run before it reaches any other taps.

If so you could turn off the supply in the street and plumb in
another tap and see if the water was dirty there. Although it seems
when the pressure is high there is no dirt. Maybe if you reduce the
pressure using the street stopcock the water will becom dirty.

I guess this would prove that the water is dirty before it arrives
at your house.
--

blackbat /\x/\

A glass filled up from the kitchen sink while another tap is running
outside is literally filled with dirt, while the tap by itself is
clear (apart from the odd tiny particle). I dunno, plumbing in
another tap sounds like a lot of hassle and I've no time at the
moment. Especially since its almost impossible that I would find
anything to help me in this.

A couple of years ago, I got the water board to 'flush' out the
mains in the road, and the water quality changed dramatically. It
was crystal clear and clean, much more pleasant to drink, shower
in, and so forth. This did not last unfortunately, a week later and
it was back to its usual. After that, they refused to take any
further action, despite me telling them how much of an improvement
there had been. Since then I've thought that it really must be an
issue on their side, perhaps compounded by a problem on mine. Hard
to tell.

Hi None, sorry to hear of the continuing saga. It really does
suggest that you are on some kind of balance point in the system;
I'm afraid it's tackling the Water Dept. again.

Regards

Clot

Hi Clot... yeah the saga continues after I tried to ignore it for a
lengthy period. It strikes me as very odd though that the water is
generally sort of ok if just one tap is running. But I'm struggling to
find out where a dead leg could be located, and we don't have any
signs of a leak really.

A leak is irrelevant, I think. The deadleg issue could be relevant, but I
thought was discounted in previous dialogue. When you have more than one tap
running, you create a greater flow in the mains supplying the house and
hence can disturb sediment.in the mains.



@ blackbat: The tap in the side passage seems to be more or less level
with the kitchen tap on the other side of the wall, hard to tell. The
washing machine is several feet downstream of both.

@ Jules: The local council have tested the water twice and it came
back fine apparently, so they wash their hands of me really. Sediment/
iron bacteria will only count as an aesthetic complaint, but it
worries me that so much of it seems to come through when more than one
mains source is being used.

It would be a huge relief if the problem definitely resides outside my
boundary to be honest, it would give me carte blanche to simply get on
to the water people and make something happen that way. But why would
hardly any particle debris be in the water when just one tap is on
full whack? Why the big difference?