Hello,

I've recently discovered what appears to look like black algae/bacteria
growing in my Whirlpool refrigerator's water dispenser's reservoir. The
reservoir is clear coiled tubing located on the back of the inside of
the refrigerator.

The black stuff looks like "black algae" floating in the water when I
fill up a glass. I changed the frig. water filter last week and the
black stuff is still showing up. It seems to be growing/living in the
reservoir.

I know I can replace the reservoir with this kit, but will this prevent
the stuff from coming back?
http://www.repairclinic.com/0081.asp?RccPartID=827260

Can I flush out the system with a water/bleach solution to kill the
black stuff?

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Roy

"Roy Fek" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

I've recently discovered what appears to look like black algae/bacteria
growing in my Whirlpool refrigerator's water dispenser's reservoir. The
reservoir is clear coiled tubing located on the back of the inside of
the refrigerator.

The black stuff looks like "black algae" floating in the water when I
fill up a glass. I changed the frig. water filter last week and the
black stuff is still showing up. It seems to be growing/living in the
reservoir.

I know I can replace the reservoir with this kit, but will this prevent
the stuff from coming back?
http://www.repairclinic.com/0081.asp?RccPartID=827260

Can I flush out the system with a water/bleach solution to kill the
black stuff?

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Roy


Likely just algae that came in from your water source.

You can flush it out with bleach.
But the bleach will kill the charcoal in the filter so you will have to
replace it again after you flush it.

Until you find where it's coming from just flushing will only solve the
problem temporarily.

Changing the resovoir/hose is a waste of money unless yours has other
problems.

($52.25 for a bit of hose and some connectors,.... OUCH)



AMUN

I changed the frig. water filter last week

Are you sure that it's not just loose charcoal from the new filter that's
not been purged from the system. Most filters come with instructions to run
the water for some time after installing to get rid of these charcoal bits
that are loose in the new filter.
Tom.

Tom,
It's definitely not charcoal. Once I installed the new filter, last
week, I filled up a 5 gallon bucket twice. Then just today I hooked up
a garden hose to the water dispenser and ran the water for 15 minutes.
The black stuff I'm seeing is not solid like bits of charcoal. It's
stringy like algae.
-Roy

Black algae is tenacious stuff - ask anyone who owns a pool. Even the stuff
that kills green algae works poorly on the black stuff. If you have a
friend with a pool ask them if they have an algaecide that you can use -
even the green algae killer is worth a try but the stuff for black algae is
what you want. In a pool you only use 2-4 oz per 10K gallons so you need
very little. Scrub everything that you can reach with this stuff because it
only takes a tiny bit of unseeable algae to seed a new crow. Be sure to
rinse thoroughly several times.
"Roy Fek" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

I've recently discovered what appears to look like black algae/bacteria
growing in my Whirlpool refrigerator's water dispenser's reservoir. The
reservoir is clear coiled tubing located on the back of the inside of
the refrigerator.

The black stuff looks like "black algae" floating in the water when I
fill up a glass. I changed the frig. water filter last week and the
black stuff is still showing up. It seems to be growing/living in the
reservoir.

I know I can replace the reservoir with this kit, but will this prevent
the stuff from coming back?
http://www.repairclinic.com/0081.asp?RccPartID=827260

Can I flush out the system with a water/bleach solution to kill the
black stuff?

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Roy

replying to Roy Fek, Not an expert wrote:
royfek43 wrote:

Hello,
I've recently discovered what appears to look like black algae/bacteria
growing in my Whirlpool refrigerator's water dispenser's reservoir. The
reservoir is clear coiled tubing located on the back of the inside of
the refrigerator.


Most filters should remove the chlorine that is added to tap water to kill
algae/bacteria. Thus the line from the filter to the dispenser would seem
the most vulnerable to bacteria. Changing out the water supply leading to
your refrigerator line will not address this. If your water dispenser will
work without the filter (i.e. has a built in bypass valve) it would seem
to be a good idea to simply leave the filter off for a week or so between
filter change outs to allow chlorinated water to run through the whole
system. Because the level of chlorine in tap water is so low, a quick
flush without the filter probably won't help much.

--

On 1/13/2016 10:44 PM, Not an expert wrote:
replying to Roy Fek, Not an expert wrote:
royfek43 wrote:

Hello,
I've recently discovered what appears to look like black algae/bacteria
growing in my Whirlpool refrigerator's water dispenser's reservoir. The
reservoir is clear coiled tubing located on the back of the inside of
the refrigerator.


Most filters should remove the chlorine that is added to tap water to kill
algae/bacteria. Thus the line from the filter to the dispenser would seem
the most vulnerable to bacteria. Changing out the water supply leading to
your refrigerator line will not address this. If your water dispenser will
work without the filter (i.e. has a built in bypass valve) it would seem
to be a good idea to simply leave the filter off for a week or so between
filter change outs to allow chlorinated water to run through the whole
system. Because the level of chlorine in tap water is so low, a quick
flush without the filter probably won't help much.


You have a good point. I'd try to give the container a heavy dose of
bleach, let it sit a couple of hours, they flush. Maybe you can use a
baster to shoot some bleach into the line.

Run a couple of gallons of water to flush it out.

On Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 2:53:08 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 1/13/2016 10:44 PM, Not an expert wrote:
replying to Roy Fek, Not an expert wrote:
royfek43 wrote:

Hello,
I've recently discovered what appears to look like black algae/bacteria
growing in my Whirlpool refrigerator's water dispenser's reservoir. The
reservoir is clear coiled tubing located on the back of the inside of
the refrigerator.


Most filters should remove the chlorine that is added to tap water to kill
algae/bacteria. Thus the line from the filter to the dispenser would seem
the most vulnerable to bacteria. Changing out the water supply leading to
your refrigerator line will not address this. If your water dispenser will
work without the filter (i.e. has a built in bypass valve) it would seem
to be a good idea to simply leave the filter off for a week or so between
filter change outs to allow chlorinated water to run through the whole
system. Because the level of chlorine in tap water is so low, a quick
flush without the filter probably won't help much.


You have a good point. I'd try to give the container a heavy dose of
bleach, let it sit a couple of hours, they flush. Maybe you can use a
baster to shoot some bleach into the line.

Run a couple of gallons of water to flush it out.

all this is why water and ice dispensers in refrigerators are what I call inconvenient conveniences.

M

replying to Amun, JK wrote:
Just Algae?? Seriously?! There should not be algae in drinking water. I had
an issue with slow water out of my dispenser and when trying to find the
problem, I turned my water valve open and closed a few times to see if there
was a clog there. After this, I had black water coming out of the line and it
cam thru the refrig and even through the filter. It cleared eventually but is
scary. I called a plumber and he said it is from the old washers. That makes
sense as I turned the valve which would have rubbed the old washers. I'm not
thrilled by this and eventually want to replace the valve and washers, but it
isn't algae.

--
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