I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which markedly
improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning back on
again, and then flushing the water through the washing machine hose,
which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the supply
line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak outside
our boundary either, even the council flushing out the mains from a
hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think that when I flush
my supply line as I said above, the water can be very good for
'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something faulty
between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main, but without
a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and look at what the
problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

None wrote:
problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

Doubt you'll appreciate this feedback though.

You've already posted this query in a different form and had lots of
response - what's the idea of duplicating it? You'll find this practice
really gets up people's noses in this newsgroup.

David

On 2007-04-24 17:15:07 +0100, None said:

I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which markedly
improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning back on
again, and then flushing the water through the washing machine hose,
which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the supply
line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak outside
our boundary either, even the council flushing out the mains from a
hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think that when I flush
my supply line as I said above, the water can be very good for
'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something faulty
between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main, but without
a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and look at what the
problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

So create a wet spot.....

None wrote:
I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which markedly
improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning back on
again, and then flushing the water through the washing machine hose,
which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the supply
line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak outside
our boundary either, even the council flushing out the mains from a
hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think that when I flush
my supply line as I said above, the water can be very good for
'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something faulty
between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main, but without
a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and look at what the
problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

You could be on a balance point on the mains system. What I mean by this
is that the water mains in your street could be fed in two directions.
When the demand varies either side of you gunge in the main slops along
the system. This effect can be very localised and that may be why your
neighbours are unaffected. I used to be involved in resolving such
problems for a water authority in the UK.

Where is your supply from? Are you fed by the Stillorgan(?) service
reservoir?

On 24 Apr, 23:05, "clot" wrote:
None wrote:
I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which markedly
improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning back on
again, and then flushing the water through the washing machine hose,
which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the supply
line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak outside
our boundary either, even the council flushing out the mains from a
hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think that when I flush
my supply line as I said above, the water can be very good for
'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something faulty
between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main, but without
a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and look at what the
problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

You could be on a balance point on the mains system. What I mean by this
is that the water mains in your street could be fed in two directions.
When the demand varies either side of you gunge in the main slops along
the system. This effect can be very localised and that may be why your
neighbours are unaffected. I used to be involved in resolving such
problems for a water authority in the UK.

Where is your supply from? Are you fed by the Stillorgan(?) service
reservoir?


Yes, we get our water from the Stillorgan reservoir I'm pretty sure.
If this is the problem, how would it be solved? Thanks.

On 27 Apr, 13:09, None wrote:
On 24 Apr, 23:05, "clot" wrote:



None wrote:
I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which markedly
improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning back on
again, and then flushing the water through the washing machine hose,
which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the supply
line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak outside
our boundary either, even the council flushing out the mains from a
hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think that when I flush
my supply line as I said above, the water can be very good for
'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something faulty
between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main, but without
a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and look at what the
problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

You could be on a balance point on the mains system. What I mean by this
is that the water mains in your street could be fed in two directions.
When the demand varies either side of you gunge in the main slops along
the system. This effect can be very localised and that may be why your
neighbours are unaffected. I used to be involved in resolving such
problems for a water authority in the UK.

Where is your supply from? Are you fed by the Stillorgan(?) service
reservoir?


Hey Clot, I've tried getting in touch with you... we are fed by the
Stillorgan reservoir. Could you please tell me how this sort of
problem could be resolved, if it indeed turns out to be the case?
Either way, I'm going to have to battle the council to get answers. I
am sick to death of this problem. We got a notice in the letterbox
this week telling us that the mains had been flushed, and the water
was lovely and clear... for about 48 hours. The thing is, because it
isn't really apparent to the naked eye, people who come to have a look
at it dismiss the problem. There is still a huge difference between
how it looked two days ago though. It seems to be very fine sand/silt
which is being brought through.

None wrote:
On 27 Apr, 13:09, None wrote:
On 24 Apr, 23:05, "clot" wrote:



None wrote:
I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which
markedly improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning
back on again, and then flushing the water through the washing
machine hose, which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the
supply line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak
outside our boundary either, even the council flushing out the
mains from a hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think
that when I flush my supply line as I said above, the water can be
very good for 'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something
faulty between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main,
but without a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and
look at what the problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

You could be on a balance point on the mains system. What I mean by
this is that the water mains in your street could be fed in two
directions. When the demand varies either side of you gunge in the
main slops along the system. This effect can be very localised and
that may be why your neighbours are unaffected. I used to be
involved in resolving such problems for a water authority in the UK.

Where is your supply from? Are you fed by the Stillorgan(?) service
reservoir?


Hey Clot, I've tried getting in touch with you... we are fed by the
Stillorgan reservoir. Could you please tell me how this sort of
problem could be resolved, if it indeed turns out to be the case?
Either way, I'm going to have to battle the council to get answers. I
am sick to death of this problem. We got a notice in the letterbox
this week telling us that the mains had been flushed, and the water
was lovely and clear... for about 48 hours. The thing is, because it
isn't really apparent to the naked eye, people who come to have a look
at it dismiss the problem. There is still a huge difference between
how it looked two days ago though. It seems to be very fine sand/silt
which is being brought through.

If your street is fed in two directions then you can have localised
problems as "old water" and gunge slops a few metres along the pipe if
the pressure from one feed reduces ( say due to demand on the system)
thus pushing water in the other direction. Flushing will tend to clear
the system for a while but it frequently recurs - though such problems
ususally take more than a few days for this to happen.

I asked about Stillorgan because from recollection it is still uncovered
and due for covering this year. In undertaking this work there will be
disruptions to the system (as supplies are temporarily routed around the
affected part via other mains or temporary mains) and customers are
likely to have temporary changes to the quality of the water they
receive - though this is likely to affect a wide number of consumers.
The practice here in the UK is to advice customers beforehand that this
may occur.

On 1 May, 22:31, "clot" wrote:
None wrote:
On 27 Apr, 13:09, None wrote:
On 24 Apr, 23:05, "clot" wrote:

None wrote:
I have a lot of sediment in my house's incoming water, which
markedly improves after turning off the pavment stopcock, turning
back on again, and then flushing the water through the washing
machine hose, which is in the garden shed.

The water feels so much cleaner and palatable for both drinking and
bathing for a few days, then returns to its murky state, containing
black particles and more discoloured than usual. I have had the
supply line tested for leaks on my side of the stopcock, none were
discovered. There isn't any visual evidence to support a leak
outside our boundary either, even the council flushing out the
mains from a hydrant has no effect, but its frustrating to think
that when I flush my supply line as I said above, the water can be
very good for 'limited time only' lol.

The problem has been this way for years now. Has anyone ever dealt
with something like this? I have to suspect there is something
faulty between my house's boundary stopcock and the street main,
but without a wet spot showing, the council won't dig it up and
look at what the problem might be. I'd appreciate any feedback.

You could be on a balance point on the mains system. What I mean by
this is that the water mains in your street could be fed in two
directions. When the demand varies either side of you gunge in the
main slops along the system. This effect can be very localised and
that may be why your neighbours are unaffected. I used to be
involved in resolving such problems for a water authority in the UK.

Where is your supply from? Are you fed by the Stillorgan(?) service
reservoir?

Hey Clot, I've tried getting in touch with you... we are fed by the
Stillorgan reservoir. Could you please tell me how this sort of
problem could be resolved, if it indeed turns out to be the case?
Either way, I'm going to have to battle the council to get answers. I
am sick to death of this problem. We got a notice in the letterbox
this week telling us that the mains had been flushed, and the water
was lovely and clear... for about 48 hours. The thing is, because it
isn't really apparent to the naked eye, people who come to have a look
at it dismiss the problem. There is still a huge difference between
how it looked two days ago though. It seems to be very fine sand/silt
which is being brought through.

If your street is fed in two directions then you can have localised
problems as "old water" and gunge slops a few metres along the pipe if
the pressure from one feed reduces ( say due to demand on the system)
thus pushing water in the other direction. Flushing will tend to clear
the system for a while but it frequently recurs - though such problems
ususally take more than a few days for this to happen.

I asked about Stillorgan because from recollection it is still uncovered
and due for covering this year. In undertaking this work there will be
disruptions to the system (as supplies are temporarily routed around the
affected part via other mains or temporary mains) and customers are
likely to have temporary changes to the quality of the water they
receive - though this is likely to affect a wide number of consumers.
The practice here in the UK is to advice customers beforehand that this
may occur.


I'm going to request another 'aggressive' flushing, as the first one
helped a lot, but still didn't clear it up enough. I hope I don't have
to keep requesting this service, as they'll be sick of it pretty
quickly. I don't suppose there's much chance of me finding out whether
the problem is in fact what you're saying, but it sounds very likely.
I have never experienced such strange, changeable water anywhere else.

What do you mean by covered exactly? And do you reckon it would even
be feasible to persuade the local council that there is a problem
worth investigating and fixing?