For the last couple of days the cold water from our taps (direct from
the mains) has been coming out of the tap cloudy. The cloud effect is
caused by tiny bubbles which gradually fizz out leaving the water
clear. There is no odour, colour, or bad taste so I presume its safe
to drink but where have the bubbles come from and why? It is the same
from all the cold taps bathroom and kitchen so I am sure the cause
lies with the water company rather than at home (we have not done
anything to the plumbing to have changed anything). Thanks.

Robert
wibbled on Sunday 14 February 2010 21:50

For the last couple of days the cold water from our taps (direct from
the mains) has been coming out of the tap cloudy. The cloud effect is
caused by tiny bubbles which gradually fizz out leaving the water
clear. There is no odour, colour, or bad taste so I presume its safe
to drink but where have the bubbles come from and why? It is the same
from all the cold taps bathroom and kitchen so I am sure the cause
lies with the water company rather than at home (we have not done
anything to the plumbing to have changed anything). Thanks.

Have they bumped up the chlorine input for some reason?

--
Tim Watts

Managers, politicians and environmentalists: Nature's carbon buffer.

On Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:50:36 +0000, Robert
wrote:

For the last couple of days the cold water from our taps (direct from
the mains) has been coming out of the tap cloudy. The cloud effect is
caused by tiny bubbles which gradually fizz out leaving the water
clear. There is no odour, colour, or bad taste so I presume its safe
to drink

Perfectly safe.

but where have the bubbles come from and why?

Air. The water in the reservoir is cold and has a lot of dissolved
air. In the pipe it is under pressure so the air remains dissolved.
When it comes out of the tap the pressure immediately falls and the
air comes out of solution and turns back into gas bubbles - exactly
the same as opening a bottle of fizzy pop.

On 14 Feb, 22:18, Peter Parry wrote:

Air. *The water in the reservoir is cold and has a lot of dissolved
air. * In the pipe it is under pressure so the air remains dissolved.
When it comes out of the tap the pressure immediately falls and the
air comes out of solution and turns back into gas bubbles - exactly
the same as opening a bottle of fizzy pop.

So, sparkling water at no extra cost?

Cheers
Richard

Chris Hogg wrote:

We get this after the water company has been doing work on the mains
supply pipes. Air gets into the pipes when they open them up, and when
re-connected the air is trapped in the pipe (we're at the end of a
mile-long uphill stub, which tends to empty when the main is opened
and doesn't get flushed when they re-connect).

There should be a "wash-out" at the end of such runs to allow the water
company to flush the system.

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:
If such exists, it's not used. But I doubt its existence;
we're right out in the country. Whenever the water 'goes
off', we can expect an hour or so of explosive
spluttering and coughing from the cold taps as the air is
forced out under pressure. I sometimes fear for the
joints in the pipes, it can be so violent; the 'rigid'
mixer tap in the kitchen (i.e. not one on a flexible
hose) physically recoils! We tend to flush the loos
repeatedly to clear the air, as it seems to be less
violent to do it that way. It also gets rid of any
discoloured water.
I seem to remember that liquid (water) does not compress,
whereas gas (air) can be fairly easily compressed. But
inside the pipes, the air will be compressed until its
pressure is equal to the water. When the compressed air
reaches the open tap it just decompresses and expands as it
is forced out by the water behind.

As the pressure of the air or water will not be more than
that of the water, your pipes should be all right.

--
John Mulrooney
NOTE Email address IS correct but might not be checked for a while.

There are 2 true symptoms of dementia; one is forgetting what you are saying, the other is forgetting what you are saying ...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:57:30 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Chris Hogg wrote:

We get this after the water company has been doing work on the mains
supply pipes. Air gets into the pipes when they open them up, and when
re-connected the air is trapped in the pipe (we're at the end of a
mile-long uphill stub, which tends to empty when the main is opened
and doesn't get flushed when they re-connect).

There should be a "wash-out" at the end of such runs to allow the water
company to flush the system.

If such exists, it's not used. But I doubt its existence; we're right
out in the country. Whenever the water 'goes off', we can expect an
hour or so of explosive spluttering and coughing from the cold taps as
the air is forced out under pressure. I sometimes fear for the joints
in the pipes, it can be so violent; the 'rigid' mixer tap in the
kitchen (i.e. not one on a flexible hose) physically recoils! We tend
to flush the loos repeatedly to clear the air, as it seems to be less
violent to do it that way. It also gets rid of any discoloured water.

--

Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

If the toilet ball valves are plastic they could get damaged!

I wonder if the Water Company should be made aware and whether they could
fit some form of automatic air separator?