Greenish debris coming from hot tap

[Andy Dingley]

Read Treloar for how to do it properly: Quantities, times, clean out afterwards.

[Steve Walker]

I googled.

[Roger Dewhurst]

Drain the hot water cylinder completely and see what comes out last.

R

[JimK]

shurely the "active" ingredient in either is chlorine?

JimK

[Rod]

There are some that are iodine-based. You categorically do not want to overdose on that. And no, the active ingredient in them is not chlorine.

[Steve Firth]

No, "bleach" is a generic term for any chemical that removes colouur, the term covers a wide range of chemicals mostly oxidising agents.

I suggest you go and learn some chemistry.

[Adrian C]

Live in Dublin btw, and never seen this in any house but

If it's a green, large, festering, glutinous, heaving lump with an obvious 3/4 heartbeat and bloodshot alien eyes, the way to run is

[SS]

Probably off the mark here but just in case. Have you tried cleaning the taps from the tap end? I do this when I remember usually every couple of years and I get some (although not green) junk out. The tap end is probably more exposed to heat and air being in the heated house as opposed the the attic. Just my pennies worth.

[Andy Burns]

That'll leave the hot cylinder full, look for a drain point at the base of the cylinder where the cold enters, or failing that you may need to undo the threaded connection at the top where the hot exits, and syphon it with a hose.

[Chris J Dixon]

Whatever you do, don't close the inlet valve to the hot tank, and open the kitchen hot tap. This can be an effective, but costly, way to demonstrate the power of atmospheric pressure.

Chris

[JimK]

Firstly and for the bewilderingly pedantic amongst us, I am refering to Andy's mentioned Sodium dichloroisocyanurate, and the earlier mentioned sodium hypochlorite and your assertion that neither use chlorine as the active:-

wiki advises that sodium hypochlorite: releases free chlorine when dissolved in water. sodium dichloroisocyanurate : mechanism of action is the release of chlorine in low concentrations by constant rate.

Do you know differently? (with references please)

Cheers JimK

[NT]

Really I'd use a couple of litres of man bleach rather than a little baby bleach.

Re cylinder temp, even set to hot might not clear it as usually the bottom of the cylinder doesn't get so hot. Worth a try though. So is leting the hot go stone cold for a day, some bugs that like heat cant survive cold.

Sounds like its heated by a gas or oil boiler, in which case temporarily upping the boiler thermostat setting will make the water hotter. (Not the room stat.)

I'd start with bleach, its the only thing that'll reach every nook & cranny. Adding washing up liquid might help it penetrate the slime more. Notes can be posted over the taps for the day in case anyone forgets.

NT

[terry]

Could be that the hot water is not hot enough! As result bacteria may be growing in the HW tank? In the USA some connection has been made between that and Legionnaires disease! There were a series of postings on a similar North American (Canada- USA) quite recently; although nothing as dramatic! Here the Dept. of Health require 160 deg F. for safe dish washing and when we operated a school cafeteria for some 30 years their inspectors would test the water temp. 'Snot' growing in the hot water sytem sounds extremely unhealthy/ unsafe? Suggest urgent action.

[Andy Champ]

Steve,

this is the kind of post that makes a lot of people put you in their block list.

When I said "Bleach is usually sodium hypochlorite, Na Cl O." I menat usually. Not always. That bottle you have in the bathroom cupboard for cleaning, that everyone calls bleach because that is what is on the label? It's probably NaClO. Usually (and I mean the word precisely) if you look at a container marked "Bleach" that is what is in it. Not always. Major industrial processes - paper springs to mind - often use different chemicals to reduce environmental impact.

Now perhaps you'd like to consider how your post helped anyone.

Andy

[Steve Firth]

Andy,

You smugly posted your reply thinking it made you look big and clever. I'm unimpressed by someone who can parrot what he scans off the web but who doesn't understand a word. But thanks for flying off the handle and proving what a loser you are.

Oh and Andy, using someone's first name in the way that you did, Andy, is another sign of weakness, Andy.

[Fredxx]

Try getting out of the other side of the bed for a change.

I thought Andy's post was helpful.

[Steve Firth]

Helpful as in "a load of old bollocks"?

Still, let's not let the objective subject of chemistry be a hinderance to "having an opinion". After all, an incorrect opinion misrepresenting science but one which we all agree with and find "helpful" is obviously far more worthwhile than any objective comment.

[Clot]

Hi None, I've refrained from answering until now as we both know the principal problem! I think you've had some good advice regarding both clearance of the present situation and how to minimise problems in the future. Sadly, the main cause is coming in via the mains and somehow that grot has to be stopped. I take it you have had no joy with the Water Dept.?

[Fredxx]

How hot have you set your cylinderstat?

I'm convinced that in one house I was in, things improved a great when I lowered the temperature and after continued use. There I also got snots of what I presume was lime which regularly blocked a shower head.

[Man at B&Q]

Rubbish! I've done that lots of times.

The hot water take off is at the top of the cylinder, with an overflow up to the header tank. All that happens is that the pipes to the taps drain down and air is sucked down the overflow to replace the water. The cyclinder is left full of water, as other have pointed out.

MBQ