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Replacing Rising Main?

Thanks clot, have a good one.

Reply to
None
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Hi,

If you get a 'Y' strainer installed after the rising main, this will tell if the algae is from there or not.

If you have a garden hose which is left connected with the garden tap on and hose nozzle off, it could be the source of the problem if the tap has no non return valve.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Hi None, I did remember. However, the folk that I happened to be sat with at the dinner were all wastewater types. I spied the guy I needed to talk to re air scouring but by the time the formal part of the evening finished, he escaped!

I'll try to ask some former colleagues by e-mail.

>
Reply to
clot

Thanks anyway clot, I am also going to try get a hold of my uncle today and explain this wretched problem. Let me know if you find anything out from your colleagues, would be a huge help. @ Pete C, I dont have a garden hose installed, just an outside washing machine. The problem definitely comes from the service pipe, as the sliminess and slight discolouration is at the kitchen tap.

Reply to
None

Clot my man.... anything to report? :)

Reply to
None

.....

Reply to
None

Yes, but not good I think. I've spoken to someone who used to be involved in mains and services maintenance. He advised me that the minimum size that they used to air scour in his time was either 2.5 or 3 inch, so yes would get involved in cleaning services to the likes of factories, hospitals or large block of flats, etc. So, not sounding good for a service pipe to a single dwelling.:( I've yet to have a comment from anyone working on distribution systems today.

Reply to
clot

Hi clot... yeah i didnt figure much luck would be had. I have had (yet another) idea about what the problem could be related to. The black particle stuff is constantly in the water, and it builds up in the attic tank. I have had no idea what this could be, but could it be mold? Even the most thoroughly washed towels have a 'moldy' mildew smell.

The bigger particles of this stuff I have seen make it look like they have been broken off a very large growth indeed. The stuff is quite powdery also. It sounds very unlikely, as there would need to be a leak somewhere presumably, but apparently it is quite possible to happen if water stagnates.

I'm just going to have to fork out to replace the entire service pipe. I cant deal with this any longer.

Reply to
None

I'm sorry to hear that but can well imagine the annoyance. I was at an Institute meeting this evening where I spied just the right guy but he slipped through my fingers before I could buttonhole him - sorry. Just a thought have you looked at the service pipe from your stop tap either in the street or in the house? Is it the same material as a neighbour's? Could be that there was a shortage at the time of installation or a cheap "cowboy" fit?

Reply to
clot

I should have suggested going over The Pond. Good luck. I'll watch the reponses with interest, but refrain from tainting the conversation. ;)

Reply to
clot

Reply to
None

Your post on alt.home.repair!

Reply to
clot

Hello None. I know nothing about water pipes but cant resist poking my nose in here

You are thinking of replacing the pipe with no confidence that it will actually solve the problem, so before you do that would it be a good idea to get the name of 'the right guy' from Clot and pay him some money to come to your house as a consultant? It might prove to be a significant saving in the end

Anna

Reply to
Anna Kettle

Hi Anna,

Well, I live in Ireland, and Clot lives in England. Anybody he knows is not going to cross the Irish Sea, so Im out of luck there Im afraid. With that said, I got the local council to flush out the street main again, and the black stuff is gone from the supply, so the majority of the problem could well still be on their side. I am just going to have to aggressively ask them to scour the main as much as possible. The water is constantly improving though with these flushings, I just wish it could stay clear for longer than a week. The slime problem is there all the time, but much less right now. Maybe a really thorough scouring could clear it properly...

Reply to
None

Clot, if you're around....

Basically, we had the mains flushed last thursday. Water seemed much cleaner, black stuff gone etc. Now, it is horrendous again, basically colours your skin yellow. Truly awful.

I think I have finally worked it out though... We are the fourth house as you enter the road, and are supplied by a nine inch iron main that services a long stretch of houses on the adjacent main road. The water is fed in two directions on my road. The water is much better for the houses right as you enter the road, as they are pretty much exclusively serviced by this water. For my house and the one with the stopcock right next to it, it is poor. We are on an uphill slope, which levels off two houses up. The water pressure would be greater from that side, as the downward force exerts more power behind it.

This means that the water from our side never really gains quite enough pressure to go much beyond my house, and the supplies are basically always balancing outside my house, as you suggested.We have no chlorine, which is puzzling. The bacterial and sediment buildup could be a byproduct of this. I mean, when you wash your hands now, they turn yellow!

Also, flushing doesn't do a great deal in the end for us... the hydrant is located a good few houses up the road, where even when they flush it, it only has benefit for the more powerful flowing part, and our side is not cleared properly, if at all. This is very distressing to be honest, we have put a lot of work into the house, but the water is just too unbearable, and this is coming from someone who never even thought about water quality before this situation took hold....

Such stupid water design.... unbelievable.

Reply to
None

Oi Clot my son! Come into the arena..............

Reply to
None

Sorry, None. I've been rather busy of late.

Right so it did improve considerably with flushing - only a temporary respite, though. Was the flushed water from the hydrant foul? I think you are probably right in thinking that you are right on a balance point on the system. Are you saying that your neighbour has problems? Does next door have the same symptoms?

I'm puzzled as to why your hands are discoloured when bathing in the water. Not sure what's causing that but could it be iron? Is the main in the street cast iron. The Water Dept. will know (at least I'd be surprised if they didn't). Do you know whether the whole area could be fed off one leg rather than two ways? Would the water department play ball by revalving? Do they now accept that you have an issue? Cast iron mains are known problems with some waters. In parts of the UK there were discolouration issues with CI mains which in many cases were resolved by relining the mains. It is possible that you have two issues: the nature and condition of the main and also that as a result of being on a balance point you a receiving "old water" with depleted chlorine concentration that is allowing fungal/ bacterial growth in both the main and your service pipe.

Would your neighbour back you up? May be the Environmental Health Dept. would look into your problem, thereby putting more pressure on the Water Dept?

Just thoughts rather than a solution, I'm afraid.

Reply to
clot

Hi,

I'd look into putting a tee and tap, then a non return valve as soon after the main stopcock as possible.

If the water from this tap is fine, the problem is in your property somewhere.

It sounds like there is a dead leg/parallel path somewhere where the water is going stale and algae is forming.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

Hi clot,

Been away for a while, so I didnt see your message until now. Just to address a couple of things you asked; I'm going to reiterate some things I said earlier here, but try to make it sound more like sense! Firstly, we are fed from one side by a very long 9 inch iron main on the adjacent main road which carries water right from the source I think. I am the fourth house on one side of our road. The street is fed in two directions, as I was told. The problem, in my opinion, is that we are located on a steep uphill slant, which levels off a couple of houses up from us. The pressure from our side would then be unable to really 'compete' with the other side, which travels faster due to the downhill force.

The pressure in my house is only about 1 bar during the day, and maybe up to 1.5 bar late at night. So that doesn't help. The problem as I see it, is that all the sediment and dirt builds up in the pipe outside my house, at a fairly set 'balance' point. There is nowhere for this sediment (which eventually becomes bacterial) to go, as the water doesn't flow through the road, but stays in the pipe, eventually finding its way into my service pipe and attic tank etc. Any breaks in the pipes before the water reaches my road affect us because we end up with all the sediment deposits.

I hope this makes a modicum of sense. The water depot dont give a monkeys. They are pig ignorant unfortunately, and cant appreciate the folly of feeding such a lopsided road in two directions. There have been times when the pipe has been flushed by the depot, and the water is absolutely perfect (though still lacking a trace of a chlorine smell, but it tastes lovely), and times when they cant be bothered doing it professionally. What I really object to is the black/brown particles. I took a clump of it out of the attic tank and while it could be soil, it could also be algae dust.

What do you mean by revalving by the way? To feed the road from the one direction?

Reply to
None

I meant add a tap just after your meter and stopcock, then a non return valve after that.

If bad water comes out of that tap, then it _proves_ the supply is bad. I would then take it up with the regulating body for your local water company.

You could also add a 'Y' strainer as well, if it soon fills with crud it would also prove the supply is bad.

cheers, Pete,

Reply to
Pete C

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