Black Particles in Local Water - Blocks Pipes etc... What Is It?

[whiterussian]

Anyone know exactly what the black soot-like matter is in the local water supply? Blocks the pipes etc...

Apologies - this must have been asked before... but I can't find an answer using the search function...

[kaptainrob]

Bacterial growth occurs naturally in town water supply pipes. Our mooban conducts annual cleaning of the supply network to maintain pressure as the slime can build up over many years.

Fitting of a large sediment filter in mains supply is recommended + a kitchen filter set for drinking/cooking.

[worgeordie]

Never had this problem in our area,and we are on city water,

are you sure yours is city water and not just supplied by the

moo bhan from underground water and their own filtration

systems.

regards Worgeordie

[elektrified]

Funny this was mentioned. Just had that happen about 10 minutes ago (city water). Was rinsing the bathroom floor when suddenly the clear hose turned black. Out came black and brown particles - some quite large - that looked like plant-like matter? Smelled bad too. Only lasted about a minute or so. Really nasty looking stuff.

[masuk]

These are carbon/charcoal pieces, used in the water filtering system at the water works.

My former rented house in Suthep had all filters/taps/showers blocked by these. I seriously considered getting a water-filter such as I used on the farm in Australia.

Easy to clean up, but took a couple of hours.

Whatever, these should not be entering the town water supply.

I would imagine that the large tank installed by the landlady would be about due to be drained to catch what has settled to the bottom.

[mat999]

I believe masuk is correct as our tap blasted a load out when the pipes were being fixed.

[Longtooth]

I wouldn't just assume it was charcoal particles. I have a 120 meter deep (yes) well with NO FILTRATION WHATEVER ON IT, and I got a temporary stream of black stuff coming out of the bathroom shower valve when I was replacing a water heater and decided to blow the pipe full steam to see what came out without going through the restriction of the water heater. It did not smell bad, though. Some kind of black mold that can grow without air? Piping is all plastic, so it's not rust. Some kind of black stuff actually fine enough to be pulled up with the water? Dunno. I had my water tested by a certified testing company and all tests for various things were super-good. ????????

[sappersrest]

The water mains may have been air scoured to clean the water mains a common practice in in most countries. Please find a quote below explaining the process. Carbon should not get into the water if it is used to either de ozone the water or is used to remove chloramines. if that is the case they have a very serious problem at the treatment works and would affect thousands of homes.

"There is constant pressure on authorities in maintaining quality standards to our water supply and at the same time encouraging water wise usage: but still there are adverse readings, higher than accepted standards of bio-film and bacteria readings in our water.

A popular solution; increase chemicals. But...why compound a quality problem?

Air Scouring is a proven method of removing unwanted bio-films and sediment buildup from water mains; it solves dirty water complaints, it uses less water, reduces chemical usage and is up to 8 times more effective than a laborious Flushing Programme.

It involves injecting filtered compressed air into the mains forcing a series of air slugs into the water flow in the mains. The slug scours away the silt and sediments whilst the water expels the waste through a surface outlet.

With the combination of Air and Water under pressure traveling through the pipeline being expelled through a controlled outlet creates such a scouring effect it actually removes all unwanted buildup of growth. This allows the normal amount of chemical usage to do its' job allowing it to travel to the extremities and produce the correct readings in water quality."

[simoncnx]

Im my opinion kits some kind of manganese deposit. Is it slightly "tarry"? m If it is then its from using a water well which does not really go deep enough. Theres no simple solution as treating the water is very expensive; I suggest getting a 5 micron filter

[whiterussian]

Im my opinion kits some kind of manganese deposit. Is it slightly "tarry"? m If it is then its from using a water well which does not really go deep enough. Theres no simple solution as treating the water is very expensive; I suggest getting a 5 micron filter

The moobaan boss tells me it's sediment from the groundwater - straight from the local borehole - but that's as far as I got before my vocabulary ran out... Be nice to know what mineral or clay it is - if it is... maybe we could bottle it

edit:

Manganese oxide - I think you're correct Simon... Thank you!

Not harmful

http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/live/g1714/build/g1714.pdf

Edited November 26, 2014 by whiterussian

[misterfloppy]

I happens fairly frequently in our village where there is the local water supply, not the government supply.

Whenever they do work on the pipework, they put activated charcoal into the supply to remove any impurities. Unfortunately this clogs up filters and leaves toilets needing cleaning. Presumably the water tank will need cleaning too, eventually.

The estate office tells us that this shouldn't occur once (if?) the govenment supply is connected, though I thing she's being rather optimistic!

[kaptainrob]

7 months accumulation of sediment from town water supply >

[Dante99]

7 months accumulation of sediment from town water supply >

Nasty. I changed my filters after 3 years and had nothing like that, actually so little I thought I could use them for a few more years.

Different areas are clearly very different and/or some areas are being effected by broken/leaky pipes.