Holy Cr*p, I have GREEN water

[Gomboman]

I just re-filled my spa a few minutes ago. I noticed that the water had a slight green tint to it as I was filling it. It was getting dark so I thought maybe it was my imagination. The tub has been sitting for a week so I shocked it with 2 ounces of dichlor. Now the water is real green and has rust colored cr*p floating on the water line.

This is strange since I'm on city water. Normally my water is crystal clear. Surprisingly, my alkalinity, PH and calcium levels were perfect out of the tap. Normally this is not the case. Something must have changed with my water supply.

I guess I can dump the water and buy a pre-filter. What should I do?

[Chas]

Do you mean refilled from scratch, or just topped it off?

[Gomboman]

OK, the HotSpring folks were correct about the No-Bypass filtering system.  I always thought it was a joke. One ten minute cleaning cycle and now my water is crystal clean again.  

Wow.  

[Chas]

The preceeding was not a paid political advertisement.

[anne]

So the truth is that HS enslaves very efficient filter gnomes, doesn't even pay them minimum wage, and locks them in the filter chambers! All this ranting about no bypass filtration is really ommpa loompa servitude! Wait till the authorities find out!

[anne]

But seriously, even if it is gone, why was it GREEN? With FLOATIES???

[Gomboman]

But seriously, even if it is gone, why was it GREEN? With FLOATIES???

I'm not sure. I've never had a problem before. I'm assuming that I have iron in my water now. Will a pre-filter remove metals such as iron and magnesium? The dichlor turned my water it into rusty Green Tea.  

I guess my water changes since it's piped in from a 242 mile-long aqueduct from the Colorado River to Southern California.  

[tonyp]

The pre-filter certainly removes something.  I have very hard water and always have high Ph.  I didn't use the pre-filter when I filled last month.  Although the water is still very clear, I do have to clean my filters more often.

[JcDenton]

The water coming out of my tap has also been green for the past year now. I just did a full water change yesterday and cannot believe the green tint. I believed it to be that the city water supply has had an increasing amount of algae present, but I felt that in the spring, this algae should not yet be so prominent (local water supply is a large fresh-water lake - many lakes in our area are showing increasing amounts of algae blooms with each passing year).

As well, my levels all test normal (ph/alk/santizer etc), but I do not do any other testing. The green typically fades out quickly, but I am curious as to why the water is green in the first place.

[Bonibelle]

Do you guys, by any chance have copper pipes in your homes? If your pH is low, you will see green in your sink, bathtub etc. I don't think potable water has an allowance for algae...I might be inclined to call my water company and ask about the testing and tell them what you are experiencing.  :-/

[salesdvl]

OK, the HotSpring folks were correct about the No-Bypass filtering system.  I always thought it was a joke. One ten minute cleaning cycle and now my water is crystal clean again.  
 
Wow.  

There are people all over the world that have their water clear up without this particular filtering system.

Great, another seemingly intelligent person has gone "near the light"    

[drewstar]

City water can go to crap if they open a hydrant, or if there is a huge demand for water.

Did anything burn down recently? Did theywater the local ball field? Did all your neighbors fill thier pool the sqame day?


The green color to me suggests copper in the water.  

Anyhow, glad it's cleared up.

[Drewski]

Drewstar's on the button Gomboman.

The stuff you describe sounds like it's caused by recent pipe maintenance, flushing, repair, etc. or, as he said, a fire. When I was with a local fire department we used to get calls all of the time from angry citizens wanting to know why we "screwed up their water!"  Most of the time, it would flush clear in less than a week.

Alternatively, the EPA has recently mandated (last 10 years) a switch from "traditional" water treatment systems used by many municipalities for decades to more modern technology that decreases the reliance on chlorine. Depending on where your local water supplier/re-treater is in the implementation requirements cycle, this could also be a factor.

BTW, if any of you folks REALLY have issue with supplied water, I'd encourage you to take a sample and either submit it to your local state's environmental/health agency (the state level EPA) or the EPA with the federal government.  In most cases the will test it for free, advise you of the results and take action with the local water supplier if they find something.

Water quality is nothing to screw with and I sometimes wonder why folks spend days talking about the quality of water we put our butts in and yet never complain about drinking the same stuff coming from the tap??  


Drewski

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[Chas]

Great, another seemingly intelligent person has gone "near the light"    

[anne]

Water quality is nothing to screw with and I sometimes wonder why folks spend days talking about the quality of water we put our butts in and yet never complain about drinking the same stuff coming from the tap??  


Drewski

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I was wondering the same thing.