Green Stuff in the pipes...

[shootist]

High doses of chlorine are very destructive to many plastics. I would be hesitant to leave it in the lines and tank for more than minutes. Even the normal 8% chlorine 1/4rcup per 100 gallon flushes they warn to flush thoroughly. I dont drink the coach water other than teeth brushing and ice cubes so one tank flush is all I do. I'm sure interested in seeing how this turns out. Maybe winterize and leave it in a -30 winter location if it's tropical and just won't die.

[Roy-c]

Research purogene. That is what is mandated by law to disinfect airline water systems. There is a recommended procedure to follow that is available on line. If I remember correctly you add citric acid to it but look it up as my memory isn't what it used to be.

[johnhicks]

Freaky...that does kinda look like duckweed.

I wonder if mulched-up greenery got into your system through the "city" water and it's not growing but you haven't flushed it out of everything yet. Low-point drains? Tank drains? Water-heater crossover? Pressure accumulator tank?

At any rate, a treatment or two of Purogene 50ppm should kill anthing alive but you still might have some floating around.

[Jim_HiTek]

I'm hoping the Purogene works. It's on it's way.

Funny thing about this stuff is it somehow moved backwards through a screen to get on the hose side of the system. I use quick connects and shutoffs on the (new) hose so somehow it got through a fine screen back into the hose that I flush every few days, where it settled and grew. The pieces I found the other day were 10X to 100X larger than the holes in the screen. Spores I guess? Tiny ones? And what the heck is it eating? It's pure water, city water, where I am now.

I'm at a loss how it could do that so quickly. Less than 10 days.

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

Several months ago, late January, I headed into Mexico and ended up in Mazatlan until late March. Early in March I had trouble with the water in the RV. Just a dribble mostly. So I checked the supply hose and found this green leafy type stuff. Not moss like, but leafy like. Dark green.

Opps, no screen on my hose. So blew out the hose, got many big chunks of the green stuff, and added a screen on both ends. But before hooking back up to the parks water, I blew out all the house water lines. I did find lots of that green leafy stuff everywhere in the systems screens at the faucets but after blowing everything out, reconnected the water supply and everything seemed normal.

Back in the US, I ordered a new hose as mine was getting pretty old and grungy looking. Has a nice screen on the end and the shut offs and pressure reducers I have pretty much guarantee no green leafy stuff can get into the house.

Wrong!

I've repeatedly had to blow out the pipes since March. Did it once there in Mexico, and several times back here in the US. I cannot figure out where it's coming from!

Just the other day I removed my new supply hose and unscrewed the screened shut off valve and there was that green stuff blocking the screen. How can it have ended up in a brand new hose with screens on either end? Could it have come from my RV? Traveling backwards against pressure? Through two sets of screens!??

It's driving me crazy. I've blown out the system at least 5 times since March and it's getting annoying.

Like I said, it doesn't look anything like the mossy gooey stuff I've found coming from water tanks in past events in my other RV though, or that I've read about on forums. This stuff is firm, ranging from tiny to 1/2" in diameter. Really looks like parts of leafs of a plant. I never see anything like a stem or root though.

So what's the fix these days for this issue? New RV? Any advice appreciated.

Do you have a household style water filter on your rig or in line with your hose? If not, put one on. Without the filter in the housing fill the housing with peroxide from Walmart of any other source. (Drain your water heater and potable water tanks first. Fill your system with this solution. Let it stand for a while and then repeat. If this does not do the trick put 2 bottles in the tank then fill again. The peroxide will not do any harm to equipment or people.
Rick Y

[boxdin]

Originally Posted by Jyrocharlie

a inlet water filter, screwed onto your water source. This should prevent anything entering your RV. If you were in Mexico using their water, sanitize your rv's water system. Something like this that would attach to your water supply hose at the inlet. https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...702331&sr=8-61

I currently use one inlet filter but want to get a second one for micro spores molds and fungus.

[trmckee3]

Speaking as a former microbiologist...

Purogene twice followed by peroxide twice would be the most effective treatment.

And by peroxide I mean to use 30% peroxide solution as you can't buy enough of the 3% store solution. WEAR GLOVES. I'd want to end up diluting the 30% at about 60:1 so I end up with 1/2% peroxide in the tank. It used to be available from pool chemical supply houses.

I'd put water in my tank, then add sufficient the chemicals, then finish adding water. Move the unit back and forth to agitate and make sure all of the tank walls get wet with the solution, then run it through all inside pipes including hot water and sprayer units. After that, you need to bypass the pump and make it run out the city water inlet to make sure those pipes get treated.... It has to touch EVERY square mm of pipe surface. Make sure you run it through the water heater bypass...

and then PRAY that you didn't miss a single spore...

[Don Juane]

Not many read that you were in Mexico when this happened. I full time there for the past 3 years and I have large filters in front of my normal feed line and I have to clean them out every 4 months when in Mexico plus I add a 1/4 cup of bleach to the unscrewed canister and let it flow through my pipes when I clean the filters. Do you know any details of the water system where you camp? Near 100% of water in Mexico comes from an underground cistern or an overhead tenaco (tank). If you are lucky enough to have any pressure over the standard 12PSI of a gravity supplied system, it likely comes from a pump that pumps that water from the cistern or tenaco into the pipes. So leaves and debris blow into an underground cisterns and overhead tanks as well unless they are completely sealed and very few are. No telling what fell into the water and if you feed that directly into your system unfiltered, that's the kind of stuff you are going to find in your lines.

If Mexico is a frequent stop, you need to find a spot to mount some heavy duty whole-house stylef filters or no telling what you are going to find in your system. Even the purest water sources I've found here in Mexico will show clumps of gray slimy stuff on the outside of the filter canister which completely clogs the filter elements and like I say, at least every 4 months.

As to what to do about the science project you already have growing in there today, well that's already been covered pretty well. Not many living organisms can survive a good chlorine bath but I have no idea what those leaf looking things are other than perhaps real leaves that the gardener maybe blew into the RV camp's beach-side cistern with his weed whacker.

(Storage tanks for water are needed in Mexico because city water often only runs at a trickle or can be totally shut off during peak periods so residents and businesses have to store their own water in the tenaco or cistern and you also have to always be collecting it with a float and shutoff because you can't depend on city water pressure or it even running at all 24/7.)

[Grandpa5x]

Ever heard the old saying about the water in Mexico? It’s worse than the water in FL.

[Aganit]

Good golly miss molly what a nasty mess. Jim my friend I had the pleasure of working as an indoor air quality contractor, consultant, hygienist, hvac, water, specialist for 35 years. Been wondering if I could ever pay you back for the knowledge you have supplied me over the years. Based on experience in these matters you have plain old mold of some species growing in the pipes or components of your home. It is probably a genre of Basidiomycetes which is easy to grow in warm wet areas (the same type you see growing in the woods on wet logs or bark) its genre is different. It loves warm areas. You might concentrate on the pipes around a water heater or pipes that may not get used often and water sets in them, such as low lines that are not as subject to water pressure.
a cure will be to flush water heater, holding tank and all pipe with about a 20% bleach/water solution. Remove any filters and discard before installing the bleach. After filling the tank and lines completely full let it set about 24 hours before flushing. You will probably have to do this a couple of times. Then put in new filters and you should be ok. I don't know exactly how these water heaters are set up but it may be that most of your problems are located in the tank or lines nearby. This fungi is a wet type that can live forever under warm, wet conditions, Feeding on algae and other materials in the dark places.

[frodo2222]

ANY WATER SUPPLY THAT IS NOT TREATED WITH CHLORINE OR SOME SUCH THING WILL GROW ALGAE Sorry..what I do is buy drinking water in separate jugs and treat all others with a few oz of chlorine once a week or so..the warmer it is the more it grows

[Timaz]

Once you get your system clean for good I would add very good filter system as has been said. You full time as I do and even showering in nasty water can be bad for your health and you do inhale vapors in the shower. You want to stop any biological stuff from getting anywhere in your system. I run two 5 micron carbon/sentiment filters inline followed by a Large 12volt UV filter. Nothing lives. You can see the setup in the picture below. Again, this is your health and with traveling we are exposed to many different water supplies. My system filters the water going into the tank and again when it is pumped from the tank and also coming straight into lines from the supply.
I have sense replaced the braided line with pex.

[richardgood]

Get a drill pump and pump a 10% bleach solution through your system to each faucet, shower, water heater, toilet flush valve, outside shower etc till you smell the bleach at each faucet. Shut off the valves leaving everything full for 8 hours then flush. I would also pump a few gallons of bleach into your holding tank and let it sit for a day then drain and flush. It is important to flush completely after draining everything as the high chlorine concentration is caustic. Flush with regular chlorinated city water.

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by trmckee3

Speaking as a former microbiologist...

Purogene twice followed by peroxide twice would be the most effective treatment.

And by peroxide I mean to use 30% peroxide solution as you can't buy enough of the 3% store solution. WEAR GLOVES. I'd want to end up diluting the 30% at about 60:1 so I end up with 1/2% peroxide in the tank. It used to be available from pool chemical supply houses.

I'd put water in my tank, then add sufficient the chemicals, then finish adding water. Move the unit back and forth to agitate and make sure all of the tank walls get wet with the solution, then run it through all inside pipes including hot water and sprayer units. After that, you need to bypass the pump and make it run out the city water inlet to make sure those pipes get treated.... It has to touch EVERY square mm of pipe surface. Make sure you run it through the water heater bypass...

and then PRAY that you didn't miss a single spore...

You should find this pdf interesting.
I am under the impression anything less than a 3% H2O2 solution is ineffective for sanitizing. What is the reasoning behind the .5% solution?