Green Particles

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Cass

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I have a customer that is getting Green particles buildup in his water heater. This has been going on for 3.5 years. It is so bad he has to empty his shower heads and faucet aerators every 2-3 days because they plug up. His washer supply lines would clog up at the screen every 2 loads only on the hot side. If he flushes the water heater it will last a couple of weeks then returns. When flushing the heater the water will be greenish with a ton of the particles in a bucket if he uses one and the problem will be back in a week or 2. He was the original owner since the home was built and has always had the problem since the 2-3rd week he owned the home. The green particles are semi hard, they will break up if rubbed between the fingers. He is selling the home and has to disclose this but would rather fix the problem.

Any ideas. I'm stumped. I guessing something to do with the copper pipe but beyond that no idea. This is a municiple water supply not a well.
 
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Got_Nailed

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I would send off for 2 water tests. One on the cold and one with the green stuff in it. that should tell you what it is.
 

Cass

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Ok, that is an option......any one else wana tak a shot at it?
 

Geniescience

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humid summers hot, humid winters cold
type of green

green like copper? Corroded, oxidized?
or another green -- darker than that?

What did the builder say? This is the first owner.
What kind of HW water is this? What did the HW heater manufacturer say?

david
 

SRdenny

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Cass
I recently drained 3 75 gallon commercial water heaters and manually removed enough of those green particles to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Asked my water heater rep for a solution and he suggested the following be placed on the incoming cold water line to the heaters. http://www.zetarod.com/
I haven't been given the go ahead to do it yet. But, anything is better then having to repeatedly stick my hand in a slimy water heater with a wet vac.

I just took care of a customer who had black particles in their hot water. Had to change out the magnesium anode with an aluminum one and power flush the heater (no hand hole, unfortunately). And, the conclusion that it was the anode and not something else took a little time to arrive at.
 

Jadnashua

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I'd look for some test results on that thing. I doubt it would hurt anything, but I don't see it working, either. Anything passing by would quickly lose any charge it might have picked up.
 

Cass

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srdenny said:
Cass
I recently drained 3 75 gallon commercial water heaters and manually removed enough of those green particles to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Asked my water heater rep for a solution and he suggested the following be placed on the incoming cold water line to the heaters. http://www.zetarod.com/
I haven't been given the go ahead to do it yet. But, anything is better then having to repeatedly stick my hand in a slimy water heater with a wet vac.

I just took care of a customer who had black particles in their hot water. Had to change out the magnesium anode with an aluminum one and power flush the heater (no hand hole, unfortunately). And, the conclusion that it was the anode and not something else took a little time to arrive at.

The rod your talking about is supposed to take the place of a softner, this water is already soft from a softner and the softner co. has been out 2 times and has no idea what the problem is.
 

Dubldare

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Cass, I’ve seen this a few times, and while I can’t give any definite answer, I can give you my take and a few links for you to make up your own guess.

When I’ve seen the blue/green buildup, it has always been on municipal water. Sometimes it’s of almost a semi-solid gel in the bottom of a WH that’s getting replaced, other times its crud plugging aerators, other times it’s a customer asking “Why is my water blue/green in my white tub when I fill it?â€



http://www.hotwater.com/bulletin/bulletin14.pdf
http://www.water-research.net/corrosion.htm
http://www.finishing.com/304/79.shtml
http://www.pushback.com/Wattenburg/bio/BlueWater.html



I don’t really buy into it being an electrical issue too often. What does make sense to me is high PH causing the pretty colored water. The city I live in runs an 8 to 8.5 ph, mostly because of old cast iron water mains and our acidic clay soil we have here. Blue/green water here is kind of a normal thing, plus it looks pretty.:D

My guess is that in most cases that I’ve come across, it lines up with the TB from AOSmith: high PH reacting against an aluminum anode rod .*

Best of luck, let us know what works.

* Now, it may not be widely known, but due to cost cutting, magnesium is not used for anode rods unless by special order. Aluminum rods have been used for the past ~10 years. Per a conversation I had with an AOSMith engineer a few years ago, only wholesalers who specifically ask for (and some isolated areas of the country) get new heaters with magnesium rods, the rest are aluminum.
 

Cass

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Thanks, I go back tomorrow an will replace the rod with a mag rod and see what happens. Any one else want to take a shot?
 

SRdenny

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Cass
I suggest you flush the heater to remove as much of the crud as possible. Otherwise your customer will be experiencing green slime indefinitely.
 
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