What is this stuff in our water tank?

[tkeithlu]

mdd246, have you looked at that stuff under a magnifier? The way it has opaque centers in translucent pockets suggests it might be eggs of an amphibian or fish. If so, you've got a vertebrate community living in your water tank, a first in my experience and way beyond treatment with bleach.

[thinwater]

This may sound nuts, but...


It looks like a tree frog climbed in the tank and laid eggs, which then died.


Does the tank have a vent, and is the vent covered with a screen (the plumbing codes require this, for this reason)? In addition to using city water, do you filter it (marina hoses and pipes commonly have build up in them)?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, David.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Hey, Bacchus brother. Thanks for the Bleach/Water chart. A copy is going in my wheelhouse.

Bleach doesn’t kill a lost of things. Even things as innocuous as algae and mold are not killed by bleach. And clearly it is ineffective with many chemical contaminants and in some cases, can exacerbate the problem so stop listening to simplistic suggestions and have the substance tested rather than rely on uninformed guesses.

[tkeithlu]

S/V, take a look at

https://www.lenntech.com/processes/d...pochlorite.htm

or in shorter form,

"To kill germs, sodium hypochlorite uses the same quality that makes it such a great stain remover -- its power as an oxidizing agent. When sodium hypochlorite comes in contact with viruses, bacteria, mold or fungi, it oxidizes molecules in the cells of the germs and kills them." From "How Things Work"

[Singularity]

FWIW to my eye it looks like bleached algae vs mold. Definitely not bacterial (though bacteria could co-exist, but so what).

Consider googling, image search, "algae mold petri dish."

To me, it's pointless to identify the precise organism(s) but rather to understand how this happened in the first place so that it doesn't recur after the tank is cleaned. I assume the tank sat with a small amount of water in it exposed to air.

Remember that it's the dose that makes the poison. We all consume much mold, bacteria, etc, on a daily basis. No need sending samples of everything to the lab to determine the onslaught that we survive on a daily basis.

[thinwater]

Moldy frog's eggs. That's what they look like when they die and go bad. A spring peeper crawled in.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Hey, Bacchus brother. Thanks for the Bleach/Water chart. A copy is going in my wheelhouse.

Anytime! Glad I can help.

We drank Dominican water after filling the tank and treating it to those specs. Been almost two weeks now and we've had no problems at all. In my opinion, such as it is, it worked for us.

[jimbunyard]

I say 'go all oriental on it and break out the fryer'. After all one mans' 'ew, gross' is anothers' 'what a delicacy'...

Seriously though there's probably at least an equal chance that although whatever it is looks pretty gross to me, it's quite harmless.

Not so sure who's willing to take that chance, though it'd be --interesting-- to see how it broke out among those in various socio-economic situations...

[MarkusK]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Moldy frog's eggs. That's what they look like when they die and go bad. A spring peeper crawled in.

I'm guessing you are being humorous. In case you are serious, look again. The sample is irregularly shaped and sized unlike the frog eggs.

[UFO]

There can be a lot worse things in some dodgy municipal supplies than Bacteria, Mold or Fungi that Bleach will certainly have no effect on - A whole range of nasty pesticides, chemicals and heavy metals - Anyone for toxic soup

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

S/V, take a look at

https://www.lenntech.com/processes/d...pochlorite.htm

or in shorter form,

"To kill germs, sodium hypochlorite uses the same quality that makes it such a great stain remover -- its power as an oxidizing agent. When sodium hypochlorite comes in contact with viruses, bacteria, mold or fungi, it oxidizes molecules in the cells of the germs and kills them." From "How Things Work"

[Adiona]

As I understand it, there are ova and parasites from tropical areas that can give you nasty diseases and that can survive the bleach treatment. I agree. Test and follow recommended treatment, up to replacing the tank. Was it new in DR or was anything in it before you got it? It might be some local fungus that came from the storage if it. Also if you ran water down a drain, you should treat that as contaminated also. Seal and wait for answers.

[billdomb]

Originally Posted by mdd246

We are wondering if anyone can help identify what has contaminated our new flexible water tank?
.

Best ideer is to do some serious testing. Best service is from Loma Linda University in CA.

See https://dentistry.llu.edu/research/f...ine-monitoring

Around $25

[billdomb]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

S/V, take a look at



"To kill germs, sodium hypochlorite uses the same quality that makes it such a great stain remover -- its power as an oxidizing agent. When sodium hypochlorite comes in contact with viruses, bacteria, mold or fungi, it oxidizes molecules in the cells of the germs and kills them." From "How Things Work"

A small ozone bubbler system is even better than hypochlorites, and you don't have the issues of the reaction byproducts as you do the halogenated organics.

HOWEVER, there must be ozone-resistant components in the tanks and lines. Anything with latex rubber will deteriorate rapidly.

[Tanqueray]

Do they put silica gel bags in the bladder to keep moisture down until someone buys it (and you didn’t remove?). No idea what silica gel looks like when it is saturated.

Pretty strange though.

Greg