Fresh water systems- contamination

Before I dig into the three water tanks we have I wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts on this. My water filter which is located right after the pump is filled with a red substance. Because of the filter it does not come out in the water that goes through the filter. I changed the filter yesterday and the new one is starting to collect the same red substance. Almost like a red Georgia clay like stuff. I thought it could be rust but it really does not seem to be that. We have 3 stainless tanks all connected together and the entire system uses plex pipe. Is there some sort of algae or other item that can grow that looks red?

Manganese. It is naturally occurring usually twice a year in many public water systems. It requires O2 to be released from the water and be filtered. Chlorine is an oxidizer and the boat rolling will oxidize it out in the tanks. It is not a health risk. You evidently have good filters. It does produce an odor and will show up in ice cubes sometimes. If your tanks are fairly empty the pump may be picking up what has settled out into the tanks. Remove the filter and try to pump out the tanks several times. Then replace filter and refill tanks.
Once again it is not necessarily a health risk. Google it up and let me know if you have any questions.
dan

Have you drained (to the bilge) and flushed your tanks recently? Once a year minimally for me keeps crud build ups to a minimum. We have 400 gallon capacity and favorably sloped tank bottoms so flushing really does the job for sediment removal.

Rogerh said:

Almost like a red Georgia clay like stuff. I thought it could be rust but it really does not seem to be that. Is there some sort of algae or other item that can grow that looks red?

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ulysses said:

Manganese. It is naturally occurring usually twice a year in many public water systems.

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Or maybe it could be either clay or rust, if the marina's water supply is from a well.

FWIW, we trap a combination of both clay and iron in our sediment filters at home. Per well guys who were just doing a periodic cleaning last Friday.

Here at our marina, their well seems to have just a little iron (probably) but no clay.

Unless it's manganese

There's a relatively recent big thread about water filtration on CF.

-Chris

I had an accumulator that rusted inside and had a lot of red rust in it. Could your filter be catching it if it was rusted?

Our well water is high in iron and manganese. Almost always the water is crystal clear out of the facets but if you let the water sit for awhile the water can turn red/orange. I changed out the fridge water filter the other day and the water was red/orange.

The toilet water tanks are also show the red/orange color.

Figure I am just getting more minerals I need.

Now, if you water is not from a well, I would be looking elsewhere. I have never seen this with city supplied water.

Later,
Dan

Dan: Water Soluble Manganese turns reddish water soluble iron turns black. Both are naturally occurring when O2 hits it (back of toilet, washing machine, and ice machines allow the water to oxidize and percipitate the manganese and iron out. It is no longer soluble leaving very light particles. It can and does occur in both well water and surface water plants usually twice a year. Both are by products of the natural decomp. of leaves, and veg. matter. In large surface water plants during the spring and fall when water temperatures equalize throughout a lake a overturn happens bringing all this decomp. to the surface. A water plant will usually treat for it if they catch it in time. Typically some gets by. The plants that I have managed used potassium permanganate in the treatment process. Wells don't have that option and based upon the amount of decomp. in the soil it will show up more often in well water.
The water will look crystal clear until it hits O2. It is water soluble so it can only be filtered out after its been oxidized. Like sugar in your water you can filter it all day long and it will still be sweet.
dan

That's good information. Thanks