Here are some of the more common water problems encountered in Ireland and actions that might remedy them.
Limescale is very common in nearly all water in Ireland, be it mains water or private well supplies. The scale build up is usually more prominent in kettles as this is the most used hot water appliance around the house, but you can be sure that if you see scale in the kettle then the hot water tanks, showers etc are going to be clogged up too. Build up on the elements will reduce the efficiency of the appliances, meaning it will take longer therefor use more power to heat the water. Ultimately the limescale will cause the breakdown of such equipment, cause leaks and untold damage, and of course the expense this creates. The most effective way of getting limescale out of your water is in the use of a water softener, this is an ion exchange filter, using salt to regenarate the media. This doesn’t mean that you will be putting salt into the water supply, the residue is rinsed out well before the water enters the house. Softeners are relatively inexpensive, well under one thousand euro, which compares favourably to replacing showers or hot water tanks.
The rotten egg smell, most commonly found in borehole wells, is caused by Hydrogen Sulphide, or Sulphur. This isn’t harmfull, but causes a very unpleasant odour, there are many ways to get the smell out of the water, but oxidization is the most effective, followed by a good quality carbon filter. It is very dependant on the level of Sulphur in the water, so please call for some advice.
An orange staining on your sinks and toilets, normally means that there is an element of Iron in the waster, this occurs along with Limescale. It is still common on mains water supplies, as the build up can arise form the piping system taking the water to your home, but it is more previalant in well systems. The maximum level of Iron allowed in water is 0.2mg/l, levels of 0.6 or more, and you will get cramps if the water is being drank. It won’t be until the level is higher that 0.6mg/l that you will notice slight staining, and levels of 8 – 20 are seen in some well water. Iron is again removed using a softener based system, with different media used for the range in levels, sometimes prefiltration is used to oxidise the iron. Most of the time the Iron is dissolved in the water, so that it will actually look very clean, but if you leave a sample to settle it will turn cloudy after a period of time. An acurate water test is the best way to identify what level of Iron is in the water.
Chlorine is of course found in all public water supplies, and can be quite strong depending on the source of water and the contamination. Although it is regulated, some people find the taste and smell off putting, but it is easily removed. THis still lets the Chlorine do it’s job, but the waster will taste far better. Carbon filtration is widely used for removing any tastes int he water, with Chlorine being one of them. Usually a very inexpensive filter for under the kitchen sink is enough, or a whole house filter can be installed.
This can occur in any water supply, Ph should be above 7, below this the water is acidic. You will notice a low Ph by slight pink staining, in toilets, showers or in sinks, this shouldn’t be confused with the orange of Iron. A Ph correction unit is a simple installation, and can be either a backwash filter or a simple inlet/outlet filter that is replaced anually.
Discoloured water is most commonly due to Iron/Manganese, but ofter water can be discoloured due to Organic Tannins, which are caused by decaying vegetation, giving a yellow/brown tint. This is removed using ion exchange, the same principles as a softener but using very different media. The regenerating media gives a capability of removing up to 2000ppm of organic colour.
Quite often it is not known that there are leaks in your water supply, common signs are low water pressure, a high unexpected bill if your are metered, or a constantly dirty supply of water. We are fully equiped with leak detection equipment, using ultrasonic to find the source of the leak. This is often faulty fittings, or corrosion, or a burst pipe. Soucing and fixing leaks is a very worthwhile exercise.
This is becoming a big problem for water users that are paying for the water, and isn’t only caused by water leakage. Sometimes it is a case of doing a full water audit, enabling you to see where and when you are using most of the water. We supply and fit waterspy packages, allowing you to see the flow of water hour by hour, live online. It is also advisable to look at things like kitchen use, toilets and showers, all of these can be resticted. IT has often been the case where we have reduce a water bill by nearly half without fitting any hardware to the premises.
Sometimes water supplies are very poor, for different reasons, be it an isolated house with poor mains, or an old well that simply needs to be developed. We are often called to investigate and give our advice on how a bad water situation can be improved.
There are many reasons for low water pressure, and many way to rectify it. Most commonly a break tank, or booster tank can be fitted. With the technology now, a very quiet running pump can be installed, either in the garage, utility room or even the attic, to boost the water pressure around the house.