Laman wrote:
I am in the business of chemically maintaining irrigation lines preventing plugging from mineral and bacterial deposits. Just judging from your pictures and description of it being slimey I would hesitate a guess that it is some form of iron-fixing bacteria, which is not a health hazard but can play havoc on filtration systems. If it is a public health system they should be treating to prevent the formation of iron or hydrogen fixing bacteria.
I agree that is entirely likely to be iron bacteria. It certainly wouldn't have met mandated drinking water quality standards when it left the treatment plant and it's unlikely to have been picked up along the distribution system otherwise there'd be complaints from residential, commercial and other users.
I suspect that the problem lies within the campground. It's older one, maybe 50+ years old and could very well iron piping. Considering the CG would have very little use over the winter months, the water will have stagnated, giving bacteria and opportunity to grow. Then all of a sudden, the weather warms up and the material starts to get flushed through their piping system.
No it's not a health hazard, but if iron bacteria gets into a system, it can be very difficult to eradicate and it can plug up a system. I believe it takes multiple doses of high concentration chlorine.
I know that water stagnating in water distribution systems in seasonal parks, including RV parks and campgrounds, can allow chlorine levels to dissipate and leave the water unprotected. And if there are any pathogens in the water, they can multiply. So if there is iron bacteria present, could there be other pathogens lurking in the water?
If it is iron bacteria, what I don't know is if your filters would get plugged up from it. That would not be good.
