Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey guys,
Recently, my tank water has gone green. No, it hasn't started using solar power and riding a bike to work, the water of my WATER tank is green. I tried Googling it, but all it came up with was fish tanks. I noticed the discolouration about a week ago. There was a couple days of rain, but apart from that I can think of a reason why.
Any body got any ideas as to why it is green? The tank at my old house never had any problems and that was about 7 years old, this one is about 7 months.
Thanks...
If I can't fix it I'll just burn it all.

Green water generally means an algae bloom of some kind.

Considering your flag says Australia, I'm going to assume that now the water is trying to kill you too.

Its presumably algae, if so there is light getting to the tank or the inside of a pipe somewhere. Cover that up and they will die back.
What do you mean by 'water tank'?

I know I've seen bore water turn green, but that was normally after interactions with chemicals in a pool, not just in a tank... Best get that checked. http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/environment/water-quality-issues-7892.html has green/blue-green water as either the algae or copper, neither of which you really want in a tank that I assume you use ha.

Have you been washing your brushes in your water tank?

If not, I might contact a plumber

As suggested above, it sounds like it could be algae. Failing that, could be an issue with the materials in the tank leaching out but that is unlikely given it is a new tank.

Could be algae could be copper. If you're having trouble on google try looking for something like: home water discolouration green, or household water color distored rather than using the term "Tank". At any rate call a professional they'll be able to test it and find out.

 Chongara wrote:
At any rate call a professional they'll be able to test it and find out.

I second this. Probably algal bloom - I had a brown one once that I swore was iron/rust but it was brown algae - but if it's copper, it's a heavy metal and dangerous. Have it tested. In the US, you can generally send a sample off to a university who will test water for free, but I can't speak for Australia.

Ok thanks guys. Would someone care to elaborate on the Copper idea? I don't use it for drinking, but I live in Australia so it'll probably turn the plants into carnivores.

Copper can be dissolved by acids and forms different coloured solutions that are poisonous. Some of them are a blue-green colour.

Most water pipes are made of copper. If acid got into the pipes it could erode them and form a copper solution that would be transported into the holding tank.

Obviously you need to find out if the green colour is caused by algae or copper compunds. If it's copper compounds, you need to identify them and find out how they are being formed in the water system.

@Da Ork Killa:

Is it a rainwater storage tank?

Or a grey-water collection tank?
("Grey water" is defined here as any domestic wastewater produced, excluding sewage (Toilet water is never collected for grey water).)

The latter is more likely to encourage green algal blooms due to the higher chance of phosphates from detergents in the water.

Rainwater tanks can also get the blooms, but it's a lower risk - but there's also the chance of atmospheric contaminants in the rain collecting.

It doesn't sound like copper to me. Copper might colour water if there was a lot of it, but it's more likely the water will look clear, and just leave behind a pale bluey deposit when it dries. It looks like dried toothpaste (but considerably harder to clean off). If your water is green (like plant green) then it sounds more like algae, or maybe someone else dropped a urinal cube in there?

@Chromedog, It is a rainwater storage tank.
The water is actually a kind of yellowy green. Could frogs be a cause for the discolouration? There were a few in the pipes a few months ago, but I moved them, of there could always be more. If it is algae, I don't see how the light would get in there, considering nothing has changed since it was installed. I think I might have to drain it and clean it out.

Frogs don't tend to discolour water unless they die in it (and given the usual volume of the average tank, that would take a LOT of frogs to change the colour that much.

I honestly have no idea what's causing it, but perhaps taking a sample to a pool centre for testing might help.

They do it for swimming pools, and they might know how you can get it under control for a tank.

Yeh I think I might.
Thanks everyone☺

 Da Ork Killa wrote:
If it is algae, I don't see how the light would get in there, considering nothing has changed since it was installed.

If there is a lot of nutrients in the water (say something died in it) then it could still be algae that are using the nutrients in the water as a carbon source rather than sunlight, along with various other bacteria and fungi. You should probably drain it anyway and give it a good clean.

What does the water smell like?

I think I did notice a change in the smell, couldn't tell you you exactly. I think we're getting a coupe days of rain, so hopefully the colour might weaken? What's the word... dilute?