Discolored water in the Beaumont area

[edmlfc]

I heard this on the news a few days ago. Do you think I have anything to worry about as far as my fish are concerned?
Quote:
The Beaumont Fire Department is preparing to do maintenance on fire hydrants, and it could cause slight discoloration of the water. Beginning Thursday, June 12, firefighters will conduct maintenance operations on all fire hydrants in the city.  The maintenance will include allowing each hydrant to flow to make sure its operating properly in the event of an emergency. The testing may cause sediment in the water supply system to break loose and cause slight discoloration of the water. The Fire Department says the discolored water doesn't pose a health risk. Testing and maintenance will take about one month. End Quote.

I plan to test the tap water before I do my next water change. Hopefully it won't be discolored. I would hate to have yellow water in my tanks. And I really don't want to wait 30 days before doing another water change. Is there any concerns I should have about this sediment?

[tnguyen]

Re: Discolored water in the Beaumont area

The only concerns in situation like this is that the water treatment plant might add more chlorine or chloramines to kill the stir up bacteria.  Just make sure you dechloride the water.  Same thing right after a big rain storm.

[edmlfc]

Re: Discolored water in the Beaumont area

Thanks tnguyen,
I always use prime and always put enough to treat the whole tank not just the water I'm adding back in, so I should be ok. I'm still going to test the water before I add it just in case I need to skip a week. I did notice this morning that the water was a yellow tint so maybe they are doing our area first. I just did a water change yesterday before all this started so if I have to skip next week I should be ok. Thanks again for the response.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Discolored water in the Beaumont area

If the sediment does breakloose and color your water you can put the new water in a bucket or drum and let it settle for a few days - most of the sediment will go right back to the bottom.   Or better still if you have a diatom filter it will remove anything floating in the water.

[edmlfc]

Re: Discolored water in the Beaumont area

Don't have a diatom filter. But I do have a filter sock for a sump maybe I can run the python into the sock to catch most of it. I also don't have enough extra buckets to hold the water for a few days.

[ponyrandy]

Re: Discolored water in the Beaumont area

Ever since the City of Houston had to get off of ground water and go to surface water we have had a constant discoloration problem, about 18 months now. There have been no problems with the fish. Even though you can see the discoloration in the water before you put it in, it clears up just fine in the tank. I do have planted tanks though, and I figure the extra minerals like iron in the water are doing them good.
Brian