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Discuss Why is my tap water chalky? in the UK Plumbing Forum | Plumbing Advice area at PlumbersForums.net

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Kaijo35

Hello all,

As you can see from my video my tap water contains sort of very small white bubbles that after some time dissolve completely starting from the bottom of the glass.
This happens when I turn the my tap water to room temperature, but when switch it to completely cold water the "chalk" isn't present as you can see from my second video.
Can anyone say what could be the issue here?

Thanks
 
Most likely dissolved air that cannot remain dissolved once the water leaves the pressurised environment that exists in the pipe.

A bit like the bubbles you see when you open a bottle of pop (except those bubbles are CO2, not air).
 
Most likely dissolved air that cannot remain dissolved once the water leaves the pressurised environment that exists in the pipe.

A bit like the bubbles you see when you open a bottle of pop (except those bubbles are CO2, not air).
Hello and thank you for your answer.
Do you have any idea why this is happening?
Thanks
 
Hello and thank you for your answer.
Do you have any idea why this is happening?
Thanks
When water is under pressure it is able to dissolve more air than when it is not under pressure. At some point during the process of being put into the pipes by the water company, it is picking up air as it is fed into the pressurised environment of the pipes.

Once it leaves the pipes (at your tap), it is no longer under pressure.

As to quite how the air gets in there, that is a very good question. I've seen the phenomenon you show present itself most strongly in a mountain village where the water is literally just diverted into holding tanks from local springs. Obviously there is a good head of pressure once the pipework reaches the village, but as there is presumably no pumping or other mechanical disturbance of water involved, I really am not sure where this excess air gets in, as you'd imagine any free air would tend to settle out in the holding tanks rather quickly.
 
For many places slightly 'fizzy' water is normal. It can be triggered by very high flow rates in the main supply due to, e.g. a broken main or a fire engine drawing water from a hydrant. If this is the cause it will go away over the course of a day or so. If it's unusually cloudy for longer than that, report it to your water company; it can be an indication of a problem with one of their pumps.
 

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