Organisms in house water

Hello
I moved to a new house in east coast and after a few weeks I started to see this seaweed like organisms in the toiler water:
https://imgur.com/a/v0nE6lp

I also see gray stains on dishes after dishwasher.
Should I be worried about my water safety? What tests should I run ?

 

1. Clean the toilet.

2. Contact your counties Environmental Services Dept. about having your water tested. They will come out, take a sample and send it off to the state lab for testing. They will provide an honest, unbiased assessment of your water.

 

Looks like sediment?
It keeps reappearing even after cleaning?

 

City or well water?

Most likely not "organisms" but water chemistry. No idea if local municipalities test water but there are a lot of businesses that will test and report.

Here is a company I use extensively and would recommend to test water, they will then give you feedback on what could be used to treat.

https://www.ohiopurewater.com/

 

Getting water tested is good advice and should be done for bacterial contamination for health reasons and water chemistry for possible treatment.

You could check and clean the toilet tank in case the toilet contamination is from a build up there.

 

My friend said its blue-green algae and most likely not toxic. But I want to have it checked why algae is in house water

 

City or well water?

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IT's city water.. single house

 

What's water chemistry ? these are organisms for sure . They are growing
Here is close shot pic :
https://imgur.com/a/414fPGZ

 

I checked toilet tank it looks very clean, what type of tests and can township do it?

 

You have city water meaning it's being treated with chlorine so organisms are not going to occur.

I've seen other posts where folks have had similar things "growing" in the toilet and in all cases a good cleaning and treating tank water has resolved.

In all honesty those picture of the tank dont look like it;s been cleaned in some time!

 

Well this thing growed in 3 weeks, when i moved in there was nothing, the tank looks very clean I dont know what "clean" should refer to but I dont see any stain or dark thing in it.
Its algae obviously, so if the city water is clean than the house must have some problem, maybe the pipes ??

 

If you don't know what "clean" is I think we have found the source of the problem. Buy some toilet bowl cleaner and a brush. Follow the instructions on the package of cleaner. But, you quirt the cleaner in the bowl and try to get it up under the rim. Let it sit for about 10 minutes then come back and scrub with the brush.

 

That’s most likely mineral build-up. In other words, it’s nothing organic. It may be growing but not be living. A water test will probably show you’re high in calcium, magnesium, or something. If you’re high in calcium, for example, it can take just a few weeks for your toilet to look like that (I know –lol).

Seems strange the city water would be that high in minerals, but who knows. They are not harmful to your health (except too much iodine, they say, lowers IQ –lol)

 

Has that toilet actually gone three (3) weeks without being flushed ?

I should do such a test and what one of my toilets looks like after sitting stagnant for three weeks.

 

I mean to say"look like that if not cleaned" - lol''

(flushing daily isn't enough)

 

It s not mineral and it s organic , specifically algae, if you look close you can see how it looks like trees

 

And we flush all the time

 

Didn't mean to insinuate that you didn't flush all the time - lol. I just meant that if it is minerals (as in my case) flushing a lot doesn't seem to help.

You could be right about it being bacteria, but I'm not sure you can count on the geometric properties of that stuff pointing to organic. I believe a combination of minerals, certain elements, can give you repeating patterns, i.e., crystallization. But I'm not 100% sure.

I would get the water tested as others have said. I think iron eating bacteria is more orange or red, and mold is more black or orange and red.

You see gray stains also in the dishwasher so if that's bacteria it must be coming from the pipes in your house - and it would then be throughout your house. As someone pointed out earlier your city water would NOT be passing through bacteria. It would have to be in your piping.

(forgot to say algae can form toxins so I don't think your city water supply would ignore those. But I'm no expert)

 

Latest pic of our organic thing is here
https://imgur.com/a/5tn359D
I dont have a doubt its organic, if you look it exactly looks like seaweed maybe its seaweed
i did a coliform test and it didnt show anything,

 

You said you checked the water inside the toilet tank and did not have similar growth? I doubt it is a water quality issue. The holding tank on your toilet is certainly more stagnant than the bowl and I would expect you would see an even worse bloom of algae in the tank if that were the case. You may have algae or hard water as a part of this story so I would still get things tested to be sure. The grey staining on the dishes might be a red herring and unrelated.

I am wondering if you have a problem with your drainage system. If the sewer pipe is backing up you could be forcing dirty water from the sewer back up into the bowl of the toilet. Do you clean the toilet sparking clean and come back the next day and the bowl is suddenly dirty? If so I would suspect you need to get a plumber with a drain snake to rooter out your sewer piping.

 

Do you have a whole house water filtration system and/or a carbon filter on your water line?
If you do and it is removing the chlorine that your water utility uses it could allow that growth to thrive.

 

Algae is plant life, coliform is bacteria.

 

Until the OP does a water test and reports the results everything here is simply speculative and we should stop posting what if's!

 

Just a comment but the bowl may be exposed to sunlight where the tank is not. Sunlight promotes the growth of algae, I think.

Bud

 

It’s not that simple. There are many water tests that you can request, and each has limitations and costs associated with it. I get very limited tests and it still costs me $140/yr. You need to have some idea of what you are looking for.

 

The bathroom has no window, so there is no sunlight possible

 

I just moved in month ago so I didnt do any cleaning other than flushing, it would make sense if dirty water from the sewer is coming back up into the bowl
Who is OP?
Township said I need to do testing myself

 

You are the OP, original poster.
Dip some of the water out of the tank in back and pour it into a glass jar or bowl and set it somewhere in the bathroom where you can monitor it for a couple of weeks. Leave it uncovered so it is exposed to the same air the toilet bowl is.

Getting that sample tested is still important.

Bud