Team-BHP - Home Construction / Makeover / Maintenance Thread
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Saanil (Post 5446226)
Not sure but the nylon netting would serve only as a pigeon net right? ... Apologies if I misunderstood your post.

Yes, a pigeon net. While I understand your safety concerns, (my own children grew up in high rises) I feel most grills are designed to prevent such incidents, with no horizontal supports that enable a kid to climb. And the grills themselves c are close enough to prevent a child getting in.
I requested a pic just to confirm. Feel a 5 or 5 inch spacing between the rods is ok, and you need to worry only if the gaps are bigger.

I have come to know from credible sources that Tamil Nadu's politicians are secretly getting together right now and are discussing the topic of fund-raising for 2024's general elections. Most of these politicians own industries that have something or the other to do with real estate & construction - m-sand, steel, bricks, blocks, cement, tiles, hardware shops, transportation etc. By exploiting their stranglehold over the real estate sector, political parties' electoral war kitties are shortly going to be enriched at the cost of us middle class folks who aspire to buy/build houses. They will shortly fix prices artificially high for essential hardware and services, in the manner that cartels operate.

Whatever excess money ordinary people like us will be shelling out will be bagged by these businessowners who are all inevitably either MLAs, MPs or top/mid-rung party leaders etc.. These additional profits earned by them will then be routed by them to their respective political parties' election-related costs (money to motivate cadres, new vehicle purchase/renting costs, sundry organizing costs for rallies, digital advertising costs, fuel costs for campaigning, money to encourage booth representatives to turn up on polling day, liquor costs, money to be handed out illegally to voters etc.) Their plan is to keep skimming money off of us folks right through 2023, up until the elections in 2024.

The proof of this will lie in seeing how these costs go back down quite a bit (especially steel, I am told) after the 2024 elections are over.

The bottomline is this - the cost of owning one's own dream home is set to get costlier, at least in TN. If you're from any of the other states, I am not sure what sort of unholy political fund-raising will happen and how it'll affect you exactly.

You missed a small detail - you'll have to pay a major component in cash. No UPI no cards, no Bank transfers, no cheques. No thank bill. Unless you have off shore bank accounts, that will be help you transfer pay consideration.

Any good reliable websites to order wallpapers.The ones I saw do not have non repititive wallpapers. Not sure which website to trust.

Did you try Asian paints site? They have an on line store, and have seen wall papers listed. Not sure if it fits your needs though.

I wouldn't buy wallpaper online. You really really need to see the the quality, feel the texture, as well as seeing the design. And even the colours, online, will not be accurate.

Hello All. We are facing this problem of green algae buildup on the inside of the CPVC pipes in our building. The algae clogs up the filters of washing machine and obstructs the free flow of water. We need to clean the filter even alternate week else the filter gets clogged completely.

When taps are opened, a clog of green algae sometimes comes out. This is for normal taps without aerator. The fancy jaquar taps get clogged with the algae and the aerater has to be removed cleaned to restore flow.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of all the algae in the system? The water is approx 70% Soft water and 30% hard water in the overhead tank. Surprisingly, the overhead tanks are clean. They are cleaned once a year professionally.

Any suggestions on resolving this issue would be helpful

Home Construction / Makeover / Maintenance Thread-algae.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 5473230)
Hello All. We are facing this problem of green algae buildup on the inside of the CPVC pipes in our building. The algae clogs up the filters of washing machine and obstructs the free flow of water. We need to clean the filter even alternate week else the filter gets clogged completely.

Any suggestions on resolving this issue would be helpful

Sunlight is the biggest catalyst for algae to grow in water.
I would check the following:
(a) Does the tank/ sump allow sunlight to enter and encourage growth of algae
(b) The overhead tank UV treated/ opaque
(c) Are the pipes (carrying/ excess-flow) broken/ cracked allowing sunlight
(d) Check the source

If all are in good order, I would suggest to flush Your sump/ tank/ pipes with bleach/ chlorine; let to dry before refilling with potable water.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa (Post 5473309)
Sunlight is the biggest catalyst for algae to grow in water.
I would check the following:
(a) Does the tank/ sump allow sunlight to enter and encourage growth of algae
(b) The overhead tank UV treated/ opaque
(c) Are the pipes (carrying/ excess-flow) broken/ cracked allowing sunlight
(d) Check the source

If all are in good order, I would suggest to flush Your sump/ tank/ pipes with bleach/ chlorine; let to dry before refilling with potable water.

No sunlight access to tank or sump. The overhead tank is of Sintex and the lid is always covered and fastened. Since it is branded Sintex, I think it is UV treated.

What baffles me is that the sump does not have any sign of algae.

I heard chlorine is pretty toxic and corrosive and has to be handled carefully and also added in right quantity. 4 parts in 1 million parts IIRC. I do not want to do anything that will affect the other homes in the building.

Is there something that I can purchase and add it into the tank that will kill the algae and prevent future growth without affecting other consumers of the water?

Any feed back on Honeywell switches? I am aware that switches have been discussed either here or in home appliances thread. But this name has not been mentioned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 5473316)
I heard chlorine is pretty toxic and ...

Is there something that I can purchase and add it into the tank that will kill the algae and prevent future growth without affecting other consumers of the water?

All municipal water supply in India is c treated with chlorine. But there are limits on chlorine content in water.

I suggest you check and clean the overhead tank first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 5473316)
No sunlight access to tank or sump. The overhead tank is of Sintex and the lid is always covered and fastened. Since it is branded Sintex, I think it is UV treated.

What baffles me is that the sump does not have any sign of algae.

I heard chlorine is pretty toxic and corrosive and has to be handled carefully and also added in right quantity. 4 parts in 1 million parts IIRC. I do not want to do anything that will affect the other homes in the building.

Is there something that I can purchase and add it into the tank that will kill the algae and prevent future growth without affecting other consumers of the water?

Since its just in the pipes, it could be the pipes exposure to Sun; You could try painting the pipes as an option, if they cannot be covered.

I dont know of any agent better than Chlorine and/ or Bleach to get rid of Algae. You could try Alum (disinfects water) - drop a big stone of Alum in the sump, tank and see if this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 5473316)
No sunlight access to tank or sump. The overhead tank is of Sintex and the lid is always covered and fastened. Since it is branded Sintex, I think it is UV treated.
...
Is there something that I can purchase and add it into the tank that will kill the algae and prevent future growth without affecting other consumers of the water?

There ought to be some place where there is some exposure to sunlight. AFIK green algae needs exposure to some light for photosynthesis.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 5473316)

I heard chlorine is pretty toxic and corrosive and has to be handled carefully and also added in right quantity. 4 parts in 1 million parts IIRC. I do not want to do anything that will affect the other homes in the building.

Is there something that I can purchase and add it into the tank that will kill the algae and prevent future growth without affecting other consumers of the water?

Chlorine is A-Okay. Municipal supplies already have it added. How many houses in the building use same water tank? If it is used only by you, call a plumber, fix a .5hp motor and flush water pipes with caustic soda with warm water twice, after leaving it for 15 minutes. This will dissolve all bio products in the pipes. Caustic soda is harmful to humans, so after cleaning with it, flush tanks and pipes 2-3 times with water. Use full precaution as it is very very harmful to skin and dangerous(fatal) to ingest. But this is the only substance that will really kill all the bio growth. Call a plumber as it will be a laborious job and his knowledge will come in handy. Keep vinegar handy as it is a neutralizing agent for caustic soda.

Keep 1 day water for general use and drinking before the work starts. Remove the RO/filter connection/ fridge (if it needs for ice)/ washing machine or any other thing that uses water.

I am surprised there is an algae growth on the smooth surface of cpvc pipes. Are you sure the taps are not the culprit. Some plastic taps are cheaply made from pvc or recycled swr pipes and that may be the cause. Do check for leaks in the pipes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sran (Post 5473844)
Chlorine is A-Okay. Municipal supplies already have it added. How many houses in the building use same water tank? If it is used only by you, call a plumber, fix a .5hp motor and flush water pipes with caustic soda with warm water twice, after leaving it for 15 minutes. This will dissolve all bio products in the pipes. Caustic soda is harmful to humans, so after cleaning with it, flush tanks and pipes 2-3 times with water. Use full precaution as it is very very harmful to skin and dangerous(fatal) to ingest. But this is the only substance that will really kill all the bio growth. Call a plumber as it will be a laborious job and his knowledge will come in handy. Keep vinegar handy as it is a neutralizing agent for caustic soda.

Keep 1 day water for general use and drinking before the work starts. Remove the RO/filter connection/ fridge (if it needs for ice)/ washing machine or any other thing that uses water.

I am surprised there is an algae growth on the smooth surface of cpvc pipes. Are you sure the taps are not the culprit. Some plastic taps are cheaply made from pvc or recycled swr pipes and that may be the cause. Do check for leaks in the pipes.

6 houses in the building. There are 3 nos of 1000 Litre capacity Sintex tanks on the terrace for cold water and connected as Daisy chain and 1 nos of 1000 litre Sintex for input to Solar water heater.

There is a sump of around 8000L capacity and borewell whose water is pretty hard. Bore water pumped directly to the O/H tank where it gets mixed with muncipal water. Solar water tank only gets muncipal water.

Now that I recollect, have observed the algae only in plastic taps. So, is it the taps that are culprit?

Maybe I will change one tap to a proper steel one and see if that solves the issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki (Post 5474178)
6 houses in the building.. and connected as Daisy chain.
Now that I recollect, have observed the algae only in plastic taps. So, is it the taps that are culprit?

Change the platic taps first and watch. Imo the taps are the culprit. If not use caustic soda as suggested earlier, the only difference being that you won't have to do it from tank but from your connection point. It can be easily established if the problem is in your flat only by asking the neighbours.


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