From Slime to Solution: Protecting Your Basement From Iron Ochre
Maybe you’ve noticed an unusual rust-colored substance oozing into your basement. It could be found in your toilet water tanks, around faucets, or in other plumbing. This isn’t just rust and water mixing but could be iron bacteria, also known as iron ochre. It’s a natural bacterial part of the environment. It is caused by oxidizing dissolved minerals from water, including ferrous iron (common) and manganese (rare). The bacteria produce a reddish-brown slime, and, in severe cases, it can become extremely thick! This slime can affect all kinds of drainage systems, making waterproofing a basement unique in its challenges.
How Can Iron Ochre Affect You?
These bacteria can cause many negative side effects, with the worst being damage to your pipes and drainage systems. You can also start to see staining when it’s present. This is because porous materials such as concrete absorb moisture, making stains extremely difficult to remove. Another symptom of iron ochre is the smell! Many describe it as an unpleasant, swampy, oily, musty, or sewage-like smell. Many homeowners have compared the smell to rotten vegetables or even a cucumber.
Clogging Pipes, Rotting Pipes, and Blocked Drainage
As iron ochre forms in pipes, it adheres to the walls and begins to accumulate as layers of sludge and slime. As the buildup grows, it spreads to the ends of faucets, on laundry machines, and inside any pump, tank, or plumbing in your home. If left untreated, this thick buildup will begin to corrode the pipes and plumbing of your home. Stainless steel surfaces are especially prone to corrosion since the bacteria feed on them as a source of iron.
As it builds up in thick layers over time, it can start to break off and clog the system. And worse, under the right conditions, this bacteria can grow rapidly and has been known to clog an entire wall system in a matter of months!
How We Can Protect Your Sump Pump and Drainage System
At Frank’s Basement Systems, we offer a specialized solution for your basement if you suffer from iron ochre. The WaterGuard IOS drainage system is a unique waterproofing system designed to meet the needs of homeowners with an iron ochre issue in their home.
In a home with iron-ochre issues, the basement drainage system may compromise your waterproofing system's performance. But with the WaterGuard IOS drainage system, the system's removable cover is flush with the floor, unlike the WaterGuard drainage system, which is installed underneath the concrete.
This helps during your system's annual maintenance visits, as our service technician can easily remove the cover to gain access to the scoop and flush out any iron ochre buildup. Your system's maintenance is dependent on the severity of the issue, so each home will have a different maintenance schedule.
Another key feature of the WaterGuard IOS drainage system is its larger drainage inlets built into the design. Those can help drain iron-ochre-laden water. The cast-iron Zoeller pumps in all of our sump pump systems can pump out any solids less than half an inch, making them an ideal addition to your waterproofing system to ensure that any iron ochre water is pumped up and out of your basement.
We Have a Proven Waterproofing System For Iron Bacteria Issues!
The WaterGuard IOS drainage system is the only cleanable, flushable system of its kind on the market right now! So if you’re interested in learning more about this system and others that can help turn your wet basement into a dry one, give us a call today! We offer free, no-obligation basement waterproofing estimates throughout the Greater Buffalo area and all of Western NY, including Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and surrounding areas.
