De-moldification of local plumbing and tap water

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to share with the group one 'recipe' that has literally

saved my life many times, and which I discovered partly by accident

and partly by logical reasoning.

Shorter version:

If FRESH tap water from your faucet makes you ill and the symptoms are

identical to that of mold, but the whole house is not too moldy (so

that one might suspect that the mold enters plumbing system somewhere

in the wall), you might have what I call " local contamination " of your

water pipes. The mold somehow entered your plumbing and won't go away

on its own.

You might eradicate the mold from your fresh water by putting several

tablets of a probiotic bacteria called bifidobacterium bifidum into

your water pipes (plumbing system). This probiotic is pretty common

and is sold under different names in different countries, so I won't

name the brands. It's completely natural, non-toxic and is used to

treat diarrhoea (in vivo).

Longer version:

Suppose you have a leaking faucet and somebody comes to repair it and

does it with dirty (moldy) hands. He will probably change the washer

which was worn and in the process introduce some mold

spores/micotoxins at the place. Once the main valve has been opened,

the mold might spread DESPITE chlorine and high pressure, and if it's

nasty enough, you may discover that the FRESH water causes you mold

symptoms. (real NIGHTMARE, been there many times!)

The same thing can happen even if faucets (or anything similar for

that matter) are not opened for repair, but if you just touch the

place where the water comes out or if you come close to them carrying

a lot of mold on yourself. Of course, it can happen if your bathroom

is mold ridden. In that case even a drop of moldy water which

accidentally ends up in the toilet can wreck some major havoc.

In almost all such cases I noticed that no matter how long I leave the

water running on all faucets, showers etc, the FRESH water will

continue to cause me symptoms if I wash my hands with it. Effectively,

it becomes unusable for a long time (I haven't really tested what time

it takes to decontaminate by itself, but I think it takes years). I

suppose that if the mold colony somehow manages to " establish " itself

in those several meters of pipes that carry fresh water in your home,

they can pretty much thrive there for a very long time despite

chlorine, high water pressure and constant movement of water. Perhaps

they stick to the pipe itself? I don't know. I know this sounds very

cranky but I DO know for a fact it happened to me many times and is

unfortunately true.

Of course, this kind of fresh water contamination in a particular

house will not always happen. It depends on a lot of things such as

the particular mold in question, the plumbing structure, perhaps the

amount of chlorine in water etc. From my observations, even when it

does happen and the contamination is so strong I can't use water at

all, it is usually confined to only one flat, i.e. the flats

upstairs and downstairs won't be affected. The further you go from the

place where mold entered the water system, the less are the effects of

mold contamination.

How to do the remediation:

1. Make sure that the working area is as much cleaned of mold as it is

possible. Wash your hands and the tools you'll be working with with

saline solution or some other mold disinfectant. If this step is not

done properly, you risk much more SERIOUS mold contamination once you

start messing with the faucet! This cleanliness is particularly tricky

to achieve. I had so many many failed attempts of decontamination

because even a tiny contaminant can ruin the whole thing. This is

especially true if you are not working in a completely mold-free space.

2. Turn off the main water supply.

3. Pull out the entire valve unit and put it onto a clean place. Using

your (clean) finger(s) place several tablets of bifidobacterium

bifidum into the interior area where the valve unit used to fit in.

Or, you can put a tablet onto the washer of the valve unit (if that's

feasible and the tablet won't come off easily) and then carefully

place the valve unit back into the faucet. Tighten everything.

4. Turn the water back on via the main water supply.

5. Open all faucets you have in your house for some time and leave

them open for several minutes.

If you follow these instructions and, most importantly, if everything

is done with clean hands, tools and there are no contaminated objects

nearby, this should do the trick very quickly. Bifidobacterium

bifidum seems to proliferate and destroys mold very quickly. While

bleach, salt and many other non-living substances were impotent, this

bacteria proved to be a real hero! Thank God, Nature, evolution or

whoever has made it!

Of course, this won't help with big mold infestations where mold

directly and constantly enters the water system via some different

route than described here.

In conclusion, I would like to ask whether anyone else has had the

same problem with tap water (contamination due to some repair or just

due to touching the opening of the faucet, shower etc), and has

somebody tried this " recipe " or some other way to remediate the

situation? I'd sure like to know if there's some simpler solution!

Hope I didn't sound too crazy

-Branislav