When Clogging Isn’t What It Seems

Aquabiotics was invited to a restored waste site on the outskirts of Manchester, England. The operators had noticed a persistent orange discoloration in their pipelines, as seen in the photo above. They suspected iron bacteria and were seeking a treatment solution.

At first glance, the problem looked familiar—but closer inspection revealed a different story. The deposits were primarily carbonate scaling, stained with a touch of iron oxide. While iron bacteria can indeed cause orange fouling, in this case the real culprit was carbonate build-up.

The site itself was impressive: the old waste facility had been sealed under plastic sheeting, with methane being recovered for electricity generation and fed back into the grid. However, the scale of the clogging was staggering. Entire stretches of pipework were choked with heavy carbonate deposits.

In situations like this, chemical cleaning is rarely practical. Dissolving many tons of carbonate would not only be inefficient but would also raise the question of how to safely dispose of all the resulting waste material. Instead, our recommendation was pragmatic—replace the worst-affected lines and implement an ongoing maintenance strategy to keep the system functional.

Sometimes in water treatment, as in life, there isn’t a neat or easy solution. The key is recognising the problem for what it is and advising the most sustainable course forward.