Location: Lum Park in Brainerd, Minnesota.

 

What is this orange gunk? The water has always been dirty; I was trying to figure out why. The water is brown and full of weeds. A lot of other lakes around here are clear. I was seeing it through the ice. Then I noticed it was coming out if a pipe, from a house. Is this pollution or "iron"? Is this what is making the water dirty? Is it dangerous (to eat the fish) because of this?

 

(How can I attach the images? It's too large. I see other people are using links. I will add (this is my first post).

If orange gunk is coming from a pipe and flowing into a body of water, you should contact the EPA and send them the photo and the location. My fishing club has had the EPA out to investigate several companies who were illegally dumping into our local rivers.

likely a combination of iron and rust from the pipes in the house.

Rust, looks like the inside of the iron pipes for my bathroom drain haha

Mail the picture to yourself and use that picture.

First pic upload. I used the site Glenn recommended on another post:

https://picresize.com/

 

I lowered the resolution.

On the pics above, they are under ice, which is why they look weird.

 

Results from bad chili?  

 

J/K did the municipal pipes recently get cleaned and chlorinated?

The muck coming out of the pipe looks like what you get when your engine blows a head gasket and the engine coolant mixes with motor oil, then sits for a while. 

That's probably Iron ochre.  It forms when groundwater that flows through iron-containing soils picks up iron and brings it to the surface. The iron then reacts with oxygen in the air to create iron oxides, which form the orange sludge.  Iron ochre can be found in slow-moving drainage and french drains. It often smells like sulphur or rotten eggs.

 

Since it forms naturally, it is not harmful nor toxic to a lake in small- to moderate-amounts.  In very large quantities, it can smother aquatic plants and clog fish gills, causing cause great harm to the fishery.

If surrounding lakes are clear and this one isn't and the discharge from the pipe is orange, the EPA or a similar agency should be notified.

Fish and Game would likely get there faster than EPA.