Quote Originally Posted by duraleigh
I'm pretty sure I read a post by Ben that said a greenish tint is not indicative of metals. I have no experience in this area but I'm almost positive I read that post within the last 10 days. Brown for iron and deep blue green for copper and whitish scale for calcium.

Also, wouldn't metals precipitate out onto a surface rather than stay suspended in the water? Some clarification on this subject would certainly be helpful to me.
If conditons are right for precipitaton they will 'stain out' (high pH, high carbonate alkalinity, etc.) If not they stay in solution.
1. Is a greenish tint to the water indicative of metals?
Metal ions in solution can take different oxidative states. Some of these oxidative states can cause color in the water
2. When metals precipitate, do they discolor the water, attach to surfaces, or both?
When the metals precipitate out as stain they will no longer color the water since they are no longer in the water. They appear as stain.
Hope this helps.