i suddenly have rusty looking water coming out of my faucets?

Question

ive notices that it is primarily when the hot water is on. i just noticed this this weekend, prior everything appeared normal.

thanks everyone so far! it appears that i have all copper pipes, since they are copper in color, nothing gray or metal looking. as i mentioned this only occurs when the hot water is on which leads allows me to focus in on the water heater. i do have a drain very close to the heater, so i would be able to drain it without much mess or hassle. ugh homeownership.

Answer 1

First of all, you say that this just started. Has it continued, or was it just a temporary occurrence? Do you know what type of water pipes you have? Galvanized steel pipe, will, over time build up mineral deposits(iron), inside the piping system, and periodically, some of these deposits break loose. The water will appear rusty or brown colored. A multiple vitamin has iron in it, and they don't harm you, so don't worry about health issues. The sight of the murky water is not very appealing though. Another possible cause could be that the water system had a break somewhere upstream of your home, and dirt and debris were swept into the pipes, and distributed into all the houses downstream of the break. A water heater is a tank, full of water, fed by the cold water system, and if rusty water was pushed into the tank, it would take sometime to flush all the rusty water from the tank. You should start by draining the water heater, and see what comes out of the tank. Proper maintenance of a water heater is to drain some water, not all of it, 4 times a year. My suggestion, open all the faucets for about 4 to 5 minutes, and see if the water color clears up. If it does, my next suggestion, put a whole house filter in the line, as it enters your home. An accessible location is recommended, since you will have to periodically change the filter cartridge. A location suitable for a little water spillage is recommended, and if it is located outside the house, make provision to insulate the whole assembly. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

Rusty Hot Water

Answer 3

If it only comes out when using hot water is is possible that the lining in the hot water tank has gone bad and allowing the steel inside the tank to rust. If you get rusty looking water out the cold water at times it would indicate that there is a problem with the water coming in from the main line. Over a period of time the rust will settle out and accumulate in the hot water tank as once the tank fills the water sometimes stays in the tank for hours before the hot water is used.

As water is used from the tank the cold water coming in stirs up the sediment and you could get very rusty looking water. You can drain the tank by hooking up a hose to the drain valve and drain the sediment and flush out the tank. If the drain valve is stuck, do not force it. You will need to call a plumber and have him check it for you.

Answer 4

Sounds like you need a new water heater, something rusted up and fell apart depositing rust and general crap into your water system. Almost all water heaters have a shutoff on the cold side, shut this off to see if the rusty stuff quits coming out. If it does get the heater changed out. Keep in mind, the only input water source for houses is the cold stuff, hot water is just cold heated up. It is important for your health to get this fixed soon!

Answer 5

Sounds like your "friend" is trying to drum up some business. You only need to replace any pipes which aren't copper, and maybe give the inside of those copper pipes a good cleaning afterwards if they were along the path of the pipes you had to replace.