we just got our water turned on at our new house and the hot water in the bathroom is coming out dirty.?

Question

What could be causing this?

Answer 1

it's probably just sentiment, let the water run for a bit to clean out the pipes and then if it doesn't clear up call the local plumber.

Answer 2

Get a much bigger water heater OR get one of those small point of use water heaters that doesn't have a tank at all they just heat the water as you use it. The most efficient ones, according to what I've read are the ones that run on Gas. You can get them big enough for your whole house or small enough to just heat the water for one of your showers ( or get two small ones, one for each shower). The problem is they are kind of expensive... even the less efficient electric ones. Also the temp of the water going into them can affect how hot they can get the water. Now if you had near freezing water going in you'd only get warm water out even at the highest setting. So keeping your tank water heater to at least get the water warm before it hits the point of use heaters. Now the good thing about these water heaters is that they help the environment. They do that by not wasting a lot of energy keeping a tank of water hot when no ones there to use it.

Answer 3

There are two possible reasons. The first one is that if the house was vacant, and the hot water was turned off, you probably got some air into the system. With the residual water in the hot water piping, and the combination of air, you formed a thin rust layer on the inside of the pipe. Unfortunately, you will have to flush the system thoroughly until it clears. In the meantime you will want to put a filter on your washer to keep from staining your clothing.

A second reason for iron in the hot water piping is that hot water is corrosive to steel pipe. As water is heated, dissolved oxygen and air are driven off. This promotes a greater solubility of iron ions into the water. Generally the corrosion rate is slow, and a protective layer of rust will grow over the inside of the pipe to keep further corrosion from occurring.

In the meantime, your only recourse is to thoroughly flush your hot water system.

Answer 4

Depending on how long the water was off, you may have a bit of iron build up in the pipes. Just run it for a while and it should clear.

You should also drain the hot water heater if it wasn't drained before you moved in. Sediments can build up in the tank that can cause the water to look dirty or rusty. These sediments also shorten the life of your water heater. There should be instructions for doing this printed on the water heater.

Answer 5

If the house is new (not just new to you) the lines were probably not flushed out properly and will clear up with use. If a previously owned home and the water was off for a period of time, rust may have formed in the pipes or sediment from the bottom of the water heater is dislodged. It will still clear up with flushing or use.

Answer 6

I have had the same problem, but in older houses, too.
The problem is the pipes were laid in dirt then put together. It is not uncommon to have dirt in the system when you first turn it on. The easiest way to get thru it would be turn on an outside faucet and let it run wide open for about five minuets. This should push all the dirt out.

Answer 7

Let it run for awhile, and it will likely clear up. Sometimes there is iron or dirt in the water and it has to clear itself out. If it is only the hot water, there could be dirt/rust in the hot water tank.

Answer 8

Pipes haven't been used in a while. I would let the water run for 15 minutes and see if it improves before calling a plumber or anything.

Answer 9

Just dirt in the pipes..you have to flush it out..just run the water and it should clear up within a few hours...my Grandma had this problem when she would go to her chalet for the summer

Answer 10

Let the water run for a while a couple of times at different temperatures, if this does not work you can flush out your system - ask a plumber.