What to Do if Your Tap Has Rusty Water?

You go to brush your teeth, but there’s a brown, hazy mush drizzling out of the faucet instead. Yuck! Water with a rusty hue isn’t dangerous, but it might be unsettling to look at. Brown water might be the result of corrosion in the pipes, mineral deposits, or even utility company maintenance.

It might be shocking to see rusty water coming out of your tap and not know what’s causing it. So, we put together this guide to explain what causes rusty water and what you can do to improve the quality of the water in your home’s plumbing. If rusty pipes are the cause of water discoloration in your house, we’ll show you how to fix the problem. It is our sincere hope that all residences in Los Angeles will have access to potable water.

Why is my water rusty?

Excess sediment or minerals in municipal water supplies cause it to take on a rusty brown, yellow, or reddish color.

Iron and manganese are the most frequent water-discoloration minerals. These minerals can be carried into the water supply through a variety of natural and anthropogenic pathways, each of which can deposit a minute amount of metal. These minerals may be present in water that has an off flavor or odor.

There is no evidence that manganese or iron in water pose any health risks to people, although their presence may affect the taste and odor of municipal water supplies. In order to be sure nothing else is wrong, a plumber can do water quality tests.

Is rusty water dangerous?

Perhaps, however, it would depend on the specific minerals in your water. Pollutants in drinking water are controlled by the EPA, which sets main and secondary requirements for how to get rid of them. Primary rules cover harmful pollutants, including lead and arsenic. Limits on how much of these pollutants can be found in a water supply mean that the water is often not made available to the public if the concentrations exceed certain limits.

Impurities like iron and manganese are covered by the supplementary EPA rules. Though not harmful to human health, the pollutants we’re talking about here may leave an unpleasant aftertaste, odor, or appearance, as well as potentially stain clothing or cause skin irritation. Public water systems have to test their water for major pollutants on a regular basis, but they don’t have to test for secondary contaminants.

Is rusty water safe to bathe in?

This is a common worry, along with the question of whether or not hair gets damaged by rusty water. Mineral-rich water is safe to drink and bathe in, but it can be bad for your hair if you stay in it for a long time. Also, you may have to work harder to get clean because hard water makes it hard for soap to lather well.

What Causes Rusty Water from Your Faucet?

Any of the following three scenarios could be the cause of brown water coming from your faucet:

1. If all your water (hot and cold) suddenly goes brown:

Water that was once clear may have become rusty due to local utility work or a leak in a city-operated water main or fire hydrant. Water main breaches that allow silt to enter the water supply are common due to the aging plumbing infrastructure in the United States.

To facilitate line maintenance, water service interruptions are commonplace when utility providers are involved. If sediment has settled to the top of the water supply before it is switched back on, you may see a cloudy appearance. Just turning on the water for a few minutes should do the trick.

This shift might have originated from inside, among other explanations. Brown water coming from the faucet is the first indicator that your water heater or the pipes supplying your home with water have become rusted.

2. If only your hot water is discolored:

It’s possible that your water heater tank has accumulated sediment or corrosion. The root of the problem might be determined by your plumber.

3. If you get brown water from your cold tap and only from certain faucets:

Most likely, a leak in one of the pipes supplying water is to blame. Over time, clogging and corrosion will occur in your home’s plumbing, especially if your water is very mineral-rich.

How to Fix Faucet Brown Water

Now that you know what might have triggered the rusty water in your pipes, you can take the first step toward fixing the problem.

If all your hot and cold water suddenly goes brown:

To contact your water provider, use the number provided. Perhaps a water main broke or a fire hydrant was vandalized. Another possibility is that the city is fixing the pipes and accidentally stirred up some silt while doing so. It is their responsibility to inform you of the steps being taken to resolve the issue and provide an estimated timeframe for when the water will clear up.

After the utility workers have finished their job, you may turn on your taps and let them run for a few minutes until the water no longer has an orange tint. In most cases, if you flush the toilet a few times, the brown water will clear up as the water supply is renewed.

If all your hot water is discolored:

The tank of your water heater may need to be drained and flushed. Sediment buildup over time is a common cause of rusty hot water. At least twice a year, you should drain and cleanse your tank. Leaks are a common problem with water heaters, and a big reason for this is that sediment builds up in the tank.

Make sure the anode rod hasn’t disintegrated, either. A longer lifespan for your water heater tank is achieved by using this rod to deflect corrosive minerals in the water away from the tank. Your local plumber may repair your anode rod when it has dissolved away, which usually takes around 5 years.

If your hot water is still a strange hue after you’ve flushed the tank or upgraded to a modern water heater, there may be a more serious issue. For an accurate diagnosis, you need to get in touch with a qualified plumber. When silt builds up in a water heater, an explosion is a rare but possible result.

If your cold water is only discolored when it comes out of a few faucets:

First, turn on all of the water’s hot and cold faucets and let them run at full blast for a few minutes, or until the water has totally cleared. A little bit of rust may come loose from the insides of the pipes and make its way into the water supply. If the issue is as minimal as you say, flowing water through the pipes should remove the rust and restore water clarity.

However, if the water still appears rusty after running it or if the problem reappears soon after the rust is flushed away, corrosion in the pipes may be to blame. Minerals from color corrosion or rust on your home’s water supply pipes might seep into your drinking water. Brown water will continue to come out of the cold tap until the damaged pipes are replaced.

Before the situation becomes any worse, you should have any pipes that have corroded or rusted thoroughly cleaned or replaced. Water line fractures, leaks, and obstructions are all possible results of pipe corrosion.

Get Rid of Brown Rusty Water in Your Home

Mike Diamond will help you figure out why the water in your bathtub is rusty and why your tap water tastes funny. If you give us a call, we can figure out why your sinks are dripping brown water. We’ll get your water pipes working so that you and your family can once again enjoy pure drinking water.

No one in Los Angeles should have to take a bath with, much less consume, rusty water. We will ensure that you never have to.