Brown Hot Water

Everyone,

I read the old posts, but mine is somewhat different. Any
comments appreciated.

I am on city water, one line into house. That line was replaced
9 months ago. Color just started. Brown in every "hot" tap in the house...

Cold water is normal and hot water when there is no more hot,
meaning hot is now cold, brown color is gone. I had opened
my hot water faucets for about 15 minutes.

My guess is the water heater, but where do I start? Also,
is this brown color dangerous. My wife is concerned...

Thx a bunch..

Mike

 

Chances are, the brown water is simply rust & not harmful to health. If you have a tank type water heater, try draining & flushing it.

 

Hi, there,

I am searching the forum and came across this one. I think I have the same issue. So, how do I drain and flush my tank?

Many thanks in advance.

Longmian

 

If your water heater is electric, turn it off at the breaker before doing anything else. If it's gas, turn off the gas.

Turn off the water coming into the water heater.
Connect a hose to the bottom drain valve & route the hose to a floor drain, sump hole or outdoors.
Open the drain valve & a hot water spigot (preferably a bath tub).
Allow the water heater to drain completely.
When empty, turn the incoming water back on briefly.
Repeat the "blasting" of the tank with water until what comes out the hose is clear.
Close drain valve & turn the supply water on, while keeping the hot water spigot open.
After all the air is expelled, close hot water spigot & restore electic or gas to the water heater.

 

Thank you guys for your kind help.

I posted my "solution" here in case someone else ends up in here trying to look for information.

I drained the tank and it did not help. In fact, it was getting worse. So, I bought a new tank and replaced it. Now, everything seems to be okay. By the way, I replaced it myself and promised myself to drain the thing twice a year to keep it happy for a while.

Cheers.

Longmain

 

Often once it starts, there's no getting rid of it without, as you discovered, replacing the tank. Sometimes it's just a slug of rust which came in via the city line for one reason or another in which case the flushing will help. It was worth a try. You can prolong the life of the tank by draining a few gallons each month.