Brown hot water!

[Cospfam]

My Husband and I bought a very old house about a year ago. The hot water heater is I think, less than 10 years old. ALL the plumbing had to be replaced, and of course, we used PEX. We just noticed TODAY that our hot water, and only hot water, is a faint brown. Is there something wrong with our hot water heater, or I've read, that it could have been the city doing maintenance on the city pipes, but I'm not aware of anything done to the pipes (we live in a VERY small town). Do we need to drain the tank? Could it be rust? Should I NOT be bathing my children in this water?? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

[pushkins]

City maintenance or fire department "flushing of hydrants" will give the brownish tint to water but it's usually short lasted maybe a day or so depending on your water usage.
A hot water tank that is rusting out will produce much the same water color, if the problem persists you could trying draining your tank, if it's indoors simply turn off the breaker to the water tank, turn off the cold water supply to the tank (usually located right above the tank) screw on a garden hose to the bottom drain make sure the other end of the hose is draining well away from any areas you don't want water. Open the drain valve and then open the pressure relief valve on the tank, this will allow air to enter as the water drains and make draining much easier.

MAKE SURE THE BREAKER IS OFF

Make sure that once the water has finished draining that you close the drain valve, close the relief valve, turn the cold water supply back on, once the tank is full again turn the breaker back on. In this order....NEVER turn the breaker back on while the tank is empty.

[Jim-Martin]

quick question

If the cold water is clear, then replace the Hot Water tank.

Jim Martin

www.dallasairconditioningservice.com

[susanb]

Hot Water is clear; Cold Water is Brown

My water heater is in fact older (9 years), but the hot water is clear and the cold water out of every faucet is a light brown. it seems to clear, but this is the second time in the last week. could it still be my hot water heater? The plumbing has been worked on over the years so i suspect some is still galvanized plumbing, the rest is copper or pvc. any thoughts?\
thank you!

[pushkins]

In your case where there is no issue with the hot water, then it is a cold water supply line issue, most often rust in old galvanized pipes. (copper and pvc don't rust).

[mrcaptainbob]

Brown cold water....

Could be the plumbing to the water heater was changed out from iron to copper or plastic, so the water there would still be clear. The plumbing for the cold water could still be iron and cause the brown. Usually the hot water plumbing from the heater goes first. And is the worst. That's why I suspect all was changed revolving around the supply side and downstream side of the heater, but the cold was not changed out.