Brown Tap Water!!!

[k10]

The cold water coming out of my kitchen faucet has a slight brownish tint! It is usually clear. This makes me so nervous that the sewage system is leaking or something like that. Most of the things I've read online say that it's probably rust or excess iron, which won't make you sick, but I can't help thinking the worst.

Help!

[staystrongxx]

Have you tried just continuing to run it until it turns clear? When I moved into my house all the water faucets did that, but if you just run it for a bit, it should clear up. It sounds like rust, but seems a little weird that it would just start up randomly.

[Grace47]

it does sound like rust. It wouldn't hurt you if you drank it, but it would taste metallic.

[Cynna]

Call the water company if it continues.

[k10]

How can you know whether it's rust or sewage or something else???

[Grace47]

Pipes for intake of water do not connect with the pipes for outtake. In my house they are even different colors. The intake pipes are white, the outtake pipes are black. I grew up in an old house on a farm and we often had problems with brown water. It was rust 100% of the time. This is a rather common water problem in houses with metal pipes. At any rate, at no point do the intake and outtake pipes connect. If sewage should get into the water supply, it would be at the source and there would be a boil water alert for your area. I have lived in areas where this happened.

[Cynna]

Does it smell? Did you call water company? Most likely rust. Turn on local news to make sure no boil advisories.

[k10]

Pipes for intake of water do not connect with the pipes for outtake. In my house they are even different colors. The intake pipes are white, the outtake pipes are black. I grew up in an old house on a farm and we often had problems with brown water. It was rust 100% of the time. This is a rather common water problem in houses with metal pipes. At any rate, at no point do the intake and outtake pipes connect. If sewage should get into the water supply, it would be at the source and there would be a boil water alert for your area. I have lived in areas where this happened.

Thank you, this is helpful. I do live in an older house (70's) so it is probably rust.

[daffodil]

This has happened at my house too, and we discovered the water company was doing some maintenance on the water lines, and it was sediment. Not harmful, though.

[mamacat]

Probably rust. I have one tap in particular that always runs brownish for the first 30 seconds or so that it is on each day. Never had an issue with using the water though. Our house is from the 1950s.

[joubes]

Have no fear. If it was sewage, you'd probably smell it before you could even tell that the color was different. I live in a house built in 1907 right now, and the last house I lived in was built in 1928. In either house, every so often, you'd get a slight tint to the tap water. No one has ever gotten sick from it in my house.

It's probably rust. You should be fine.