It's very unsettling to turn on your faucet and see water that’s an unhealthy shade of brown. In addition to tasting and smelling bad, brown water can stain your clothes and make your hair brittle, among other things. Often, brown water is temporary and will clear up within a few hours. But if it doesn’t, there may be a deeper underlying problem. Knowing the cause and ways to treat brown water in your home can alleviate an unpleasant situation and get your plumbing running clean and clear again.
What Causes Brown Water?
One potential plumbing problem might be rusty pipes. Pipes eventually wear down over time, and as they do, they begin to rust, which can affect the color of water running through them. Rust deposits at the bottom of pipes can be stirred up by sudden disturbances in water flow.
To determine if this is a problem centralized to your home or if it's a wider problem, ask your neighbors if their water quality has been affected recently. If it’s just your home experiencing this, then it may signal the necessity of water pipes repair in Springfield Missouri. The rustier your pipes become, the more rust deposits you can potentially find in your water. That’s not including the increased likelihood of leaks and other plumbing problems. Getting new water lines can herald the return of clean, clear water.
Another potential reason for brown water might be sediment buildup in your hot water heater. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In this case, not having to replace your whole hot water heater. Flush your unit out on a yearly basis to avoid the sediment buildup. To test whether or not this is the culprit, try running your water under both hot and cold settings. If the cold water is clear and the hot water is brown, there’s a prime clue the problem lies in your water heater.
Brown water isn’t necessarily a danger, but it certainly can be unpleasant and unsightly. Preventative maintenance can help keep brown water from appearing in your home, but if you do end up experiencing it, water pipes repair from the plumbing experts at United Plumbing can help you bring back the clean water in no time. And if you need the consultation of an emergency plumber in Springfield, MO, the phone lines at United Plumbing are always open.