Brown water

[MattH]

Our tap water is brown right now; the Regional Water Authority says:

We have been receiving questions from consumers about discolored water coming from their taps. The very warm weather last weekend and continuing this week has driven up demand for water. The higher flows of water through the water mains have stirred up sediments similar to fire hydrant flushings. With the hot weather likely continuing, causing high water demand, consumers may continue to experience discolored water.  If consumers are concerned about the water, they can use an alternative source such as bottled water until the problem is resolved.

It has been very hot and humid in Connecticut, with record temperatures all over the State.  Tomorrow once again the Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory with predicted highs in the 90s, but Thursday's forecast is for highs in the mid 80s.

I am glad to have central air conditioning right now.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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@MattH wrote:

Our tap water is brown right now; the Regional Water Authority says:

We have been receiving questions from consumers about discolored water coming from their taps. The very warm weather last weekend and continuing this week has driven up demand for water. The higher flows of water through the water mains have stirred up sediments similar to fire hydrant flushings. With the hot weather likely continuing, causing high water demand, consumers may continue to experience discolored water.  If consumers are concerned about the water, they can use an alternative source such as bottled water until the problem is resolved.

It has been very hot and humid in Connecticut, with record temperatures all over the State.  Tomorrow once again the Weather Service has issued a Heat Advisory with predicted highs in the 90s, but Thursday's forecast is for highs in the mid 80s.

I am glad to have central air conditioning right now.

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Me, too!

But that condensation sure does taste funny...

[llecs]

If you don't have a water treatment system, you are a water treatment system.

[MattH]

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@llecs wrote:

If you don't have a water treatment system, you are a water treatment system.

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The water coming out of our taps is clear again, and I just finished a much-needed bath.  Last night I was rather itchy because I was unwilling to take a bath or shower with rusty water.  The local Water Authority says it's fairly common to have a bit more sediment in the water during heat waves as increased flowrates stir up sediment in their pipes, but this is the worst such incident they've had in about 15 years.  Since I had heard stores in my neighborhood had run out of bottled water, I got some near my work (I work about 15 miles North of here, and the water was OK up there).

[llecs]

Off topic a tad, but about two years ago, the local city health dept. came into my office with test tubes, vials and everything else. They said they were testing the water and that I am not to drink it at all. Well, what happened is that the dry cleaners across the street dumped their non-banned chemical daily into the city drain and that somehow entered into the water supply and had been that way for 10 years! The health department came back and suggest I get tested for cancer-causing toxins if I drank the water and explained who the culprit was (who coincidentally went out of biz right after that). Well, thankfully I had installed and used religiously a water treatment system that removed that chemical. I had the water independently tested and out of the tap it's still bad. But out of the system, there's no trace. I'm a firm believer.

[demi]

This reminds me of when I went on raft trip down the Grand Canyon...OMG, just realized, 30 years ago!  One week Geology class (one of the greatest trips I have taken, except maybe the 10 mile hike out), they would put river water in a giant igloo water thing, little bit of cholorine, and then you would wait for the sediment to settle out.  Remember swimming in the water and having a coat of brown all over me.  I was shocked when I saw the water...brown, brown, brown!

Sediment is probably not at all harmfull, just unpleasant.  Most areas of the country have such strick drinking water standards, that you would probably of had a boil water order or do not use order if there was any problem.

[MattH]

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@demi wrote:

This reminds me of when I went on raft trip down the Grand Canyon...OMG, just realized, 30 years ago!  One week Geology class (one of the greatest trips I have taken, except maybe the 10 mile hike out), they would put river water in a giant igloo water thing, little bit of cholorine, and then you would wait for the sediment to settle out.  Remember swimming in the water and having a coat of brown all over me.  I was shocked when I saw the water...brown, brown, brown!

Sediment is probably not at all harmfull, just unpleasant.  Most areas of the country have such strick drinking water standards, that you would probably of had a boil water order or do not use order if there was any problem.

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Yes, they said it was only sediment from the pipes.  For drinking and culinary purposes we followed their recommendation to put a container in the fridge and after the minerals had settled we carefully poured it off the top clear layer.  But we avoided laundry, bathing, or anything that would get sediment into our hot water heater.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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MattH wrote:  Yes, they said it was only sediment from the pipes.  For drinking and culinary purposes we followed their recommendation to put a container in the fridge and after the minerals had settled we carefully poured it off the top clear layer.  But we avoided laundry, bathing, or anything that would get sediment into our hot water heater.

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Excellent point, MattH, and one that is probably overlooked by a great many people, just as a periodic flushing of the hot water heater (even without experiencing brown water) is a preventative maintenance chore commonly overlooked by many homeowners.

[MattH]

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@Uborrow-Upay wrote:

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MattH wrote:  Yes, they said it was only sediment from the pipes.  For drinking and culinary purposes we followed their recommendation to put a container in the fridge and after the minerals had settled we carefully poured it off the top clear layer.  But we avoided laundry, bathing, or anything that would get sediment into our hot water heater.

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Excellent point, MattH, and one that is probably overlooked by a great many people, just as a periodic flushing of the hot water heater (even without experiencing brown water) is a preventative maintenance chore commonly overlooked by many homeowners.

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My water heater has a label suggesting the drain valve on its bottom be opened at least once a year.  Yesterday, now that our water has cleared up, I ran two buckets full of water from the drain valve of mine: the first bucket was filthy and the second bucket was clear so I concluded I was done.