Ever got home from a hard day at work, or finally get to have some down time from the kids, decided to run a nice hot bath and discovered that the nice clean bubbles look a little more like you have washed the 4 wheel drive after an off road camping adventure? Yes, your bath water is brown and not that clean pristine water you hoped to soak those tired muscles in. Well, don’t fret! It is not sewer and if it was, I would be deeply concerned about who touched your plumbing last and how it was connected.
Brown water turning up in your sink or bath, more often than not is a sign your hot water system is on its way out. What happens to these big boys is the tank begins to rust out from in the inside, causing the water that is heating up inside to become brown and discolour. Outside your tank you could potentially see signs of rusty water from the relief valve (a small copper pipe coming out of your tank.) The tank may have some external signs of rust also.
The other cause of brown water is old waterlines that are made of galvanised pipe that has began to rust out. This kind of pipe is only really found in homes or buildings built in the 1950’s and 60’s. If you live in a home of this era and your noticing brown water, run a bath in cold water only and see if you get any brown residue in your water, this can be one of the early signs that the plumbing is deteriorating in your cold water lines. Hot water in these homes will need further investigation as it could potentially be your water lines or the hot water system.
Either way the best thing to do is to get in touch with AJB Plumbing, plumber Mudgeeraba so we can investigate and provide you with a plan of action.
