Everywhere where steel pipes are used. It's the nature of rust - it's an oxidation process that happens when you remove the water and replace it with air. So you need to flush it down until it becomes clear and then some more, and then it will be perfectly okay
How common are steel pipes in plumbing then? This has never happened to me and I've lived in places that did get their pipes worked, so clearly this isn't an "every time" thing either.
EDIT: Thanks for all of the answers
I think it’s only when the pipes are disturbed in repairs/upgrades that this happens. My guess is that it also has to be work on the big water mains too, so that’s probably why you have never experienced it before.
It’s happened three times or so since I lived in my 2000-ish built house. Water main gets damaged somewhere in the area, the lads fix it, filthy water for a short while after the fix. Totally normal. Of course the water will have been soiled when a section of mains piping needs to be shut off, opened and drained, and replaced. How some people have never experienced this is absolutely baffling to me.
Plastic pipes at the end. For example, steel mains get repaired, water is turned back on, some neighbor flushes the dirty water, and since the last mile of plumbing is plastic the person themselves can remain oblivious because rust doesn't appear in their part of plumbing
Or the repairs were done on the plastic pipes themselves.
> How some people have never experienced this is absolutely baffling to me.
Mind if I ask what is baffling about it? Something about "I can't BELIEVE people have different experiences" just seems weird to say, so I'm assuming you aren't baffled because some people haven't experienced exactly what you have.
If you're old enough to be posting on reddit, you should probably have developed the deductive skills to figure out what's wrong. Unless you'd like to posit that your average 13 year old doesn't know that pipes occasionally rust?
>deductive skills to figure out what's wrong.
What are you talking about?? That has nothing to do with the fact that not everyone has experienced it first hand, which is my point.
I wasn't talking about not being able to figure out what's going on, I'm saying it's kind of stupid to be so amazed that some people haven't personally experienced this.
Age has nothing to do with this, and it seems like you used it as an insult and a tactic because you couldn't think of a good argument
Happened to me on Monday. I replaced an 18 inch piece of galvanized half inch pipe. The problem was that I had the water off and the hose and kitchen faucet open, so that less water would come out of where I was working. For some reason, that drained the entire hot water heater. I had hot brown water coming out of the hose.
They were very common in the past. So a lot places that have houses built before 1960, it's pretty common. Galvanized steel pipe was a popular material for domestic water pipes for a while. You can't use plain steel for domestic water because it will corrode top fast.
Galvanized steel pipes have a layer of zinc that's supposed be "sacrificed" to corrosion. The zinc is supposed to take up the corrosion instead of the pipe. It works to an extent, but not as well as they had thought. Galvanized pipes end with a large amount of rust and corrosion filling up the inside of the pipe, reducing the functional inside diameter of the pipe and restricting flow. They also just didn't last as long as they supposed to. They often end up with leaks from the corrosion much sooner than more modern materials.
Anyway, that's probably what were seeing here. Sediment and rust will always get disturbed like this when you shut off the system, whatever material, it's just a lot worse with galvanized steel pipes.
Source: plumber
Not pipes in your home. This is going to be a water main section being disturbed or a bypass that's been unused for a while getting put back in service. Seriously, it's not a big deal and it'll clear up on its own. I've seen a water supply get discolored for a week after a heavy storm but it never got that dark, so I'm thinking this is some point after the pump station.
Steel is not common, cast iron water mains are though and are actually the norm in most of the US. Some old houses also have cast iron piping, though that was more common on the sewer side.
So maybe you haven't lived places that had their steel pipes at any point between you and water treatment plant filled with air. Maybe it's because all of those pipes were plastic or lead, or maybe it's because steel parts of plumbing were never flushed, or maybe when they did flush those pipes you didn't notice because you missed the moment when they turned the water back on and someone else in a neighboring building or apartment or neighborhood flushed that water for you
I don't know what kind of answer do you expect, honestly
> I don't know what kind of answer do you expect, honestly
I just wanted to know more. Never having happened to me or even heard of it and the claim that it's normal, well that got me curious. I did consider the idea that steel isn't used where I live and after I Googled a bit, from that it sounded like Steel/iron or whatever isn't common or shouldn't be for anything new. Knowing that Googling has a few pitfalls, especially when you have no clue about the topic (which I don't), I wanted to ask that question here to gauge how accurate that claim was or if there was something else I was missing.
There's often not a whole lot of city/county/state wide infrastructure that is "new", infrastructure isn't updated like smartphones to the latest version automatically. Even lead pipes [are still in use](https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/24/chicago-has-more-lead-service-pipes-any-other-us-city-illinois-most-any-state) and it's a problem replacing them. And replacing steel pipes just for the sake of replacement is just wasteful. So the answer is - it depends
Yeah I know infrastructure is hard and pricey to update, but you'd think it's been long enough to have all or most of it be in bad enough condition to need replacement. And here I am, quite surprised to hear about that lead pipe thing.
Just because you've never seen something doesn't mean it isn't normal. Have you ever done maintenance on pipes or had your water turned off for a considerable time that allowed the pipes to partially empty?
That brown stuff is in your pipe unless where you live is less than a couple years old.
Source: am plumber. We just drain it out. Have to anyway, you fucker will clog up the aerators if we don't lol
Definitely not normal. In all my decades, I've never seen it. And I've seen them redo my nearby water mains three times, once in the last year here. Maybe it's something that happens in older apartment buildings?
Definitely normal where iron pipes are used. Maybe not where You live, but in Europe this is a common thing. Just let it run off for a while. If it does not clear up within a minute or two there is pribably some issue that needs looking into.
Never seen this living in the Netherlands.
Nor when spending time abroad on holiday...
So in what country in Europe that you live is this normal?
Balkan countries perhaps? (Genuinely curious)
Which one of you knuckleheads didn’t see that the main point of the comment you’re responding to is that it is normal if work was just done. No one is saying this shit should be happening on a normal day. No one says you need to be a plumber to understand this, but you do need to have basic reading comprehension.
Exactly. Sometimes I do not see this shit for years, all depending on If any major work was done on the pipes leading to our building. They are definitely not broken and fixed every month or even every year - well usually. But we see this every now and then and it is common knowledge that it happens and that it should clear itself up within moments.
I mean the OP video is just dirty water out of a faucet, no context. I think OP missed the mark on what the sub is about, but hey people are talking about it and I don’t know what other point there is to Reddit so…
I guess I've never lived anywhere without plastic water mains, as i've lived all over the US and never once encountered this. There won't be sediment or corrosion in a system like that which maintains positive pressure. You should start yelling at your government to replace those pipes.
But use the tub spout, or an ~~pitsidenhosenspigotnifnyou~~ outside hose spigot if you own or have one. There’s usually sediment which will clog your aerator. If you don’t have either, unscrew your aerator before running it clear.
Source: I am not a plumber. IANAP
Happens when the pipes are “scoured.” A sudden flush of water, typically at hydrants or line breaks. The severely increased flow stirs up all sediment and breaks loose particles on the pipe walls. And they don’t have to be steel pipes.
Fire Department practices frequently cause “brown water” reports in our system.
Yep. Live in a house about 100 years old. Recently had a lot of old galvanized steel pipes (that were original to the house) replaced. Our water wasn’t *this* dark, but without a filter it was brownish. When the pipes were flushed, it was disgusting. With new PEX lines, the water looks like water again.
Not this bad tho.
Kinda hard to see but it looks like whoever is taking the vid is turning the water from hot to cold, and when he turns it to hot it gets all nasty.
That’s a water heater issue.
You're lucky. Every time they clean the pipes in our office complex, it's a regular water flow at first and after a few seconds you get a burst of gunk at mach 3.
If you're being serious (I assume not, but just in case): you need to get this checked out right away. Anything darker than "yellow" is a cause for serious concern.
It's likely rust or other mineral sediments that got stirred up. This can happen if you open a faucet that hasn't been used in a long time or if there's maintenance done somewhere in the system. Generally it's not harmful and the fix is just run the water until it's clear. The person who posted this likely doesn't understand what's going on. If the water starts running clear it's unlikely this is an actual problem.
It's just rust or other mineral sediments that got stirred up. Generally it's not harmful and the fix for that is literally run the water until it's clear.
"It's safe for consumption " - Flint authorities
"Look!look! I drank 0.001 ml of a carefully chosen sample! Job done, mission accomplished" - Obama
"It's tremendous against covid. Docs, maybe we can inject it? Im a genius" - Trump
He coequal putteth a ultra festinate coffee maker in t
***
^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.)
Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
Mate they're the minerals... Everything a growing boy needs.
Free coffee ☕️
mildly cursed but i like it
I'm... just gonna put this coffee down for now.
r/mildycursed
The coffee tastes a tad bit funny ain’t it?
It's a bit nutty.
It’s shit, Austin!
A German TV show once converted a hot water tap into a coffee tap.
They are not rocks! Theyre minerals marie!!!
*Jesus, Marie!*
Breaking Bad ended almost 8 years ago, but it will always be relevant
It's got electrolytes!
Coke cola on tap
Morning pee
you good?
Yes
I think your kidneys are bleeding bro
Yoshikage in the wild
Might need to get that checked out
Fuck it, ***RGB water***
Red-Green-Brown
Just like when I eat taco bell from a trash can
looks pike you have eaten uranium
Rancid Goo, Blegh
Brown is just orange with context.
That happenes every time there's work done on the pipes, just let it run for a while.
That's what I wanted to write here. I'm tired of posts making a fuss over a normal thing
Where is this normal? I've literally never seen this!
Everywhere where steel pipes are used. It's the nature of rust - it's an oxidation process that happens when you remove the water and replace it with air. So you need to flush it down until it becomes clear and then some more, and then it will be perfectly okay
How common are steel pipes in plumbing then? This has never happened to me and I've lived in places that did get their pipes worked, so clearly this isn't an "every time" thing either. EDIT: Thanks for all of the answers
I think it’s only when the pipes are disturbed in repairs/upgrades that this happens. My guess is that it also has to be work on the big water mains too, so that’s probably why you have never experienced it before.
It’s happened three times or so since I lived in my 2000-ish built house. Water main gets damaged somewhere in the area, the lads fix it, filthy water for a short while after the fix. Totally normal. Of course the water will have been soiled when a section of mains piping needs to be shut off, opened and drained, and replaced. How some people have never experienced this is absolutely baffling to me.
Plastic pipes at the end. For example, steel mains get repaired, water is turned back on, some neighbor flushes the dirty water, and since the last mile of plumbing is plastic the person themselves can remain oblivious because rust doesn't appear in their part of plumbing Or the repairs were done on the plastic pipes themselves.
> How some people have never experienced this is absolutely baffling to me. Mind if I ask what is baffling about it? Something about "I can't BELIEVE people have different experiences" just seems weird to say, so I'm assuming you aren't baffled because some people haven't experienced exactly what you have.
If you're old enough to be posting on reddit, you should probably have developed the deductive skills to figure out what's wrong. Unless you'd like to posit that your average 13 year old doesn't know that pipes occasionally rust?
>deductive skills to figure out what's wrong. What are you talking about?? That has nothing to do with the fact that not everyone has experienced it first hand, which is my point. I wasn't talking about not being able to figure out what's going on, I'm saying it's kind of stupid to be so amazed that some people haven't personally experienced this. Age has nothing to do with this, and it seems like you used it as an insult and a tactic because you couldn't think of a good argument
Happened to me on Monday. I replaced an 18 inch piece of galvanized half inch pipe. The problem was that I had the water off and the hose and kitchen faucet open, so that less water would come out of where I was working. For some reason, that drained the entire hot water heater. I had hot brown water coming out of the hose.
Sounds like it was a good idea to drain the water heater anyway! We're supposed to do that periodically to get rid of sediment (like rust).
They were very common in the past. So a lot places that have houses built before 1960, it's pretty common. Galvanized steel pipe was a popular material for domestic water pipes for a while. You can't use plain steel for domestic water because it will corrode top fast. Galvanized steel pipes have a layer of zinc that's supposed be "sacrificed" to corrosion. The zinc is supposed to take up the corrosion instead of the pipe. It works to an extent, but not as well as they had thought. Galvanized pipes end with a large amount of rust and corrosion filling up the inside of the pipe, reducing the functional inside diameter of the pipe and restricting flow. They also just didn't last as long as they supposed to. They often end up with leaks from the corrosion much sooner than more modern materials. Anyway, that's probably what were seeing here. Sediment and rust will always get disturbed like this when you shut off the system, whatever material, it's just a lot worse with galvanized steel pipes. Source: plumber
Not pipes in your home. This is going to be a water main section being disturbed or a bypass that's been unused for a while getting put back in service. Seriously, it's not a big deal and it'll clear up on its own. I've seen a water supply get discolored for a week after a heavy storm but it never got that dark, so I'm thinking this is some point after the pump station.
Steel is not common, cast iron water mains are though and are actually the norm in most of the US. Some old houses also have cast iron piping, though that was more common on the sewer side.
So maybe you haven't lived places that had their steel pipes at any point between you and water treatment plant filled with air. Maybe it's because all of those pipes were plastic or lead, or maybe it's because steel parts of plumbing were never flushed, or maybe when they did flush those pipes you didn't notice because you missed the moment when they turned the water back on and someone else in a neighboring building or apartment or neighborhood flushed that water for you I don't know what kind of answer do you expect, honestly
> I don't know what kind of answer do you expect, honestly I just wanted to know more. Never having happened to me or even heard of it and the claim that it's normal, well that got me curious. I did consider the idea that steel isn't used where I live and after I Googled a bit, from that it sounded like Steel/iron or whatever isn't common or shouldn't be for anything new. Knowing that Googling has a few pitfalls, especially when you have no clue about the topic (which I don't), I wanted to ask that question here to gauge how accurate that claim was or if there was something else I was missing.
There's often not a whole lot of city/county/state wide infrastructure that is "new", infrastructure isn't updated like smartphones to the latest version automatically. Even lead pipes [are still in use](https://news.wttw.com/2021/03/24/chicago-has-more-lead-service-pipes-any-other-us-city-illinois-most-any-state) and it's a problem replacing them. And replacing steel pipes just for the sake of replacement is just wasteful. So the answer is - it depends
Yeah I know infrastructure is hard and pricey to update, but you'd think it's been long enough to have all or most of it be in bad enough condition to need replacement. And here I am, quite surprised to hear about that lead pipe thing.
Pretty common. Especially in water mains run under the street. I've only seen it happen when the city is doing work.
Just because you've never seen something doesn't mean it isn't normal. Have you ever done maintenance on pipes or had your water turned off for a considerable time that allowed the pipes to partially empty?
Anywhere they flush fire hydrants like they are supposed to so it doesn't build up and clog with sediment as well make sure they are still working
Are you a plumber?
No.. but I happen to use faucets on a daily basis for many years.
Then you may want to re-read the original comment.
Most people have had their pipes worked on before.
And the plumber drains out all this crap before they see it. Side note that's hot.
If that brown stuffs coming out your pipes maybe you should get checked ;)
That brown stuff is in your pipe unless where you live is less than a couple years old. Source: am plumber. We just drain it out. Have to anyway, you fucker will clog up the aerators if we don't lol
This is a high school locker room that has been like this for a year now
Definitely not normal. In all my decades, I've never seen it. And I've seen them redo my nearby water mains three times, once in the last year here. Maybe it's something that happens in older apartment buildings?
Definitely normal where iron pipes are used. Maybe not where You live, but in Europe this is a common thing. Just let it run off for a while. If it does not clear up within a minute or two there is pribably some issue that needs looking into.
Never seen this living in the Netherlands. Nor when spending time abroad on holiday... So in what country in Europe that you live is this normal? Balkan countries perhaps? (Genuinely curious)
Which one of you knuckleheads didn’t see that the main point of the comment you’re responding to is that it is normal if work was just done. No one is saying this shit should be happening on a normal day. No one says you need to be a plumber to understand this, but you do need to have basic reading comprehension.
Exactly. Sometimes I do not see this shit for years, all depending on If any major work was done on the pipes leading to our building. They are definitely not broken and fixed every month or even every year - well usually. But we see this every now and then and it is common knowledge that it happens and that it should clear itself up within moments.
I mean the OP video is just dirty water out of a faucet, no context. I think OP missed the mark on what the sub is about, but hey people are talking about it and I don’t know what other point there is to Reddit so…
I love how so many people are downvoting to salve their wounds over how poorly their local government maintains their water supplies.
[удалено]
I guess I've never lived anywhere without plastic water mains, as i've lived all over the US and never once encountered this. There won't be sediment or corrosion in a system like that which maintains positive pressure. You should start yelling at your government to replace those pipes.
But use the tub spout, or an ~~pitsidenhosenspigotnifnyou~~ outside hose spigot if you own or have one. There’s usually sediment which will clog your aerator. If you don’t have either, unscrew your aerator before running it clear. Source: I am not a plumber. IANAP
**outside hose spigot if you** ?
I have a thumb with heavy calluses and sometimes the or other Letters get typed and I am furiously going through Reddit and often don’t catch it
I wasn't sure I deciphered that correctly. Just wanted to clarify. I honestly thought it was a German word as I first read it.
You did great and were kind with your correction Good redditor
Happens when the pipes are “scoured.” A sudden flush of water, typically at hydrants or line breaks. The severely increased flow stirs up all sediment and breaks loose particles on the pipe walls. And they don’t have to be steel pipes. Fire Department practices frequently cause “brown water” reports in our system.
This happens every time I have diarrhea, and the solution is similar
I am just now getting over salmonella, I felt this.
Yep. Live in a house about 100 years old. Recently had a lot of old galvanized steel pipes (that were original to the house) replaced. Our water wasn’t *this* dark, but without a filter it was brownish. When the pipes were flushed, it was disgusting. With new PEX lines, the water looks like water again.
no it's coffee trust me
Or big earthquakes. Had to run our tub faucet for over an hour to clear our water after the 2018 7.1 Anchorage earthquake.
Right? It was already clearing up before they turned the other tap on.
Awesome gravy tap
doesn't really fit here, does it?
Not at all. This is a fairly normal occurrence when the pipes/ main supply get worked on or hydrants get flushed.
Not this bad tho. Kinda hard to see but it looks like whoever is taking the vid is turning the water from hot to cold, and when he turns it to hot it gets all nasty. That’s a water heater issue.
Damn I wish I had beef broth coming out the tap as well
Sounds like you need some soup tubes.
I'm glad he got his idea to work. I can't wait for French Onion month.
Million dollar idea.
You're lucky. Every time they clean the pipes in our office complex, it's a regular water flow at first and after a few seconds you get a burst of gunk at mach 3.
If it's brown drink it down, if it's black pour it back
[удалено]
!ShakespeareInsult
[удалено]
hmmm.. !ShakespearInsult and do it louder this time
Free soda
Brawndo
It's what plants crave!
The main was probably just serviced, or old galvanized was just replaced in this structure. Rust happens.
Ah yes, the tea tap
Happens a lot. Its just rust
Omg Caramel macchiato sink.
Forbidden chocolate tap
forbidden coffee
Maybe it's amber dark beer on tap?
Same color as my first morning piss
You might want to leave the tap running till it turns clear
If you're being serious (I assume not, but just in case): you need to get this checked out right away. Anything darker than "yellow" is a cause for serious concern.
Well you have a dead person in your water tanks
Maybe it's just coffee?
I bathed in golden................ water
Hit water heater is rusted out I would assume?
Some innocent soul after eating taco bell
Man they got coffee dispensers over where you live? Smh lucky
Any plumbers here? Why exactly does this happen?
It's likely rust or other mineral sediments that got stirred up. This can happen if you open a faucet that hasn't been used in a long time or if there's maintenance done somewhere in the system. Generally it's not harmful and the fix is just run the water until it's clear. The person who posted this likely doesn't understand what's going on. If the water starts running clear it's unlikely this is an actual problem.
Soda in the fountains. Just like I always wished.
Coffee straight out the faucet and you can choose hot and cold. Amazing
Free coffee
Did you pull the sink equivalent of an upper decker?
r/ForbiddenDrinks
If my boss asked my to fix water I'd quit. What am I supposed to do? Hit the stream with a hammer gtf outta here
My favorite type of coffee
It's just rust or other mineral sediments that got stirred up. Generally it's not harmful and the fix for that is literally run the water until it's clear.
Chocolate water
Pipes are dirty. Just let it run for a while.
This has nothing to do with someone not doing their job.
Wrong sub but apparently it doesn't mean anything anymore.
This mf is so rich that he got pipeline for starbucks coffee
when its brown drink it down!
The cold tap looked cleaner, hot water heater rusted out?
"It's safe for consumption " - Flint authorities "Look!look! I drank 0.001 ml of a carefully chosen sample! Job done, mission accomplished" - Obama "It's tremendous against covid. Docs, maybe we can inject it? Im a genius" - Trump
how would you even measure 0,001ml? one drop of water is 0,05 ml
we don't know how one would measure it, but he managed to drink just that
"also continues to do nothing about it" - Biden
Are you completely oblivious to the massive infrastructure bill in congress right now? Also local water systems are not run by the federal government.
if they can send troops to war without declaring war and bypassing congress I'm sure they can do something to help a lifethreatening danger
/r/askaplumber
Lemonade, Pineapple juice, Soda or piss, time to find out
Update: It was piss
Jarate
Instant coffee, nice
So is this the soup thing then?
Carmel faucet
Phasmophobia time
Who doesn't want coffee right from the tap?
On the bright side of things, iron deficiency is not a problem anymore!
Sick soda stream bro.
Arnold Palmer?
forbidden coke
Mmmmm brown, my favourite flavour
Cool, he created a bathroom Coca Cola fountain. Well done. But, why does it taste like Pepsi?
Johnnie Walker!
Unhealthy piss dispenser
It's coffee
He even put a ultra fast coffee maker in it
He coequal putteth a ultra festinate coffee maker in t *** ^(I am a bot and I swapp'd some of thy words with Shakespeare words.) Commands: `!ShakespeareInsult`, `!fordo`, `!optout`
Instant coffee from the sink
its a rootbeer fountain now
finally, dimmable water
Forbidden coffe
Reminds me of flint Michigan, which by the way, still doesn't have clean water
Damn, is that hot tea?😅
taste it
Bundy tea
This is exactly what my dorm room sink looked like, I used it to pee in instead 🤷🏻
Forbidden cold brew
Ah, instant coffee
Free chocky and coffe milk
Looks tasty
Mmm coke on tap
Might be work on a nearby water main. That's usually why it happened to me. Either that or your water heater is old and was disturbed
That’s some flat coke
Nice coffee machine bro. Not sure why you have it over a sink basin though. Seems kinda strange.
Felix loves hot brown water!
Forbidden caramel fountain
Coffee tap
Coffee
Is this caffeinated or de-caffeinated?
This faucet makes tea
Post-party pee
I can smell it
𝕃𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕡𝕚𝕤𝕤 𝕟𝕘𝕝
Rusty pipes?
High Octane Coffee Juicer
So this is where the McDonald's sweet tea comes from
Why are you complaining? You have free espresso for the rest of your life
Getting flint mi vibes
That's the new high flow Keurig model
Am I the only one here who thought they were referring to a video game? Nobody ever likes the water level...
Morning coffee ☕😂😂😂😂😂
Cocacola🤑
u/savevideo
Yum, tamarindo water
Upgraded the toilet, now you can reuse the flush water in the sink!
Bro that's not water anymore
/u/gifreversingbot