Dirty Water

Originally Posted By: sgilligan
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I inspected a house today and first, water heater was turned off at service panal. When I went to test tub spout, rust/ dirty water came out but turned clear right away. Any ideas? I think I was testing the hot water, but again the electric water heater was tripped.


Originally Posted By: kmcmahon
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Happens alot with old galvanized piping.



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Originally Posted By: dedwards
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??? Tripping the circuit brkr at the panel does not shut off water from the water heater. It just cuts power to the heating elements and the thermostats. You will still be able to draw hot water out of the tank as long as it lasts and the cold water shut off valve is open. Eventually you will run out of water just like when a teenager takes a shower but the breaker being off or on does not have dittle to do with flow.


Originally Posted By: sgilligan
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I agree, I am trying to get to the rough colored water. If it is coming from the tank or bad pipes.


Originally Posted By: rsummers
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I did an Inspection Yesterday the home had a private well and at every faucet I turned on I got brown water for the first few seconds. I let the water run in the sink with the plug in at the 3rd sink snapped a picture and refereed it to a professional because I don’t test water quality just find find defects and refer them to professionals. It was a sellers Inspection you would think that they would have made sure that The water had been run before I showed up unless they didn’t know.


Originally Posted By: rmoore
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Shawn…


If it clears up after a few seconds it is almost certainly just crud (rust) in the pipes that haven't been "flushed" or run for a while. The "hot" water from the water heater is drawn from near the top of the tank so if there was enough sediment in the bottom to get stirred up by the cold water intake dip-tube, or by convection while heating, you would expect to get dirty water constantly.


--
Richard Moore
Rest Assured Inspection Services
Seattle, WA
www.rainspect.com

Originally Posted By: sgilligan
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Good point.