Originally Posted By: Angel Hsiung This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
The water coming out of the faucet in our side yard has always been dirty in the beginning, but clears up right away. Recently, after our water main was changed to copper, the water from that faucet comes out yellowish for a long time before clearing – about 15 5-gallon buckets later. What do you think is wrong? The water inside the house is not affected.
Originally Posted By: phinsperger This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Angel,
Here is my best guess based on the information provided.
You said that the main was changed to copper, is the rest of the distribution piping galv. ? If so the yellow water is probably from iron rust from inside the pipe. If you are like most people, the outside tap is probably used far less that the inside taps. The water in the outside tap would be sitting in the pipe for a longer period of time and have a chance to accumulate more iron rust to the point where it becomes visible. The inside taps probably also contain iron rust but due to frequency of use, do not have enough to become visible.
As for it taking longer, my best guess is that often when water is shut off and drained to perform work on a system that contains galvanized pipe, when the water is turned back on it often dislodges some of the larger rust particles. This often shows up in the screens at the faucets. There may be one or more of these fragments that dislodged and got hungup somewhere in the line for the outside tap. This would restrict your water flow. Your water pressure would not be affected. Less water flow equals longer time for the water in the line to flush clean.
Originally Posted By: Angel Hsiung This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Paul,
Thank your for your reply. Yes, the pipes to the yards are still galvanized pipes. I had always worry that there might be something wrong at the connection between the copper pipe and galvanized pipe. -- maybe a crack where soil could enter and causes the water to be yellow. Is there a way to test the water to see if there is rust or soil?
Originally Posted By: phinsperger This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
the shut off valve)
3) Yes you can get your water tested. Depending on what you want to pay , you can test for all kinds of things in your water. Fortunately, testing for iron is very inexpensive. Its not a bad idea to test your water periodically anyway for health reasons. Especially if you have a well. But your water may have high iron in it anyway. I think you would need to do at least to tests. One for the yellow water coming out the exterior tap and one test from a normal untreated (bypass water softener/filtration systems if any) from inside. Then compare the two.
Originally Posted By: dedwards This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
There are some good home test kits you can do yourself. Go to www.watersafetestkits.com for some good info and resource for buying and doing your own testing. I know where yellow snow comes from but I can’t tell you what would cause water to turn yellow. Hope this helps.