brown hot water

**tony2096** · 10th July 2006, 12:13 AM

Hi,

Had a plumber in a couple of months ago to fix some taps and he also reduced the water pressure at the mains valve at the street.

Ever since, the water from all the hot taps is brown (cold water is fine) and I reckon it's getting browner (or maybe I'm just getting more concerned!)

We have a gas water heater, which is outside.
I had a poke around and there is a fair bit of rust on the metal that vents the exhaust gases, but could not see any other obvious cause.

Any ideas?

Tony

**Gumby** · 10th July 2006, 12:25 AM

It's not hooked up to the dunny is it ? :eek:

**boban** · 10th July 2006, 12:29 AM

I think your tank has a large build up of sludge at the bottom of it.

**Barry_White** · 10th July 2006, 12:37 AM

Originally Posted by boban

I think your tank has a large build up of sludge at the bottom of it.

Like boban has said and probably the plumber turning the water off and changing some taps and then turning the mains tap back on it has probably stirred the sludge up and will take a while to settle.

**tony2096** · 10th July 2006, 12:56 AM

So is it safe to use?

(SWMBO has told me it has to be fixed, but we're due to renovate in a few months and the hot water tank will probably be replaced at that pouint)

**Barry_White** · 10th July 2006, 10:58 AM

Well I wouldn't drink Sydney water without filtering it anyway. It wont hurt to shower in it or washup in it BUT SWMBO would probably not be happy doing the washing in it because the neighbors will comment about the dirty washing. You may just have to do the washing in cold water until you change the tank.

My opinion would be that it would be nigh impossible to drain the tank and flush it clean. so you might have to live with it until you replace it.

**Abug** · 10th July 2006, 04:32 PM

Brown water could be a sign of your tank rusting.

Have you checked the sacrificial anode?

This is usually made of a metal like magnesium or aluminium.
This anode is there so the electrolysis eats it away first instead of your tank, much like the anode on the skeg of outboard motors. Most tanks I think have them screwed in place from the top.

**scooter** · 10th July 2006, 10:15 PM

Heard of the anode, abug, what is the correct way to go about checking it without buggering something up?

I have a natural gas HWS.

Cheers...................Sean

**Ashore** · 10th July 2006, 11:29 PM

Try sacrificial anode in the search option as there have been a couple of threads on this already

Rgds

**scooter** · 11th July 2006, 01:22 AM

Yeah, good point Russell.

Cheers..............Sean

**scooter** · 11th July 2006, 01:33 AM

Righto, just did the search,
-get corrrect anode for a given make & model of HWS from a plumbing supplier in your area
-use teflon tape on thread while still ensuring good metal to metal contact with the tank (will this be self evident when I pull the old one out?
-don't overtighten or anode can fracture

I assume the water to HWS is turned off before starting.

Anything else worth mentioning?

Cheers.................Sean

**Pat** · 11th July 2006, 10:15 AM

Sean, drain the tank to a level below the sacrificial anode. Otherwise you may cop some hotwater in the face. Not a nice propersition.

**scooter** · 11th July 2006, 10:08 PM

Thanks Pat.

Cheers...............Sean

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