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Posted by PipeDown on August 3, 2005, 8:51 pm
>
>>RS wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> When I first turn my bathroom faucet on I get a a LOT of rust-colored
>>> liquid that comes out. It takes about 15-20 seconds for the water to
>>> start running clear. It's a single handle faucet - I have not yet
>>> determined if it's only happening on the hot side, cold side or both.
>>> I have copper pipes.
>>>
>>> Any idea what this is, or what causes it?
>>
>>Bet you don't have *all* copper piping. Is the house old enough
>>(pre ca. 1950 for example) to have been galv iron originally?\
>>
>>I doubt that it's in the sink faucet itself.
>>You didn't mean tub faucet, did you?
>>
>>Jim
>
> Thanks Jim,
> No I did not mean tub faucet - I meant sink faucet. And it only
> happens in the one bathroom. No other sinks in the house (or the tub
> for that matter) have this problem. I beleive the house was built in
> the 1960s.
>
My house was built in 1967 and my previous one was built in 1973 and both
had all galvinized steel water piping. The changeover happened at different
times in different regions.
Depending on conditions, use and any old repairs, rust can occur anywhere in
the system and probably a little everywhere by now.
In your case, it seems the rusty spot is close to the faucet. It is likely
to eventually appear in more if not all of your faucets eventuually.
Normally this is only a nusence but can get much worse with the rust choking
off water pressure or bursting spontanious pinhole leaks (I had 5 of these
in 10 years at my previous house). I have seen up to 3 surges of rusty
water before it runs clear at my old kitchen sink. Fortunately my new
house, though older, has much less rust but it does have some, just not as
concentrated unless I go away for a week or two then it gets darker.
Not really practical to fix one pipe unless it is just a section of galv
pipe or nipple in an otherwise copper system. You're more likely to stir
up more rust with the wrenching that would be needed. Get a quote for a
copper repipe but you don't NEED to act unless it becomes a regular problem
of repairs. A repipe can cost $4k to +$15k depending on how much work your
house presents.
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