[GoatRider]

I have noticed some kind of contaminate in my (bathroom shower) tap water a few random times now, I wonder if anyone has any ideas?

Symptom:
On 3 or 4 occasions, always while waiting for the hot water to reach my master bath shower in the morning (hot water on full, cold shut off) I have noticed a dark "blotch" of contaminated water come out (and shoot down the drain.) Unfortunately I have never had a good look at it, because at that time I am usually naked getting ready for a shower and have my eyeglasses off. From my rather blurry observation, it looks like a few ounces of "rusty" water comes thru the hot pipe. (Also hard to tell because the shower tiles are not white, but appears to have a red or brown tint.)

Other possible factors:
I have an electric hot water heater that is 5 yrs old. I checked the bottom electrode (after replacing these before in prior house) and it shows only minimal signs of corrosion, which is actually white, not brown or rusty looking.
I have a "whole house" water softener, that was there when I bought the house, so unknown age, could be anywhere from 5 to 30yrs old. It still works, as I can tell the difference in water quality when it is allowed to run out of salt. (I do have a bad habbit of letting the salt reservoir run out often.)
Copper piping throughout the house.
On a more regular occasion; like every couple weeks for half a day at a time, the water from all taps has a TON of small air bubbles. It appears cloudy actually but if a glass is allowed to sit, in 5 minutes it clears up. (I think this is caused by the water softener doing some sort of regen cycle?) Not sure if this is a symptom or unrelated.

Let me tell you the first time the dark crud thing happened I had flashbacks to some horror movies I have watched, and about hurt myself jumping back so fast.

Anybody have any ideas?

[ERIC AULL]

1st off, you could have left out the part about being naked without glasses! 2nd, if you have well water, or live in an older area with old water mains, it could be just rust (pretty harmless). Old electric water heaters sometimes give off a black residue, that I THINK is caused by normal air in heated water...causes some reaction with the copper pipes. (dissimilar metals/galvanic corrosion). So, rust is not a big deal, health wise, but if the stuff is black, I would call a plumber. Eric

[4dblnkldude]

I am a half a plumber, well systems will always have air in them. As for the black crud, never seen it. I've been living in a well system house for 7 years now and never saw anything like that.

[fyrffytr1]

If it is only in one faucet then that is where I would start looking. Possibly a washer is deteriorating.

[george kujanski]

My brother's house had that. He has a well, filters, etc. We couldn't figure out what it was either. When I samped some of it, it was not like mud, but more like fine particles that did not dissolve in the water.

In any case, we pulled the anode rod out of the water heater, and it was just about gone, we figured somehow the rod was eaten away and that's what the black contaminant was.

it was time to replace the heater anyway, and he has not noticed the black stuff since.

george

[GoatRider]

Not on well water, it is "city water." (Mesa is the second largest city in AZ.)

After reading above I think I will check the other heating element in the water heater. It has two, one high and one low. After draining it out to check the low one I don't know why I was thinking the lower one would be more likely to "rust", but I was being pressured (you married guys will know what I mean) and never checked the other one about half way up the side in my rush to get it back up and running.

Are the two elements the same? Worth checking both it sounds like?

I wish it would happen when I was really looking, with glasses on; and clothes!

Thanks again

[OhMyGoat]

Municipal water supply typically has phosphates added to prevent corrosion in the mains. Sometimes it will flush off the inside of the pipes. I have seen chunks that came loose when mains were replaced that were almost the size of our poverty caps. Generally, if it is just an occasional blip of black stuff, you have no worries and certainly do not need to call a plumber. Maybe the city is flushing hydrants in the area. Check with your municipal water supply if it gets worse.

[69goatboy]

Both of your elements should be the same.

Have you checked the little aerator screen just prior to the shower head? The screen size should be small enough to prevent any "chunks" to go through, if indeed the "chunks" are coming from somewhere upstream.

Has the city done anything with the water supply recently? I know everytime the FD tests the hydrants on my street, I usually have to check all of the aerators in the house because of the stirred up sentiment in the lines.

[salem1912]

Any work being done on your street or a few blocks away?

[GTO1]

Check the anode rod in the top of your water heater.

[GoatRider]

Thanks for the replys.

I don't know of any major street or water line work being done in the neighborhood, however there is a fire hydrant directly across the street.

There are no "chunks" really, more like just dirty looking water.

Both heating elements looked the same and OK to me.

Is the "anode rod" something different? I didn't look at the top of the unit very closely except to close and later re-open the valves when I drained it.

[johnsma22]

Originally Posted by GTO1

Check the anode rod in the top of your water heater.

X2! If your sacrificial anode rod has been depleted then the corrosion is attacking the only thing left in the tank to attack. That is, the tank itself!

The anode rod is threaded into a bung on the top of the water heater. Once you valve off the heater and blow off the pressure you will be able to unscrew the rod and check it. If it looks even remotely like the bottom rod in this pic, it's time to replace it.

[concreteburner]

The tube is in the tank from the top they can cause little particles in the water if the tube starts to rot away.Most times its a sign the tank should be replaced if its old.