# Orange water?! Why is my water orange?!



## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Okay~ the water is orange. It's not the hot water heater~ the hot water is NOT orange.....but every tap in the house is giving orange cold water. I live in the country~ but I don't have a well. I have city water. I tried calling the water company and got a nice recording explaining that they would be in tomorrow (they probably don't have orange water at thier homes!). And now I'm afraid to run the hot water anymore cuz I don't want to get the orange water in the hot water heater.

So~ now I'm freaking out. WHY is my water orange?!? It wasn't orange this morning!


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## naturewoman (Nov 12, 2002)

Someone may be doing some water line repair, or a new hook-up, and some rust got knocked loose in the water supply. Have you tried running it for a bit to see if you can flush it out? 

Do you have a spigot near the water intake, so you can check to make sure it's coming from the city water, and not somewhere in your house?


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

We had that problem in Oregon and it was due to the high concentration of iron in the water. Had to use a filtration system for it to be safe to drink.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I just looked it up online and got pretty much the same information naturewoman just gave me on a web site for some other municipalities water system. I think thats what it is~ all the symptoms fit. I've not tried the outside spigot yet. I'll try running the water in the house while I make dinner and if it doesn't clear up I'll test at the spigot in front.

Thanks
I just about flipped out when I saw orange water. I'm not paniced anymore~ just frustrated now. Hope we get clear water soon.......no way I'm washing the dishes or taking a shower tonight in orange water!


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## naturewoman (Nov 12, 2002)

If you need to water anything outside, it would be a great way to flush the lines and not have to waste water.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

It's raining. Finally. We finally get rain~ so tomorrow I'll be running a sprinkler in the rain. Good thing you can't see my house from the road! LOL!

It could be a LOT of water I have to run through too. I was thinking about it......I've got about a 1/4 mile of line run from the municipality down my drive before it even gets to my house. If I still have orange water in the morning I'll drive around and ask the nieghbors what color their water is.

On the bright side......Hubby took me out for dinner tonight when he came home and saw me running pee colored water through the kitchen tap!


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

Cheryl aka JM said:


> Okay~ the water is orange. It's not the hot water heater~ the hot water is NOT orange.....but every tap in the house is giving orange cold water. I live in the country~ but I don't have a well. I have city water. I tried calling the water company and got a nice recording explaining that they would be in tomorrow (they probably don't have orange water at thier homes!). And now I'm afraid to run the hot water anymore cuz I don't want to get the orange water in the hot water heater.
> 
> So~ now I'm freaking out. WHY is my water orange?!? It wasn't orange this morning!


Notice the time of the year. Halloween is nearly here.


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## zant (Dec 1, 2005)

Iron,if you need a filtering system-DO NOT let someone talk into a water softener system...you need a simple iron filter system,much less expensive....On city water you should'nt have this problem unless they're doing some maint which has disabled their filters.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

The water is clear this morning....but I bought one of those Brita sink thingy's to put on the kitchen tap just the same. I also bought a couple bottles of water when I was at the store~ and plan to just buy a couple gallons of water at every trip until I have a lot of it in the storm shelter. That way I'm ready for an emergency....or for orange water.

I'm a little worried about our septic system with all the extra water that got run into it last night trying to clear the lines~ but there isn't really anything to do about that now but wait to see if it's gonna be a problem. I hope not.

Thanks for letting me know what was up. I was pretty freaked out by orange water last night (Halloween or not! LOL!)


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## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

Hey.

FYI in the future. Cities "backflush" their pipes as regular maintenance. The result is rusty orange water until it clears out.

RF


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