[Summit] colored water

[Bresler E]

My 2¢ worth--

1) more likely possibility---   when they rattled the plumbing during the
pipe work, a surge of rusty sediment was stirred up. (Not surprising)
But what may explain the variation of results-  is whether or not your water
was in use during the surge.

If you were doing laundry and using showers, you may have had a lot of the
junk flow into your hot water tank, where it settled on the bottom, to be
periodically churned up by the water heating or a brisk flow of water.
Similarly it could collect in a Brita filter or in a long stretch of cold
water pipes.

People who were not using their water at the time of the work, or
immediately after, would not have drawn the muck into their plumbing.

2)  BUT be careful that it is not only a coincidence.  Brownish water is
often the only warning you get (or none!) that your hot water heater is
blowing out.

Many hot water heaters have an inner glass or other sealed tank with the
heating element in it, surrounded by a second protective layer.  When the
glass cracks or a metal inner tank corrodes, the water has access to the
second protective chamber-  which was NOT made to hold water.  It may take a
few days or even weeks for it to leak, but in the meanwhile it may corrode
rapidly, turning your water colors.  Once the outer chamber fails- you have
the equivalent of a faucet turned open onto your basement floor.  All too
many of us know all about that!!

By the way- it is now possible to buy very simple and very effective flood
alarms.  Wired to a box is a piece of the plastic you lay on the floor under
a hot water heater or in another risky location-- the plastic piece has two
to bare wire ends tucked in it;  if it gets wet the water closes the circuit
and the box makes noise like a smoke detector.

I installed one in a place where we worked and it worked, and it sure saved
us some trouble!!

(Unfortunately I don't remember where I got it.)

Elianna
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