Hot Water Looks Yellow

[roscoe62]

The hot water in my home is looking yellowish last few days.Can or should I wash my whites with warm water or will I risk the clothes turning dingy?Or can I use something in the wash water to help me with this problem?
Thank for any help here, it is appreciated.
Cheers

 

[henry200]

Is it just the hot water or cold water too?  Pour a glass of cold water and let it set for a day to see if any sediment settles out of it.  Are you on city water or well water?  Your water heater might have a buildup of sediment and need to be flushed out.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Was your cold water off-color in the last couple of days? If not, you might have more serious problems than dingy whites on your hands. Usually when you get discolored hot water, it is a sign that the tank is rusting badly and you should be grateful for the warning. That's better than having the tank let loose and flood the place. How old is the tank?

 

[joe_in_philly]

I agree with Tom. I had the same problem when I lived in an apartment. Slightly yellow hot water, cold water clear. Hold a white rag under the cold water stream for a minute or so and see if a rust colored spot develops. Then do the same for the hot water. If you see a spot develop from the hot but not the cold, it sounds like a rusting hot water heater. Be sure NOT to use chlorine bleach as it sets rust. If I suspected rust in the hot water, I would wash everything in cold until the problem is fixed. If you do get rust stains on your white clothes, "no more yellow" or "iron out" work well, but I think they can harm colored items.

At the time, I didn't realize the seriousness of the problem, but soon found out when I discovered the hot water heater leaking a while after the problem started.

http://www.whink.com/product_info.php?products_id=34

 

[peterh770]

Old galvanized plumbing will do the same.

 

[iheartmaytag]

Check your sacrificial Annode.  There may be nothing wrong except the annode has crumbled away and just needs  a replacing.

Or your tank is STS and you need a new one, but check the annode first.   Have you checked the tank?  Is there any leaks? Crusting around fittings?  Have any of your neighbors experienced this as well?

 

 

[roscoe62]

A moment of silence

The cold water is clear we had a new water line installed last fall after the sewer line collapsed so the lawn was torn up and had to be refinished as well.Never rains but pours .
The tank is not leaking but the discoloration of the water is indicative that the tank is rusting slowly, so it's time for replacing.
Monetary donations can be made to ..... LOL.

Thanks Everybody

 

[iheartmaytag]

Sorry, can't make any donations.

Due to the heat, I am having to plan for a large electric bill.   Do you know anyone thats O-Pos, has money and needs a kidney?

 

[runematic]

Hot yellow water?  Are you looking in the right place?         I couldn't resist.  The heat is a beating me up today.

 

[yogitunes]

I have a buddy in the same situation.......he doesn't have the money for replacement either, and as odd as it may be......

He has 3 long garden hoses spread out across the back yard, not the greatest, but enough water for a quick shower, a pan of dishes, or a load of laundry, replenishes about every 30 minutes during the hot sun....

Can you say "Solar"?

we all can laugh, he's been doing it for about 2 months so far, but think of the energy savings?...you do what you have to do to survive....

but I feel for you.....

 

[arbilab]

Solar definitely works. Hose water is hotter than my tap-hot water. About 20* hotter.

Odd as it seems, yellow and brown are the same color with different luminance values. Look at earwax on a qtip. A little looks yellow but a blob looks brown. So yellow can be rust.

Can't tell you how long you have from the time the tank water turns color to when the tank fails. I didn't notice any color change in my Austin house, but I did notice the garage puddle when the tank rusted through. It didn't fail catastrophically, just dripped enough to be seen.

If the color change was due to work on the supply line it should affect hot and cold equally, at least for a short time. The tank will hold the contamination longer than the cold lines.

 

[aeoliandave]

Municipalities do flush their systems twice a year and we always receive notices that water may be discoloured over a few weeks as they move around the town. If you have a cold water inline filter as my water softener does you will see the yellow sediment and I always wait until after the flushing period has ended before replacing that filter.

I go through this every year and here are the steps I follow to clear it up:

If the hot water is orange-y it is probably the water heater rust sediment being kicked up and it should settle - hot water is drawn from the top of the tank. This could have happened because you mention 'The cold water is clear we had a new water line installed last fall after the sewer line collapsed so the lawn was torn up.' Clear cold water indicates the city line work is providing clean water. Shutting the water line off for a period would put air pockets in the pipes and the force of bleeding all your taps could easily have stirred up the hot water tank contents.

Have you drained the hot water tank to empty yet? After turning off the basement water main, outflow valve and gas/electricity to the tank, of course. So only the current tank water is sent down the basement drain, then open the petcocks again and refill the tank before turning the gas/electricity back on. A few days of running water through all the lines should be all clear cold & hot water.

If it's still coloured then you have a rusty tank problem. Sorry. Look into tankless water heaters for real long range savings.

'Can or should I wash my whites with warm water or will I risk the clothes turning dingy?'

Yes, the coloured water will stain & dull clothes so cold water is the way to go for now. I have found that Oxyclean powder removes any dinge from previously dirty-washed clothes and sheets.

Dave