Brown water for 2-3 seconds

[Martin begley]

Please forgive my lack of knowledge but I thought i'd ask if anyone would have any idea on how to locate the following problem. I have had dynorod out who 'drained down?' tanks but to no avail:

Problem:
in an upstairs bathroom when I run the hot and cold sink taps i get brown water for 2-3 seconds then it runs clear. I also get this brown water in the toilet and brown water that drips from the bottom of my electric shower( I see the stains on the tiles). It does not appear that the brown water comes out the shower head nor the bath hot and cold taps. I do not use the shower ( Mira model) due to the drip as I think no water should drip from it. The water that drips appears to from inside the casing rather than any valve underneath.

there are three bathrooms, no issues on any other water supplies or showers.
There is a hot water tank next to the bathroom in question which is heated from the boiler downstairs and a cold water tank in the loft. House is 17 years old. The second shower/bathroom takes a feed from the hot water tank I am led to believe and there is no brown water.

When we moved in 1 year ago we got dynorod out and they drained down the tank in the loft but to no avail and they left. this time I am trying to narrow down the issue so that I can ask dynorod to resolve prior to an agreement coming to an end.

If a pipe is rusting, is there a way to detect where it is? or do you think there is a rusty pipe and there is nothing that can be done until it bursts?

Maybe with the combination of events above someone may be able to shed some light on a possible problem and where it may lie.

Many thanks for taking the time to read.

 

[Riley]

Old steel pipe somewhere on the system gradually deteriorating

 

[Riley]

Very surprised that Dynorod didn’t suggest that

 

[Rob Foster]

Dynorod must be slipping - normally they are so keen to sell extras like BG thats how they make a profit on each job. BG used to give out champers for sales of anything on their list, CO alarms, magnacleans
now they just threaten to terminate the the fitter

 

[Martin begley]

Hi, Thanks for you replies. My friend had a look at the shower which had been leaking brown sludgee at the tiles/hole in the wall where pipe comes through and there was this orange stain/sludge on the tile behind the shower casing which was causing an orange drip down the tiles. All fixed now.

this confused the issue of the brown water out the taps , we thought it was coming out the shower as well which was a separate issue.

The dynorod guy came saturday am and took me into the loft and showed me a tank with about a cm of brown sludge on the bottom. Dynorod said he/they cannot clean it at present, but can supply me with a quote. I said no and asked him to show me how to turn off the water to do so. 2 hours later it was detolled to within an inch of its life.

What threw us is that original dynorod engineer drained the tank and refilled it, he must have saw the dirt. so we thought it was nothing to do with the tank.

It was a bit awkward to clean as the exit holes on the tank were about 2 inches from the bottom, so took a while as all residue was lying underneath these holes.

So BG/Dynorod contract ended today. 1 year in this home and the price was up from £23 per month to £44.

Oh and the "you need a £660 powerflush" before they even entered my home last year. Told me my boiler was not a "good one" but went to service it and turned it off and ran the hot tap and could not figure out why there was still hot water ( as it was not a combi) even I knew this. He then said embarissingy oh it's a good boiler with an old casing! Seriously!

But the young dynorod guy who came this weekend was bang on the money.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

might be worth dropping a couple of sterilising tablets in

 

[Martin begley]

 

[Martin begley]

Some before and after pictures there.

Thanks, have learned a lot and sterilising tablets will have a look at.

 

[Rob Foster]

you could have dropped a magnet in that might have got a lot of the brown sludge

 

[ShaunCorbs]

you could have dropped a magnet in that might have got a lot of the brown sludge

wont be metal

 

[Riley]

Also I’d be more concerned as to the cause of the sludge could have a pumping over issue or a blockage as it could just come back

 

[Martin begley]

Hi, Think you are correct. Brown water for 2-3 seconds has returned in the bathroom sink taps. I have not yet looked in the tank, will do over the weekend. Seems to be cold tap at sink only.

Story goes is that maybe 7 or so years ago ( house 18 years old) someone had an affair and their partner turned the taps on throughout the house and left them running. Days later water appears coming out front door and under garage door so neighbour has to break in and turn off all the water.

I believe the house gets repossessed and sold as seen at auction maybe.

New buyer fixes issues, three new bathrooms, new kitchen, new boiler, new floors etc. and lives in the house for some time. ( I moved into a house(very small) 3 doors down at the same time). The new buyer never appears to be at the house. Maybe 3-4 nights per month for nearly 6 years. He did tell me he planned for the house to be his home with his partner but i do not think that worked out either. House goes up for sale, we purchased. Been in the house 1 year with not many issues. Some leaking taps, burst pipes in garage, faulty external lights, big gaps in skirting boards but nothing major apart from this brown water.

When i did the cleanup of the water tank last week I emptied and refilled 3 times but used the bath taps to empty the water. Im hoping that there is still muck in the pipes and taking time to clear but i don't think this is likely.

I did notice there was a "WARNING" sticker on the tank saying "DO NOT USE" and that all water systems have been turned off as well as boilers etc...or something to those words. I'm thinking this is from when the flood happened 7 or so years ago and it was repossessed.

I could always give dynorod a call again. Signed up for another homecare 4 contract 3 days after the old one expired. In another name of course with introductory pricing and £68 cashback. (It was a BG/Dynorod engineer that told me to do this as he did each year he let on).

 

[Riley]

Are both your hot and cold taps fed from the tank?

 

[Riley]

Do you get the same at your kitchen sink

 

[Martin begley]

Hi, May I also ask is the heating system and the cold water system connected? I was under the impression that they were two separate systems.

The reason I ask is that BG told me I need a powerflush before they even looked at any boilers when they came to do a service. They said it was because there was sludge on the heat exchanger that they had to change. But that was for a previous customer.

If the cold water tank is in the loft directly above the hot water tank does this mean any brown water is taken from the cold tank and into the hot water tank? And if the water feed into the house may be contaminated does this mean that when water is put into the heating system, ie - radiators etc is it just dirty brown water? So in theory would a powerflush be useless if the dirty water issue just brings the dirt back into the heating system?

there is no heating issues or cold spots on radiators, i did check them all a while back and just clear water that comes out when bled.

But all water downstairs from mains appears clean. But maybe it is not and takes time to build up as it does in the cold water tank ( still to reconfirm)

Hope this makes sense. Excuse my stupid questions or theories as I have no idea on DIY and plumbing etc. Many thanks martin.

 

[Martin begley]

Hi Riley,

Kitchen sink taps are fed from cold mains and hot water from upstairs hot storage tank ( poor pressure).

Upstairs taps are fed from cold water storage tank and hot water storage tank.

But yes, upstairs brown water from both hot and cold. ( one bathroom only) but i think it is the same in other bathrooms but just cannot see the change in colour. (I'm guessing)

Many thanks

 

[Riley]

How many Tanks in loft

 

[Martin begley]

Hi, Just the one.

 

[Riley]

Is your heating system sealed? Ie filling loop somewhere?? Could be a primatic cylinder

 

[Martin begley]

hi, sticker on the back of the hot water tank says an "indirect cylinder"
says "heating cold feed"
"cold feed and vent required"
"hercal cylinder bs1"
"grade 3"

Cold storage tank directly above this tank in the loft.

pretty awkward to see the details. The actuator shown here in the image had been replaced by BG about 9 months ago. I believe when the hot water timer was on, the heating would also come on. But this actuator fixed the issue.

Hope someone can help in order i can call up BG and they can resolve the whole issue if its the heating or the water pipes rather than pull the wool over my eyes.

Many thanks for taking the time to read.

 

[Riley]

So is your heating system sealed?? What type of boiler do you have please??

 

[Martin begley]

Hi, I have an Alpha CD28s Boiler.

 

[Riley]

Have you been having to top up pressure a lot or have you noticed The pressure on the boiler fluctuating whilst in use and rest

 

[Riley]

On top of that have you noticed any of the overflows/ warning pipes coming from the loft dripping or the prv outlet going to outside from the boiler dripping

 

[Martin begley]

Hi, I have never had to top up the pressure. The kids play outside a lot and I with them and have never seen any water dripping from the white pipe that comes out of the wall in the upper part of the house nor the copper pipe that comes out the wall directly below the boiler. I did see it drip last march but this was because the pipe had frozen due to the snow. the plastic pipe that comes out of the boiler through the wall and into the ground. Had to defrost it to stop water dripping from underneath the boiler.

 

[Riley]

Shame. I was leaning towards the coil in your cylinder having split and your dirty central heating water mixing int the water in the cylinder

 

[Martin begley]

Had a look in my cold water tank once again. All clear, even a wee swipe at the bottom to check but all clean. Here is onto dynorod once again but I really do not think they will be able to solve it.

 

[Martin begley]

And brown water pouring out the taps, cold especially. Hey ho!

 

[Martin begley]

Or maybe the taps are knackerd? Would you get brown water out a tap if it was corroded inside? Think they are cheap but look good (first plumber to have a look had to replace some plastic bit underneath that stopped them from turning 90 degrees) said they were cheap taps.!

 

[ShaunCorbs]

could be residue left over

 

[Riley]

Are you 100% positive the house is only 18years old

 

[Riley]

And more to the point are you 100% sure it’s all piped in copper