Rust in Hot Water

[Andrew Stonier]

I am currently getting a rust coloration when I use my hot water(only not the cold). My water heater is less than 5years old and is rust free. I darined the heater and ran the showers abd fausets to flush this cleared it up for about two days and now the coloration is back. Any Ideas as to what the cause is and what I can do about it?

[GaryPurolite1Participant]

Thjs is most likely caused by a defect in the liner inside your water heater. It is not correctable. Only replacement of the water heater with one with an intact liner is the answer.

Another possible cause is a galvanic cell on the feed water line to your water heater. This is unlikely but possible. The galvanic cell would be wherever dissimilar metals are connected. Such as galvanized iron pipe or fittings are connected to copper pipe or fittings. This causes the iron to be dissolved into the water. To discolor your water in the water heater would mean either many galvanic cells or a lot of galvanized iron pipe with a little bit of copper. Another cause of that could be electrical grounding to you plumbing system.

[fourth yearParticipant]

There are many possibilities. There may be a steel pipe or fitting at the water heater that is rusting on the inside and causing the color. If it is an electric water heater and you have a tank with a Duron liner and have recently had an element replaced they could have used the wrong element and that can cause the rust color. It can be the tank itself corroding on the inside.

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