I have brown water coming out of the faucets in the bathroom only when the hot water is turned on.

[veehee]

Is the rust harmful? After I run the water in the bath it clears up.

[mmyk72]

I thought all water heat has a sacrificial anode rod. But I looked at the top of my water heater (50 gallon, 7 yrs old, gas) and see no signs of one.

Also, it has a 6 yrs warranty and I heard that the heater usually fails right when the warranty runs out. So I'm a bit worried.

How can I go about flushing my water heater if it's in the basement (no walkout bulk-head but has a window that is higher than the top of the heater). One option is to drain the water into the tank where a sump pump is installed - Question #1) Cab the gunk and rust from the heater will ruin the sump pump? Question #2) Do I turn off the gas supply after turning off the switch at the breaker?

[laura42]

If the problem is in the water heater, then why is it only the bathroom faucet and not the faucet in the kitchen? I also haven't noticed it much in the shower.

I try to remember to drain the water heater a few times a year and often use this mobile maintenance reminder to help me remember.

Maintenance Reminder - Allstate

[sanfrafarah]

Thanks for sharing. I have the same problem but the strange thing is that only one bathroom has brown/yellow water the other one is fine. How i it possible?

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by sanfrafarah

Thanks for sharing. I have the same problem but the strange thing is that only one bathroom has brown/yellow water the other one is fine. How i it possible?

Older plumbing in one part of the house or a longer pipe run to one bathroom may show more of a problem. Both of my bathrooms had some rust sediment visible after days of non-use, but the back one that wasn't used as often, had older plumbing, and a long pipe run had noticeably more sediment than the main bath. The water heater wasn't the issue, it was all due to old galvanized plumbing.