I looked at a 5 year old house. The water heater has an expansion tank on it. The pipes are copper. I noticed in the bath sinks that the hot water ran rust-colored for a bit before clearing up. I don’t recall seeing that in the kitchen sink. Anyone know what could be causing that? Does it have anything to do with the expansion tank?
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If the system is copper piped, then the rust comes from an attached fixture that contains iron plumbing parts...i.e. rusted hot water tank, expansion tank, internal faucet part, iron pipe used to finish a fixture instalation,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,or from the water supply........particularly if it is a private well.
Lots of possibilities........go back again.............look closer.................Iron Helix
Vacant house? There is usually/often a short iron fitting that fixtures are attached to and rust will build up over time and show up for a second or two when a faucet is first turned on.
The owners were there, but partially moved out. Don't know if the bath sinks were getting used much at all. If it's rust in the fixture locally, that would explain why the water was fine in the kitchen sink. Come to think of it, I ran water in the garden tub, too and there was no rust. I'm starting to think that the sinks only have a fitting that is rusted--all fixtures are original.......and only the hot water, besides. I guess I'll start my detective work there! Thanks for the info!