Turning on the tap to brown, rusty or cloudy water is alarming — but the cause ranges from a harmless municipal hiccup to a geyser on its way out. Here is how to read what you are seeing.
The common causes
- Mains sediment — after a supply interruption or a repair in your street, rust and sediment in the municipal pipes get stirred up. This usually clears after running the cold tap for a minute.
- Old galvanised pipes — corroding internal pipework sheds rust into the water, often worse first thing in the morning.
- A corroding geyser — if only the hot water is brown, the geyser is the prime suspect.
The quick diagnostic
Run the cold tap for a minute. If it clears, it is almost certainly mains sediment and will settle. If it persists, or only the hot side is discoloured, the problem is on your side — pipes or geyser.
When to act
Short-term discolouration from the mains is usually not dangerous, though it can stain laundry. Persistent brown water deserves investigation — corroding pipes and a deteriorating geyser both tend to get worse and can end in a leak. Brown hot water in particular is a sign your geyser needs a service or inspection before it fails.
The lasting fix
Where sediment recurs, whole-house water filtration resolves it. If we trace it to pipework or the geyser, we will tell you straight whether it is a service or a replacement. Get it checked.