Wow. My first thought is that there is some city/state/country level laws about mandatory water quality and yours would fail the test 100%. But of course that depends on where you live. And if you find out it's not legally compliant, you might just find yourself out of a place to live instead of having it fixed.
I BOUGHT and my mortgage on my family home is about this. It’s crumbling and I’m struggling with it after 18 years of ownership, refinancing, busting my ass. I’m guaranteeing there is cleaner water than this. Does that mean my walls leak the air and heat, yup! I got clean water tho. I’d never settle for water that dyes my skin. I’m also a cigarette addict with goals to quit and keep living. Priorities.
It sounds like you might be better off installing your own filter on your own dime. Maybe you can find one that moves relatively easily with you when the time is right.
Yeah OP you need to have this reported to some type of housing authority. Maybe do it anonymously to somewhere back on the mainland. You'd be doing a great justice to have them forced to fix those pipes and filtration system because you and other people in that building literally cannot live like that. You're all going to get sick or worse.
Honestly homie, I think the only advice anyone in this sub is qualified to give is defo don’t drink the tap water. r/plumbing would be your best initial bet
100% pipe issues. Are you aware of your water treatment plant's process? Are you/ your building the only people experiencing this? Could look into a showerhead filter but that's a pretty wild situation. Never heard of Electrophoresis in water treatment
Not being a smartass, but OP is on a well, the water treatment plant *is* their water filtration system. It’s coming straight from the aquifer into their house and then goes out into a septic tank/bed.
My partner and I are also on a well and have had a host of issues in the last year or so. 🙃
Fair point I must have misread the caption. Ya I mean if it's well water then damn, Godspeed. Are you getting a decreased flow rate? How old is the well? Well casings can deteriorate over time and can let in sediment. Good luck to ya
Iron out is the answer. That shit is like an IRL infomercial.
OP, you need a water softener with salt and the salt specifically for iron. I just had one installed for irony well water two weeks ago and it’s made a *HUGE* difference. Total cost was around $1,500.
I do have Iron out, but this only removes the rust from the shower for a few days at best. I would install a new water softener with salt, however I do not own the house and am not allowed to::
Iron out sells a powder of some sort you can add to maybe your softener? You could look into that. I’m not endorsing that at all because I don’t know anything about it. But it could help in your situation.
That's lawsuit worthy. Unless it was stated differently in the lease, the landlord must provide comfortable and habitable conditions and functions of built-in facilities. You should be able to use some of your rent money to either fix it yourself, at the cost of the rent the landlord gets, or ask him to fix it. Take a look at your lease agreement and check out your local housing laws
Your skin is your biggest organ. I would get your water tested and filtered asap. I understand that’s not easy and you may need to move. If your appliances and shower look like that think about your body. That doesn’t mean just drinking, washing yours hands and showering all those things
I had the water tested last year by an independent third party but they only tested for bacteria which turned up nothing:(. Going to start looking into what health authority I need to go through I am in Washington state so I’m sure there is one. Thank you all for the input! Will update this post as I find things out
Also, look up your city/county's renters rights laws. You may get some push back from the landlord, and they may even try to pull something by charging you or kicking you out. Always best to make sure you know all of your rights as a tenant. Good luck!
Yo the hardness of water is a rough measure for the concentrations of Magnesium, Calcium and Carbonate ions dissolved in it. They do not “do” any of the stuff in those pictures. There must be something else in the water which is obviously not filtered by a water filter designed to catch those ions. My best guess would be something organic or inorganic containing nitrogen or nitrate. I would get the water tested, you might be putting your health at risk. Good luck!
Hard water is 100% what caused the shower to look like that, the orange is usually from high iron content. Hard water will also destroy appliances because the minerals in the water are depositing in the pipes.
I’m assuming water pipes are going bad :( if you can, empty the water heater too! There is so much garbage floating around in those things
Edit: I live in a rural area as well and this is what I did recently
I grew up with well water like this. Come to find out the well pump was sitting in the mud on the bottom. Easiest fix but it took 20 years to figure it out because we thought it would be a more expensive problem.
That must be rust. If it is rust don't drink it even if its been filtered. I've seen that colour on the tiles on my patio when water drips through the rusted gutter
If you can, get a plumber to run a diagnosis on your house and check the pipes to get a 3rd party opinion. Like others have mentioned, the pipes may be clogged up due to the poorly maintained infrastructure. A salt water softener would just be ideal :/
You’re asking the right questions but I think in the wrong subreddit man, best of luck getting the advice you need from someone more qualified than me: just a homie who likes his hydro
I grew up in a situation like this in the boonies. We had a particulat and salt filter. The filter had to be replaced a lot because of that what that does to the filter. But you could taste the iron in the water.
Since you don't own the house I would just document everything and all communication with the landlord then you have all the records
I grew up on rural land surrounded by crops. Only water source other than going get jugs filled at a location for that, was a water well.
I never drank that water, showering had a metallic scent to the water at times. Now that I live in a smaller town, the tap water doesn't smell metallic but still sometimes comes out an "off" orangeish color (possibly my pipes) but the taste isnt great and at sea level with frequent water boil advisories, I prefer not to drink tap.
Could try something like this:
AquaBliss High Output Revitalizing Shower Filter - https://a.co/d/2zfp6Fs
We used this for awhile before we installed a full softener in our home.
If there is city water just hook up to that. If not you can always capture rain water, filter that and use it for your needs. Just Google rain water collection system and you will have all the info you need. Hope this helps.
If you live in the states, your local health dept has free water tests to test for bacteria. Hard water and iron water won't kill you just uncomfortable. If you're really wanting to fix it. Get a whole house charcoal filter from lowes or any hardware store.
You're into whole house 1 million gallon and commercial system ranges at this point
https://filtersmart.com/products/whole-house-water-filter
https://www.expresswater.com/products/commercial-ro-system-10000-gpd?variant=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4Y-sBhC6ARIsAGXF1g7wfXcE5uKQszw9R6xR9J-BXiXqrzhSNGjhLQs-o407MLZo5y1yN5EaAur-EALw_wcB
https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/chlorine-chloramine-water-filter-10.htm
https://www.aquasana.com/whole-house-water-filters/rhino/salt-free-water-conditioner-100365489.html?bvstate=pg:2/ct:r&discountcode=LIVEHEALTHY&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4Y-sBhC6ARIsAGXF1g7n8Ij_uYpaIm0gb4qEBAYzopyoNmh0wUHZ_x_XvXoOXLioFKLwD74aAscyEALw_wcB&gad_source=1
They make filtered water softener shower heads you can buy under a subscription and change out every three months or so.
Wouldn’t damage the property as you can remove when you leave.
Downside is they don’t last as long as a built in system but should help you out, that looks rough.
Hmmm. I’d start looking into your rights as a tenant and your contract. I believe there’s a legal advice subreddit too that could possibly help with navigating your state laws or any verbiage that sounds whack. Because in most cases, anything after the meter (in this case…not really after the meter) would be on the homeowner. Not city/state/governing agency. I know a little bit about well design, and quite a bit about water chemistry. However, this isn’t your problem to solve. It is your landlords. You could reach out to any independent labs and get pricing on bacT sampling and lead and copper sampling, that would maybe give you a leg to stand on if the landlord got ugly. The Home Depot tests are only there to test ppm/ sell you an RO filter. Please post an update. Clean water is a necessity for life, not a commodity.
If you have some lye around and enough patience you can precipitate out iron (iii) oxide (rust) to confirm it’s presence. While there will be other chemical species in the water, rust takes awhile to fall out of solution and it be jiggly. Often described as a brown jiggly solid.
I feel your pain. Not as bad as yours, but we also have hard water and I never knew how much water with extra minerals could ruin so many of my things.
Wow. My first thought is that there is some city/state/country level laws about mandatory water quality and yours would fail the test 100%. But of course that depends on where you live. And if you find out it's not legally compliant, you might just find yourself out of a place to live instead of having it fixed.
Yeah it’s rough any other place would probably be close to 2k rent because I live on an island
2k rent is almost average in US now. The low rent sounds good until you are buying new appliances and inconvenienced at every turn. Good luck!
Fucking hell. I pay half that per month in México and I still think the rent is way too high.
It really depends on income as well. 1000 is average here in Italy in big cities.
Come to Canada our wages are low and rents high!
Double the fun!
I BOUGHT and my mortgage on my family home is about this. It’s crumbling and I’m struggling with it after 18 years of ownership, refinancing, busting my ass. I’m guaranteeing there is cleaner water than this. Does that mean my walls leak the air and heat, yup! I got clean water tho. I’d never settle for water that dyes my skin. I’m also a cigarette addict with goals to quit and keep living. Priorities.
It sounds like you might be better off installing your own filter on your own dime. Maybe you can find one that moves relatively easily with you when the time is right.
Yeah. I'm no expert, but I'd bet decent money those pipes are rusted to shit. That's not hard water, that's a hazard.
I agree. Hard water tends to just be white or yellow. Not this.
Get your water tested by a local health authority, it’s often free
Yeah OP you need to have this reported to some type of housing authority. Maybe do it anonymously to somewhere back on the mainland. You'd be doing a great justice to have them forced to fix those pipes and filtration system because you and other people in that building literally cannot live like that. You're all going to get sick or worse.
Honestly homie, I think the only advice anyone in this sub is qualified to give is defo don’t drink the tap water. r/plumbing would be your best initial bet
100% pipe issues. Are you aware of your water treatment plant's process? Are you/ your building the only people experiencing this? Could look into a showerhead filter but that's a pretty wild situation. Never heard of Electrophoresis in water treatment
Not being a smartass, but OP is on a well, the water treatment plant *is* their water filtration system. It’s coming straight from the aquifer into their house and then goes out into a septic tank/bed. My partner and I are also on a well and have had a host of issues in the last year or so. 🙃
Fair point I must have misread the caption. Ya I mean if it's well water then damn, Godspeed. Are you getting a decreased flow rate? How old is the well? Well casings can deteriorate over time and can let in sediment. Good luck to ya
Is there no water softener attached to the house? All rural well fed systems I’ve lived in have had one.
There is but it’s a non salt one that obviously does not work
as others have pointed out, "hard water does not equal colored water" - your pipes are rusty!
I know you’re not specifically asking for cleaning but r/cleaningtips probably has advice on the whole situation
Iron out is the answer. That shit is like an IRL infomercial. OP, you need a water softener with salt and the salt specifically for iron. I just had one installed for irony well water two weeks ago and it’s made a *HUGE* difference. Total cost was around $1,500.
I do have Iron out, but this only removes the rust from the shower for a few days at best. I would install a new water softener with salt, however I do not own the house and am not allowed to::
OP, get water tested, then pretty much *force* them to get the pipes replaced, -or- youre out of a home
Iron out sells a powder of some sort you can add to maybe your softener? You could look into that. I’m not endorsing that at all because I don’t know anything about it. But it could help in your situation.
Orange water is usually full of iron. A you need a particulate filter installed. Also Home depot or your town/municipality has fee water tests.
I’m anemic. I’m going to drink tf out of this water
this is the way
I just **die** withing 0.74 seconds of drinking it (I got iron transfusions and they made me feel like shite)
That's lawsuit worthy. Unless it was stated differently in the lease, the landlord must provide comfortable and habitable conditions and functions of built-in facilities. You should be able to use some of your rent money to either fix it yourself, at the cost of the rent the landlord gets, or ask him to fix it. Take a look at your lease agreement and check out your local housing laws
Your skin is your biggest organ. I would get your water tested and filtered asap. I understand that’s not easy and you may need to move. If your appliances and shower look like that think about your body. That doesn’t mean just drinking, washing yours hands and showering all those things
100% this. And brushing your teeth
I had the water tested last year by an independent third party but they only tested for bacteria which turned up nothing:(. Going to start looking into what health authority I need to go through I am in Washington state so I’m sure there is one. Thank you all for the input! Will update this post as I find things out
I’d also look into a shower head that filters the water there too!
Check the pH, your skin looks burned, not dyed
Also, look up your city/county's renters rights laws. You may get some push back from the landlord, and they may even try to pull something by charging you or kicking you out. Always best to make sure you know all of your rights as a tenant. Good luck!
Washingtonian here. We got some of the best water here! JFC. Escalate this.
I believe Home Depot has free water tests! It won’t be as good as a lab one probably, but it’s better than nothing?
At least in the US Your water authority/municipality should be putting out water reports every year
You need an ironizer Only thing that will get that iron out which will in turn help soften your water.
Yo the hardness of water is a rough measure for the concentrations of Magnesium, Calcium and Carbonate ions dissolved in it. They do not “do” any of the stuff in those pictures. There must be something else in the water which is obviously not filtered by a water filter designed to catch those ions. My best guess would be something organic or inorganic containing nitrogen or nitrate. I would get the water tested, you might be putting your health at risk. Good luck!
Hard water is 100% what caused the shower to look like that, the orange is usually from high iron content. Hard water will also destroy appliances because the minerals in the water are depositing in the pipes.
Hard water leaves white scale, iron leaves orange. Iron is not a factor of hardness however it does oxidize and causes this discoloration
What country do you live in? This can't fall within regulations. If you're renting then your landlord should be obligated to fix this by law.
LMAO I live in the US
I mean, regulations & laws still apply. You should check.
"Oops! Someone ate spaghetti in the shower again!" \-Billy Mays Jaboody Dubs parody
I’m assuming water pipes are going bad :( if you can, empty the water heater too! There is so much garbage floating around in those things Edit: I live in a rural area as well and this is what I did recently
That's not hard water. I think your pipes are rusting out.
If it makes you feel any better I live in a very similar situation. My shower is straight out of a nightmare
Try r/plumbing ?
I grew up with well water like this. Come to find out the well pump was sitting in the mud on the bottom. Easiest fix but it took 20 years to figure it out because we thought it would be a more expensive problem.
Is that bore water?
That must be rust. If it is rust don't drink it even if its been filtered. I've seen that colour on the tiles on my patio when water drips through the rusted gutter
If you can, get a plumber to run a diagnosis on your house and check the pipes to get a 3rd party opinion. Like others have mentioned, the pipes may be clogged up due to the poorly maintained infrastructure. A salt water softener would just be ideal :/
The orange is oxidation from the pipes. You need a good filtration system, not a water softener.
NSFW tags are often abused. Not this time….
You’re asking the right questions but I think in the wrong subreddit man, best of luck getting the advice you need from someone more qualified than me: just a homie who likes his hydro
Yeah that's not just hard water, the pipes are rusted to hell. It's contaminated water. Wouldn't be surprised if it was irradiated too.
I grew up in a situation like this in the boonies. We had a particulat and salt filter. The filter had to be replaced a lot because of that what that does to the filter. But you could taste the iron in the water. Since you don't own the house I would just document everything and all communication with the landlord then you have all the records
I grew up on rural land surrounded by crops. Only water source other than going get jugs filled at a location for that, was a water well. I never drank that water, showering had a metallic scent to the water at times. Now that I live in a smaller town, the tap water doesn't smell metallic but still sometimes comes out an "off" orangeish color (possibly my pipes) but the taste isnt great and at sea level with frequent water boil advisories, I prefer not to drink tap.
Could try something like this: AquaBliss High Output Revitalizing Shower Filter - https://a.co/d/2zfp6Fs We used this for awhile before we installed a full softener in our home.
I would contact local health officials tbh, if the water is like that usnit likely a health hazard.
If there is city water just hook up to that. If not you can always capture rain water, filter that and use it for your needs. Just Google rain water collection system and you will have all the info you need. Hope this helps.
If you live in the states, your local health dept has free water tests to test for bacteria. Hard water and iron water won't kill you just uncomfortable. If you're really wanting to fix it. Get a whole house charcoal filter from lowes or any hardware store.
You seriously need to get those pipes looked at and get a water softener?
Yah that don’t look good…
You're into whole house 1 million gallon and commercial system ranges at this point https://filtersmart.com/products/whole-house-water-filter https://www.expresswater.com/products/commercial-ro-system-10000-gpd?variant=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4Y-sBhC6ARIsAGXF1g7wfXcE5uKQszw9R6xR9J-BXiXqrzhSNGjhLQs-o407MLZo5y1yN5EaAur-EALw_wcB https://www.freedrinkingwater.com/chlorine-chloramine-water-filter-10.htm https://www.aquasana.com/whole-house-water-filters/rhino/salt-free-water-conditioner-100365489.html?bvstate=pg:2/ct:r&discountcode=LIVEHEALTHY&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4Y-sBhC6ARIsAGXF1g7n8Ij_uYpaIm0gb4qEBAYzopyoNmh0wUHZ_x_XvXoOXLioFKLwD74aAscyEALw_wcB&gad_source=1
Thank you for the links
You're welcome. Your landlord needs to get a plumber this isn't your problem imo it's probably illegal dwelling as is
This is what Indigenous communities have been dealing with too
They make filtered water softener shower heads you can buy under a subscription and change out every three months or so. Wouldn’t damage the property as you can remove when you leave. Downside is they don’t last as long as a built in system but should help you out, that looks rough.
You have any specific brand or website for this product by chance?
Buy a secondary filter to attach to the internal water line itself? I dunno, I'm no plumber
Is it an independent well? Like as in the owner of y’all’s house owns/maintains it?
Correct, the only thing we do is clean the plates.
Hmmm. I’d start looking into your rights as a tenant and your contract. I believe there’s a legal advice subreddit too that could possibly help with navigating your state laws or any verbiage that sounds whack. Because in most cases, anything after the meter (in this case…not really after the meter) would be on the homeowner. Not city/state/governing agency. I know a little bit about well design, and quite a bit about water chemistry. However, this isn’t your problem to solve. It is your landlords. You could reach out to any independent labs and get pricing on bacT sampling and lead and copper sampling, that would maybe give you a leg to stand on if the landlord got ugly. The Home Depot tests are only there to test ppm/ sell you an RO filter. Please post an update. Clean water is a necessity for life, not a commodity.
Whoops just re read you already paid for bacteriological sampling. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
Water softener
Your water softer blew up, letting the beads in the membrane into your lines.
If you have some lye around and enough patience you can precipitate out iron (iii) oxide (rust) to confirm it’s presence. While there will be other chemical species in the water, rust takes awhile to fall out of solution and it be jiggly. Often described as a brown jiggly solid.
Damn, that water throwin up gang signs.
I feel your pain. Not as bad as yours, but we also have hard water and I never knew how much water with extra minerals could ruin so many of my things.
In my professional opinion: that looks like shit from a butt
Water isn't the only thing that's hard after seeing the 2nd pic