My city's water is brown.

[engiskhan]

I use r/o water reconstituted with kent r/o right, but still, the water's so brown that it looks like shitwater straight out of the toilet. I wonder if I should be concerned with any of this.

I noticed that the first canister in my r/o unit has turned the brownish color too.

I live in North Dakota and it's warming up a bit. would this discoloration be because of melting snow and ice or maybe the city's flushing the pipes out? Or worst case scenario, maybe it's some kind of bacterial bloom?

[M0oN]

I'd call the number on your water bill and ask them about it...seems strange to me...

[RAWesolowski]

Is the discolored water also in your toilets? It's an indication that the city is flushing the water lines and stirring up sediment in the pipes or , if you live near new contruction, the addition of a new building may create the same thing.

You should have a whole house filter for any water entering your house after the water meter. It is a 20 micron pleated filter that can be spliced into the water line. It helps to knock down some of the stuff in your water. Nice thing to do so the stuff doesn't get to your hot water heater, water softener or to you.

[Rick_May]

Relax, I get the same thing here. I’d bet its dirt from the spring run off, not a problem other then it looks bad. Usually Water Companies use a flocculants to remove this stuff but in the spring it’s just too much. I might be worse because of flooding upstream.

[engiskhan]

I saw a write up on the city's web page. they said they're pumping water from some new clearwell tank and that the water's safe and sanitary. My r/o unit's first canister is now looking like it has tea in it.

I flushed my r/o membrane and that water was really, really brown so I've left it flush for 15 minutes or so. I wonder if my unit's messed up now.