why is my water yellow

[steff503]

No the cold comes out clear but will yellow if heated.
The anti freeze is pink.


I too would love to find the source of the yellow.

[Paul Deel]

In reply to your response to my post. Yes rotten egg smell is sulfur which is found in all sorts of bad water, including iron bacteria water. Eastern states water may not have the sulfides our desert water has and may have a different chemistry than I am familiar with here however.

You are correct that the color produced by bacteria could have colored the water before it was "cooked out" in the solar tank. I would think that this would show up in the cold water also since it would have entered in the cold water side of the solar tank. A check of the toilet tank might give some evidence of this.

My question about the plumbing system is because steel water pipes are notorious for producing rusty water. Especially after the water has been turned off then on or if something else causes the rust to start moving. I once serviced an apartment house in the flight path of LAX. Every time a plane went overhead for a landing they would get a shot of rusty water. We installed a phosphate feeder.

The copper heat exchanger raises concerns for me if there is also steel in the system. Especially so if some of that steel is connected to the solar storage tank. Electrolysis is a law of nature that is oftentimes difficult to conquer.

Yes, lets hope the anti freeze is propylene glycol. Especially since this is not a jacketed heat exchanger. Some antifreeze mixtures do contain rust inhibitors though. The antifreeze I have seen is orange in color. I don't know if that is an industry standard for antifreeze.

Above about 160 deg F the chemistry of water in relation to steel pipes change. For example a galvanized steel pipe that would be the material of choice for low temp domestic water, is attacked by the zinc galvanizing and the pipe rapidly corrodes. This is why only black iron is used in high temp applications. Water heaters with high temperature uses, example: a commercial WH producing 180 deg F water for a dishwasher, will only last a few years and carries a very limited warranty. Though the 304 Stainless in this tank is rated for high temps; not all SS is recommended for Solar storage tanks.

You had good feed back questions. I'm a learner just like all of you are. I am as eager to learn as I am to share my insights with those who can benefit from them. I am curious to learn the real cause of this yellow water.

[Naptown]

Does the water come out clear and turns yellow after sitting a while?

[steff503]

Hubby built the place so we know there are no iron pipes.
No bad smell or taste.
Tank piping is only about 4 months old so any galvanized nipples should not have rusted already.

Interesting thing... We increase the town population in July and August by about 200%. The town opens a new well for summer. They have now closed that well, summer folks went home. No more yellow.

When we installed the new tank we ran hot water from it into the existing propane tank. Now follow my thought process here. IF there was rust eating bacteria in the new town well and the yellow is the result of said bacteria dying, then if my old tank was rusted the bacteria would have found a home and flourished. By connecting the two, bacteria could settle in the new tank. If the new tank was not fully flushed it might have harbored some bacteria. If there was never any rust in the system, like the other units, they have new electric tanks, then the bacteria would flow out the faucet unnoticed.

Not sure if that makes sense or not?

[russ]

[QUOTE=Paul Deel;85832]Yellow water is usually rust. Iron bacteria can smell like rotten eggs. Thought that was sulfur

185 deg F water rules out bacteria in my book. Not at all and the color could be produced before they cooked

Is your Apt building plumbed with iron pipe? This could be the source of yellow water for both tanks.
How so?

If you have any iron/steel pipe in the tank piping this could cause corrosion problems. How so?

185 degrees is really hot for any tank. Funny things start to happen when water temps exceed 160 deg F. Sounds cute but what kind of funny things?

Does the yellow water have an unusual taste or smell? Could a leaking heat exchanger with glycol antifreeze in the HTF (heat transfer fluid) be causing the discoloration?[/QUOTEIf glycol let us hope it is propylene glycol!

[Paul Deel]

UOTE=steff503;83618]I have a direct, single coil tank with back up electric. The water comes out yellow. Is there any one thing that could cause this? We have flushed the tank but after it heats the water is yellow.
I have an other water heater, propane, same water supply it is not yellow. Although before we got this system the water from the propane heater was yellow.
I had the water dpt out they did not know what could cause it.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Steff[/QUOTE]Yellow water is usually rust. Iron bacteria can smell like rotten eggs. 185 deg F water rules out bacteria in my book. Is your Apt building plumbed with iron pipe? This could be the source of yellow water for both tanks. It doesn't have to be yellow all the time.
Your water heater has a stainless steel tank with a copper heat exchanger. If you have any iron/steel pipe in the tank piping this could cause corrosion problems. The manufacturer has included an anode rod. They say it is for water purification. Not sure how the Chinese came up with that translation. Magnesium rods are for corrosion protection.(rusting). The copper heat exchanger is probably what they are protecting against.
You can check the type of water coming from the utility by looking in your toilet tank. Yellow silt or yellow water in the tank is from the cold water system before it goes through the water heater. 185 degrees is really hot for any tank. Funny things start to happen when water temps exceed 160 deg F.
Does the yellow water have an unusual taste or smell? Could a leaking heat exchanger with glycol antifreeze in the HTF (heat transfer fluid) be causing the discoloration?

[LucMan]

The easy solution is to switch to your propane fired WH for several days and see if the water is coming out yellow also. If so the problem is in the water or water line to the house. If not then the problem is in the solar water heater. I am not familiar with the solar tank that you have but it surprised me that it had a magnesium anode rod in a stainless steel tank. It may be of the Chinese variety that has quality control issues. Another issue is that most solar tanks are not rated for 185 degree water, 160 degrees is usually the recommended max temp. If you can achieve 185 degrees your array most likely is oversized.

[FloridaSun]

I would check the 5th apartment sewer line.

funny you should mention that. My first thought on seeing "why is my water yellow" was.... don't eat the yellow snow.

[Sunking]

The strangest part is we have 5 apartments on the property. All 5 are before us in the water line.

I would check the 5th apartment sewer line.

[steff503]

The strangest part is we have 5 apartments on the property. All 5 are before us in the water line. None of those apt. have yellow water. So it can not be water source, although all those have electric water heaters, we have always had propane and now solar. Ours gets much hotter than theirs, much hotter. I would have thought that 185 degree water would have killed any bacteria.

We have them separated, they were in series.

I am waiting till summer ends. We have a very large influx of summer guests in our town. The population goes from about 20,000 to about 60,000 during July and August. I wonder if the town opens a new well. if it goes away when everyone leaves I will know for sure.

[inetdog]

I have a direct, single coil tank with back up electric. The water comes out yellow. Is there any one thing that could cause this? We have flushed the tank but after it heats the water is yellow.
I have an other water heater, propane, same water supply it is not yellow. Although before we got this system the water from the propane heater was yellow.
I had the water dpt out they did not know what could cause it.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

Steff

If I understand this correctly, you now have two heaters in parallel (series?) and the water coming out of the existing propane heater is not yellow any more but the water from the solar tank is?
That hints strongly at some sort of electrically-based chemical phenomenon in play, but does not rule out a bacterial problem. If you just turn off the heat to the new tank does the water from the old heater start to turn yellow? Does turning off the heat to the solar tank (shut off valve in piping or cover the solar thermal panels) cause that water to go back to clear?
Any noticeable change in the taste of the water?

[Robert1234]

Or in your pipes. Great quote you can take to the bank... "Life will always find a way." Bacteria love to form biofilms. I'm sure others in your area have experienced the same before. As Sunking said, talk to you local health department. They probably can help lead you to a solution.

[steff503]

OK, After the replies on here and some further research I think I have some rust loving bacteria going on.
My question is If this is what was happening in the old tank, How did it get into my new tank. I did for a while preheat my water with the panels on the roof and send it to the old tank. Now that we finished installing the new tank and put the polyglycol in the panels how can anything get from old tank to new? even if we went from new tank to old then to the sink for a while could it have backed up with the pressure?
Is this in my water source? We have a very large summer population here and the town opens additional well for summer.
Is it possible what ever this is, is in those wells?

[russ]

Well it's back!!
Once again yellow water. I got a water test kit, tested for Ph, Chlorine,Hardness, Iron, Copper, Nitrites and Nitrates, all results good.
So any other ideas?

Many places the state or county do it free or low cost.

[Robert1234]

Echo to the "get professional help". Sounds like this could be bacterial. Google terms like Crenothrix, Leptothrix, and Gallionella.