Wet, Yellow, Smelly

[TheFew]

Hi All,

My house has a number of bathrooms and toilets (it was once a B&B). Some of the sinks and toilets in the property produce water that is tinged yellow and has a metallic smell to it. Conversely other sinks and toilets are absolutely fine, with the water being clear and non-smelly.

If it matters, the water is softened.

Any ideas on what may be causing this and how to resolve it?

Thank you.

 

[Aquaheat]

@PullerGas do you get this problem with your kinked hose?

Jon

 

[jeff the gasman]

Could be cheap flexible hoses breaking down.
Did Fred West ever live there?

 

[stardanny]

Possible steel cold water storage tank is rusting if you got one in loft.

Daniel.

 

[Biggles..]

Wet, yellow and smelly......the contents of @jeff the gasman sock?

 

[jeff the gasman]

Wet, yellow and smelly......the contents of @jeff the gasman sock?

I've not been near that job Lee. However, I've lost that sock.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

I'd be checking for water storage cisterns, unlikely mains alone would be enough to satisfy requirements during peak demand, so I'd wager there is stored water somewhere. Steel cistern starting to go rusty, or there's something dead in it....

 

[TheFew]

No sure if we have a storage cistern. There is a plastic tank in the loft and two hot water cylinders in the airing cupboard (both of which look new-ish).

It is only the cold water that seems affected and the sinks and toilets that produce yellow water mostly don't have flexible pipes.

As mentioned, only some sinks/toilets exhibit this behaviour, so it is not a problem that is common to the whole water system..

 

[stardanny]

Does the supply for sinks and toilet come from storage tank in loft? Or run off the main supply?

Have you check the inside of the storage tank, maybe something in there?

Daniel

 

[hi1]

Kim Jong-un

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Clearly not the supply if only some outlets are affected. You need to be tracing back from the affected outlets, and finding where they are sourced from, as there could be one common point that's affecting them all. Without being there we cant see the set up, but given you say there are a number of bathrooms, I still suspect that there is some form of stored water on the premises.

Whilst it would be unlikely all the bathrooms demand water at once when the place was fully occupied as a B&B, it's possible that was taken into consideration when the place was plumbed, and unless the mains supply was sized to cope with that sort of demand, then the other alternative would be stored supplies, so outlets can be furnished as required during peak demands and then the storage replenished over a longer period once demand had ceased.

 

[TheFew]

Clearly not the supply if only some outlets are affected. You need to be tracing back from the affected outlets, and finding where they are sourced from, as there could be one common point that's affecting them all. Without being there we cant see the set up, but given you say there are a number of bathrooms, I still suspect that there is some form of stored water on the premises.

Whilst it would be unlikely all the bathrooms demand water at once when the place was fully occupied as a B&B, it's possible that was taken into consideration when the place was plumbed, and unless the mains supply was sized to cope with that sort of demand, then the other alternative would be stored supplies, so outlets can be furnished as required during peak demands and then the storage replenished over a longer period once demand had ceased.

That would make sense. Having explored all the lofts, only 1 of these has a tank which seems to be plastic. So perhaps I need to remove all of the insulation and look inside!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

I think you need to trace back and find out where the supply is coming from to the affected outlets, and take it from there.

 

[Agile]

That would make sense. Having explored all the lofts, only 1 of these has a tank which seems to be plastic. So perhaps I need to remove all of the insulation and look inside!

Run some affected taps and see if the ball valve in that tank opens as the level fslls .

Tony

 

[TheFew]

I have looked in my loft areas and can only find one tank. This is a big black plastic tank that looks like a sealed unit. See pictures below.