I cleared out the aerator and dark green water came out.

[Rustedtruck]

Ok. I'm very concerned. One of my faucets have had a very low water preassure coming out for a while so I decided to finally fix it today by removing the aerator. When I did so i let the water run and with it a very dark water with sediment came out. It was alarming. I let it run for a while and eventually was cleared but what does this mean? Is there rust in the pipes and how come this is the only faucet that thosbhas happened to ever in my house?

 

[kbuhagiar]

Ok. I'm very concerned. One of my faucets have had a very low water preassure coming out for a while so I decided to finally fix it today by removing the aerator. When I did so i let the water run and with it a very dark water with sediment came out. It was alarming. I let it run for a while and eventually was cleared but what does this mean? Is there rust in the pipes and how come this is the only faucet that thosbhas happened to ever in my house?

FWIW I live in San Diego County CA. Our local water supply is harder (high mineral content) than most, and what you described is normal if we don't regularly remove and flush our aerators. I try to clean the aerators every six months or so.

 

[jd_1138]

Yeah that makes sense because a clogged aerator would slow water flow so the heavier minerals would build up then come out all at once when aerator is cleaned.

 

[rooster59]

Prob just faucet goo. You could run a bottle brush up in there with the aerator out and flush.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Flush the **** outta it, maybe if you can inject Chlorine into it, GREEN is NOT KEEN...
Ours is brownish, I pulled the aerators, faucets, sink plugs, etc... What a effing disaster 4 me,,,,
Seriously, blow your lines with good old clorox, then run it with clear water until you no longer smell the clorox....


With any luck you can beat this thing, but it needs to be done ASAP as that freaking green mold turns to black, and at that point you are kinda sorta hosed... I'm dealing with it now, and am on inhalers because of the damned black mold - its a perpetual battle here (they even sell "Anti-Muffa Spray" which is something like 18-22% Chlorine - you learn to treat it with respect!) but if you don't give it its due dillinger, er, dilligence, it'll come back to whack ya. You have to wear a mask and gloves to work with it, but it will beat it out. We also have a line infuser on the service inlet of our "city" water where we can blow out our lines every few years.

Just be careful, as what kills that living organism called Mold will also kill that living organizm called people. Or at least eff up your lungs - and my lungs are already effed from breathing various hazmats, etc., and a healthy doze of coal smoke (but oh, that smell!!) and asphalt fumes and vehicle exhaust for a few dozens of years.

 

[Viper98912]

Did your county turn off the water for a bit to do a repair recently? I've seen this happen where turning off a water main (at the street somewhere) lifts up the sediment in the main pipes and it just needs to be flushed out in the homes after the water is back on. If this was a faucet you don't use much, it may just have been sitting there until now when you discovered it.

 

[nadogail]

I agree with flushing your water line out.

 

[Rustedtruck]

It doesn't happen in the other faucets though. And this is a faucet that gets used everyday and regularly, it's just that we've been busy with other things and never bothered to investigate why the flow started to slow down to begin with so it just got very slow over a couple of years. So why only this one? I let the water run for sometime yesterday and placed the aerator back and have used it for everything except a drinking water. A couple of hours ago I took of the aerator again to see if more sediment comes out and it eve came out atony bit green still and with very small green sediment as well. I can crush the sediment with my fingers into dust. I've did some digging and it could be rusted copper from the pipe or from the heater but this faucet doesn't have hot option. Which explains some occasional diarrhea and a couple of nausea episodes over the years. I think I'll just call a plumber. Jesus.

 

[rmanrman]

How old is your water heater. Could be **** coming from the heater. You should attach a garden hose and look for this green/brown in a bucket at start of flush. Also is the piping going to that faucet possibly galvanized pipe that corrodes from inside and produces brown water. You should have the water pipes replaced with pex plastic type no corrosion.

 

[Junkman]

You might have iron in your water, however, and whatever it is, you have to get ahead of it. I am on a well, and we have a lot of sediment coming up from it, so I installed a filter on the incoming line to remove the sediment before it even gets to the water storage tank. I have to clean it every 6 months. If I need to sanitize the water lines, I can add liquid bleach to the canister, run it into my water tank, and then to each fixture. Without knowing exactly what you are dealing with, and if you are on a public or private water system, it is difficult to make suggestions. You might be able to get away with an inexpensive water filter on your incoming water line, or you might need a complete filtration system. I would do some additional investigation to determine what it is before you call the plumber.

 

[Fav Onefour]

What is the water source? You will need to keep going back in the system until you find where the gunk started. I don't know if you are on a well or public supply.
Green is an odd color especially if it's dry dust. The first suspicion would be copper corrosion. It seems odd with normal use. The typical amount would be minuscule.

The busy faucet will collect the most gunk and it will collect more if you keep running the water. Gunk has a way of turning into a filter of sorts. It's certainly possible the stuff just built up over the years and it's now breaking loose because the water is flowing.

I dealt with gunk breaking loose big time on a small remodel.
Gate valves on both sides of the meter were about shot so they were replaced as part of the job. It required a street shutoff. The city guys said the street valve hadn't been closed for at least ten years. The 1" copper line from that valve to the meter was only about 30' long but the gunk inside sure made a mess. After they reopened the street valve sediment started plugging each bottleneck down the line. First bottleneck meant pulling the meter and clearing screens. That was just to get past dripping water inside the home. Once I got water running inside, I used the laundry tub faucet to flush whatever possible before it hit the rest of the house. The laundry faucet was close, had cheap valves, and no aerator. It simply takes a lot of good running water to flush gunk out.
After the water ran clear in the laundry tub, I pulled faucet aerators one by one and flushed those pipes and valves. Funny thing about that process. One vanity had a low flow aerator. That little ****** kept plugging long after the other faucets were good to go.

I think most people would be surprised how much sediment is in normal water. Fill a big ol tub or clean bucket and let it sit. Drain the water slowly and see what's left on the bottom.
In this case, figure out if the green stuff is actually something to worry about before worrying.

 

[kbuhagiar]

In this case, figure out if the green stuff is actually something to worry about before worrying.

^^^This. Right here.