Bad smell and dirt coming out of cold water faucet

OP here: the dirt and smell are infrequent and only on the cold water side. Plumbing was replaced in 1970s or 80s. with nothing done since then. No lead pipes at all. Existing pipes don’t look like copper. I’ll replace supply hose and see how it goes. Thanks to everyone for your feedback.

housepoor

in Plumbing 7 years and 8 months ago

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housepoor | 7 years and 8 months ago

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A tenant’s bathroom tap water is coming out dirty and with a slight smell. This only happens when the cold water faucet is initially opened up. None of the other taps (in his apartment or the building) are experiencing this. The fact that this is only the one faucet and just when cold water is turned on makes me think it is the actual faucet at issue, but still, it seems odd. Any ideas on what might be causing this and what to do about it? Thanks as always…

hkapstein | 7 years and 8 months ago

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Assuming the fixtures are not hard piped, I’d try replacing the supply hose. While the hose is disconnected from the faucet, you can run it to test if the supply water is clean before it reaches the faucet. If you’re a little bit handy, you might try installing a new compression inlet stop valve. If none of that works it’s probably time to call a pro. I’d suspect end of life galvanized plumbing in the branch, but I can think of other causes. Take this opportunity to replace all supply hoses in the apartment, you don’t want one of those going while your tenant is out for the day.

cate | 7 years and 8 months ago

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Could be a little rusty patch in the pipe close to the faucet. Supposedly harmless but I wouldn’t drink it.

hkapstein | 7 years and 8 months ago

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I agree with cate, though I wouldn’t envy having that conversation with the tenant. Those pipes will be majorly rusted, but it’s usually not a problem unless the water pressure is too low or they are contaminated from lead piping that existed upstream in the past. If it’s close enough, perhaps you could try swapping the hose with the one from the toilet? No one will complain out a little rust in the toilet tank, although it’s decently likely both lines will have the same issue.

murph | 7 years and 8 months ago

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The nearest piping is iron or copper? How old? Have other lines been swapped out?
May be time to invest in some plumbing work.
Dirty water in toilet and you think the tenant won’t complain? Think again.