Well Water Has Suddenly Gone Brown

[Travelover]

I've lived in this house with a 130 or so foot deep well with a static level of 78 feet for 5 years. The water has always been clear. In the last week the toilets are suddenly brown and the water in the toilet tanks is brown. The 6" well casing is metal. Nearly all the plumbing is copper or PEX. There is no water softener.

Any suggestions for diagnosis appreciated.

 

[Yander]

Have you had an abundance of rain? We would sometimes have that happen after a lot of rain. It would clear up after a while. We now have a whole house filter so we don't get the rust in the toilets but it fills our filters up very quickly and you can tell there is a lot of rust in the water.

I would advise you to get a whole house filter or two. We have two in series, one is 20 micron and the second one is 5 micron.

We have an under the sink Reverse Osmosis drinking water filter also.

 

[ronjhall]

I had similar problem. It was pressure tank failure. Bladder in tank failed. Replaced tank and everything back to normal. I have two 5 micron filters piped in parallel. Caught rust before it got to softener.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Seems normal if it clears in a couple days

 

[RjCorazza]

Sediment can also indicate the well pump is too low. Our 135' well has always had some amount of sediment make it to the house, but it's been minimal and consistent.
Over the years I have gone through the following filter systems:
Small 30u sediment whole house filter (builder installed)
Above filter followed by large 10u whole house filter
Added primary 50u back washable filter.

The primary 50u filter gets back washed every couple of weeks, and I clean the filter twice per year. The subsequent 30u and 10u filters now last much longer... Maybe six months each. If I were to do it over again, the last 2 filters would be the large whole house type rather than one small and one large.

 

[Travelover]

Have you had an abundance of rain? We would sometimes have that happen after a lot of rain..

I'm here just north of Portland OR and we have gotten a fair amount of rain through April, but it is a fairly deep well, so I thought it was less susceptible. Normal April precipitation is 2.89 inches and we got about 5.1 inches.
Given we've had clear water for 5 years, I'm hoping there is something to be corrected as opposed to getting into mitigation efforts like filters, water softeners, RO, etc.

 

[deserteagle71]

As others have said, give it a couple days before taking any action. I've had the same situation; the guy who did my well said its not at all uncommon for dirt/mud to suddenly pull loose and cause muddy water for a while. Not just in your well system but wherever the water is coming from that feeds your well. My well is at 210 feet, it cleared on its own after a couple days. My biggest worry was my hot water heater - how much mud was deposited in it and whether that would cause problems. But that water heater lasted me 27 years before I needed to replace it!

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Our well is 200'. Twice each year, we get some cloudy water for a few days, then it clears. I chalked it up to what happens when you pump water from the ground in some areas

 

[Travelover]

I had similar problem. It was pressure tank failure. Bladder in tank failed. Replaced tank and everything back to normal. I have two 5 micron filters piped in parallel. Caught rust before it got to softener.

In my case, the tank doesn't have a bladder, it has an air level control instead.

 

[CobyRupert]

I’d guess excessive flow. Either because it has been rainy, or the well has drawn a lot of water.
Can you tell if your pump has, or is, running more.