Brown water from tub spout

[Rick678]

I have noticed a brief burst of orange brown water when turning on water to a tub in a newly remodeled bathroom. This clears after 2 seconds and I get the impression that the brown water is accumulating in or very close to spout in this just this system. The shower does not ever put out any brown water into this tub.
It takes 24-48 hours of sitting unused to again create this brown water burst. At 12 hours I see literally only a tablespoon of light brown water before it clears. At 48-hours one gets a more colorful 2 second blast of color.

I think that this brown water issue was occurring for a long time .... months or even a year or 2 before the remodel. We simply had not taken a bath probably for years( ....but we did take showers.......) so I was not wise enough to think much of these brief brown water bursts...I imagined they were due to water sitting in a pipe for the extended periods due to disuse.

I have spoken to the contractor and he reports that the for the tub and shower he used only "PEX". I have known him for long time and is a trusted friend and is puzzled as well. The tub is a whirlpool model and he very carefully filled it and tested it and the associated system before finishing the shower enclosure and tiling in

This phenomena is not occurring at any other water outlet in ranch house ( including 2 other showers (one in basement), same bathroom sink,2 other bathroom sinks ( one in basement),kitchen sink and washer area and utility sink). This particular bathroom is on ground level. Water heater is 3-4 years old and in basement.

This house built in 1992 and as far as I can see plumbing is copper .

From my research so far it seems most likely that there is some iron/galvanized piece of plumbing some where unique to this particular brown water producing tub spout. I have found some posts on this site indicating that even short sections of galvanized plumbing("nipples","reducers", and "90's) can cause this brown water to appear. My knowledge of plumbing is limited. I had to look up the meanings of the above terms when I read about them the first time.

My main concern is....

How urgent is it that I go looking for the source of this rust ?

To access the plumbing to the tub would possibly involve tearing out the brand new tile wall (which we have waited and saved up for years to put in.)

We do NOT mind seeing a little brief brown spurt before we fill the tub for a bath.

I have been given the impression by several plumbing people that that the safest thing to do is to tear out the wall and find the "ticking time bomb"... ( i.e. "If it is rusting today it will be leaking into the wall tomorrow").

Other plumbing folks have suggested that it is not urgent and say that people with galvanized pipe often see a little rush of brown like this for decades with out problems.

My wife, who generally is more often right than I am, said she saw the piece of pipe the spout went on and that it was a "dark or dull metal and not copper..but did not think much of it. This could even be the source.
However I could not find a way to get the spout off and did not see a small retention screw or hex pin holding it so I decided to retreat from that venture..I did not want to break any pipe...

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Reach4]

That would be typical if you have a galvanized steel nipple to your tub spout. Replace that with brass, and your symptom should go away.

If that is the case, you would turn the spout CCW to unscrew the spout from the nipple or the nipple from the wall.

Not urgent. Not dangerous. Is irritating to the mind. Safe to drink.

Ask your plumber if he put in a drop-ear elbow for your spout. Or if you have an access panel on the other side of the wall, take a look to see what you see.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Rick678]

Thank you for the reply,

I tried turning spout counter clockwise (CCW) and after about 40 pounds of torque applied by "hand and arms wrench" (estimated) it would not budge. I will wait until I have a plumber here to try to look at the piece of pipe proximal to the spout which I understand to be a "nipple".
I'm just to good a breaking things ..at the worst time ..to put more force into it especially since it is flush with new tile. I suppose its like tire lug nuts sometimes... put on at the garage... it is on too tight.

thanks again for your help
Rick678

 

[Jadnashua]

Any steel bits (unless stainless, which isn't very common) in potable water systems is a cheap way of doing things. It is more than acceptable to use it for testing prior to finishing up, but should not be left in place. Any steel pipe, whether galvanized or not, will eventually rust.

 

[Terry]

Many tub spouts were installed with galvanized nipples and 90's. It's fine with a bit of rust on first use.

PEX should never be run to a tub spout according to manufacturers instructions. It pushes water up to the shower head while running the tub.
Nobody installs PEX to a tub spout on a tub/shower.

If you have access, then brass nipples are better. I use either brass or copper.

 

[Rick678]

Thanks for all the good information.
I did not mean to imply that the remodel work done by contractor involved substituting PEX for existing metal plumbing...only that when new tub/shower valve was placed ( I think this is also called mix box..but I could be mistaken) new PEX was used for its installation. The new spout, I believe,still is attached to an original nipple left from previous system.

Thanks again.

Rick678