I installed two new wall mounted faucets for my bathroom and had to sweat in some new pipe and the new valve. When I first cleared out the lines after install, there was a lot of brownish water, probably from the solder and such, but after three weeks, I'm still getting a little burst of brown when I turn on the faucet. How long should I expect to get this brown, "solder clean-out" before it's gone? The sinks don't get used very often, couple times per day, but I thought it might be done by now.

There might have been an excessive amount of flux used or a non-copper or brass fitting perhaps...

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This slow drip will waste 7+ gallons of water per day.

i dont think the brown is from the new solder.

its probably just gunk in the pipes which dislodged when you turned your water off, drained it, and turned it back on.

strange its still there after the first 30 seconds.

If a black iron nipple was used to connect the spout, that'll cause the burst of dirty water also.

Excessive flux, yes. All copper and pipes and fittings with brass for the faucet. The dirty water flushes out in one or two seconds but I was just wondering how much longer it might take for it all to be rinsed clear. It's been over three weeks now, it's just strange so I figure I'd post it to the experts.

it is not flux causing your dirty water.

Is it just hot water or cold water or both? What kind of water supply pipe do you have? Do any other fixtures do this?

Everything was fine and then I put the new fixtures in. It's on both faucets, double sink top, and on the hot and cold. It's only on those two NEW fixtures and none of the old ones. Everything in the house is copper and brass. The dirty water clears out in a second or two which is why I thought it might be flux. I used a water soluable flux but I thought it should be cleared out by now.

I've soldered a fair amount of copper over the last 30 years. Visible flux residue in the water always cleared out within the first few minutes of flushing the new fixture.

If you still see a burst of brown that clears out in a couple seconds, I'd say the problem is in the new fixture. You seem pretty sure that there isn't any, but I'd be looking for something iron in the new work. Good luck.

Redwood slides a stack of chips onto there is something iron in the plumbing....

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Okay everyone, the ficture is a Moen, [www.moen.com], and I figured it was all brass and copper but maybe something internal is not. The spigot is chrome so maybe that is causing the problem. Question, if there is iron in the system someplace, would it be new iron causing the problem or old iron? Also, how long before it goes away? I never had this problem before. I did the entire system myself so I know for fact I didn't add any iron. Oh wait, I JUST remembered I added a ball valve on each line for shut-off but the body was brass but the ball inside wasn't, could that be the cause? I'm in AZ so the calcium content in the water is very high. It's not a huge deal, I just let the faucet run a second before lapping it up or rinsing my toothbrush but it's getting my wife trained to let it clear before she gets her mitts in it.

Can you post a picture of the supplies under the sink? Just a hunch...
It's not the faucet!

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I can't post a picture because it's all sealed up behind the drywall now. I cut the old wall out and cut the supply copper to the old set up. Then I ran new copper with new copper fittings up to the new faucets. The only thing coming out of my slab is copper, then into a brass ball valve, then up to the brass faucet. I don't have the standard flex hoses like most sinks do because I didn't think it would work with that type of faucet because the control valve for the faucet wasn't threaded. If it would help to troubleshoot the problem, I can give a more detailed description. I didn't use any galvanized nipples or elbows anywhere in the system and everything is soldered, no threaded connections or shark bites.

Nice looking fixture!

Did you remove the valve cartridges prior to soldering to the copper pipes?

I did not remove the cartrages because the control valve was stubbed up with about 5" of copper so I used a union to attach my 1/2" copper to the 1/2" copper out of the valve. I attached a link if you want to see the stubs that come out of the bottom of the valve. Those are the hot and cold in so you don't use the standard flex tubes. The faucets work very well but the only drawback is you've got to be very precise to get the valve and the sink drain aligned perfectly so that when it turns on, the water hits the drain and not the side of the bowl. I put in semi-recessed vessels and it it turned out very well. The faucet valves were tricky to get mounted and ligned up, but once all the measuring and mounting was done, it was a snap to solder it up and drywall over everything.

So, no chance of heat from soldering damaging the o-rings and no iron. Sorry, but at this point I'm stumped. Hope the others can help. Best wishes.

Yeah, I'm kind of at a loss myself. I thought it was flux, but everyone says it should have cleared out by now. Oh well, I'll keep an eye on it and go from there because I'm not about to rip out the stone top, to rip out the cabinet, to rip out the wall to get to the pipes.

I just replaced the old faucet on our tub with a new Delta faucet and I'm having the exact same problems with dirty water coming out for the first two seconds after the water is turned on. The supply lines come uo from below, out of the slab. Whatever is coming out seems to be lighter than water and rises to the top of the static water column. This has been going on for a month now, but only in this one fixture.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have exactly the same problem! My contractor installed a new delta faucet on our shower tub about a year ago. All the water pipes in the house are new copper pipes. Right after it was installed there was brownish water (sometime it has a dark red hue) coming out for 30 seconds or so. then the water became clear. After a week or two, if I do not use the bath tub for a few days, then the dirty water will come out for 4 or 5 seconds, then the water becomes clear. This has been going on until now, nearly year after this new delta faucet was installed. Now if I do not use the bath tub for a few days, the dirty water will come out for 2 or 3 seconds
The same contractor installed delta faucet on the tub of another rental house about 2-3 years ago, I did not see this problem at any time.
The same copper water pipe supplies water to the toilet tank and bath room sink (that does not have delta faucet), I never saw any browning water coming out of them. Only the delta faucet in the bath tub has this dirty water problem.

This posting was posted more than a year ago. I am curious if the author still sees the same problem with dirty after one year (as I do).
If any one else has an explanation and/or a solution to this strange problem, please let me. I will be very grateful.