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Author:
samwisefan (CA)
This is a somewhat embarrassing story, so I'm glad I can share it anonymously before I start talking to people about it. (And I should also note that I know nothing about plumbing, so I apologize if any terminology is incorrect.)
I live in a one bedroom apartment: One kitchen sink, one bathroom sink, & one shower/tub. It's an older apartment, so all of the faucets have a separate knob for hot and cold water. Last July, my kitchen and bathroom underwent major renovations and the new faucets for the kitchen sink and shower turned into one single knob that controls hot and cold water simultaneously. (And very poorly, I might add. The water pressure is terrible and, in the kitchen specifically, takes forever to get hot.)
Then, a few months ago, the owner of my apartment had my water heater and most (if not all) of the water pipes replaced. I was home the day that the plumbers were here replacing everything. I told them to let me know when they were finished so I could know when to start using water again.
When they finally told me they were done, the very first thing I did was defecate into the toilet. (I had been waiting all day! LOL!) When I flushed the toilet, there was an ungodly loud sound and all of my waste was sucked away with lightning speed very unlike a normal toilet flush. I immediately became concerned. I turned on the bathroom sink faucet (both hot and cold) and all kinds of brown, gross water sputtered out. I went to the kitchen sink and the same thing happened. At that time I could hear my apartment manager saying goodbye to the plumbers out in the alley behind my apartment. I ran down to try to stop them, but they had already left. I told my manager what happened and she got angry because she said when that kind of plumbing replacement happens you're supposed to turn on the shower before any other fixture. She turned the shower on and we got lots of noises and yucky water until it finally started to work better. (The kitchen faucet, however, stopped working altogether and they eventually had to have the plumbers return to get it working again.)
So, my concern is...Am I drinking and bathing in my own feces? Admittedly, I know nothing about plumbing, but what happened with the toilet has me imagining that all of my feces was sucked back into the piping the wrong way and is now stuck in the new pipes and/or water heater contaminating all of the water I use. Sometimes I turn on my bathroom sink or shower and it feels like I'm smelling it when the water comes on. Sometimes when I'm drinking the water it doesn't taste right. I'm honestly at the point where I don't know if I'm imagining it or not because I've become so paranoid about it. (Or could it be a lingering new pipe smell/taste?)
So basically, I'm just wondering if the contamination issue is something that's possible due to what I have described and what, if anything, I can do about it. Thank you to anyone who may have advice.
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Author:
hj (AZ)
You are being paranoid and imagining all kinds of impossible situations. The toilet flushing had NOTHING to do with the water heater replacement, and in fact, you should have been able to use the toilet ALL day long while they were installing the water heater. There is NO WAY your toilet waste is getting into your water piping. The "gunk" you saw was just stuff that got disturbed when you turned the water back on, and that stuff is what clogged the aerator on the end of your faucet.
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Author:
m & m (MD)
Competent plumbers would have been the FIRST ones to turn the water on at ALL taps to eliminate the scenario you describe.
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Author:
Wheelchair (IL)
Thank You for sharing your story. Let me assure you that the brown waters you witnessed was iron powders found in lots of old pipes from the street, to your apartment. As pipes are removed and changed, the iron powders are loosened and travel down stream. The iron should quickly disappear as fresh water enters the system.. to your apartment. Make sure the filters and aerators are removed and cleaned. Flush the toilet tank and remove any debris in the tank.
Lastly, any waste flushed in your toilet does not enter the water source.
Best Wishes
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