Yellow water from cold water tap

[REP]

I recently had my bathroom renovated. I am more than satisfied with everything that was done, but I did have some significant concerns about the workmanship from the plumber on the job. He was consistently late coming in and screwed up too many times to count.

That being said, I have noticed that I get a short stream of yellow water from the cold water tap (2 seconds) when I first use it after several hours. I have two sinks, and it only occurs at the one sink. I also know that the they used the white 1/2" plumbing tubes to run the plumbing during the renovation and not copper, if that makes a difference.

The sink, faucet, EVERYTHING in the bathroom is new. 3/4" plastic tubing was run up to the bathroom from the basement to feed the bathroom. The only place copper was used was for the shower install.

Would anyone have an idea of what might be causing this? Is this something the plumber may have done, is it bad materials? Could it be the faucet?

Thanks for your response Bill

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Old faucet, or new with the renovation?

[REP]

Brand New out of a box...

[REP]

This faucet here:

[JoeSpareBedroom]

If the entire supply line (from water main to faucet) is *really* plastic, then it sounds like there's some sort of corrosion already within the faucet. I'd call the manufacturer. Are you positive there's not even a short length of iron pipe just before the faucet, or even a few feet away, perhaps in the wall or in the basement?

[REP]

There is some copper in the basement, but this only happens to the one faucet and only immediately after the water is turned on.

The faucet came with flexible mesh/metal hoses already attached that hangs down about 8-12 inches from the base of the faucet. These hoses were attached directly to the plastic. There is also a metal shut off valve at that joint, for both Hot and Cold pipes.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

All I can do is relate this to my only similar experience. A bathroom faucet in my previous house would produce brown water in the morning, almost immediately upon turning it on, and it lasted about 2 seconds. From the basement, I could see that there was copper pipe, and there was copper coming out of the wall. What I could NOT see was that there was a short length of iron pipe down lower. Whoever did the work installed a board between the basement rafters, which hid the junction between the iron & copper pipes. When the iron pipe was removed and replaced with copper, the problem was gone.

You have to eliminate one cause at a time. The cheapest and easiest experiment would be to change the flexible hose for the cold water. It's also possible that the faucet itself has some sort of internal problem. It wouldn't be the first badly designed product, especially considering how much crap is made in China these days.

[hallerb]

i would begin by letting the offending faucets water run a few times for at least 30 minutes, you may be able to flush away whatever it is

[REP]

I'll try running the water for periods over the weekend, but my hopes are not high since the faucet was installed about a month ago (just prior to X-mas).

If that doesn't work, I'll see if there is a way I can eliminate the faucet itself. Do you know if there is any history of the flexible (mesh?) metal hoses corroding or rusting? I thought the interior of those were rubber and the exterior prevented bubbling or pressure bursts. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure if it's reasonable to believe the problem would be the flexible hose.

[REP]

I'll try running the water for periods over the weekend, but my hopes are not high since the faucet was installed about a month ago (just prior to X-mas).

If that doesn't work, I'll see if there is a way I can eliminate the faucet itself. Do you know if there is any history of the flexible (mesh?) metal hoses corroding or rusting? I thought the interior of those were rubber and the exterior prevented bubbling or pressure bursts. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure if it's reasonable to believe the problem would be the flexible hose.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I've never seen this problem occur with the flex hoses. I suggested replacing it only because it's the cheapest possible experiment. The next thing would be the faucet. But: There's one more thing. Got a white bucket? Unscrew the hose from the bottom of the faucet. (Obviously, you'll need to have a shutoff valve for this, or have a helper in the basement, controlling the water flow.) Turn the water on & off quickly - whatever length of time it takes to normally see the discolored water. If you do NOT see a problem, then the faucet is the issue.

Get a Moen faucet. Be happy.

[justass]

[chas.]

You are joking right? Do you also drink your toilet water and wash your dishes there!?