Earthquake Thread ~ Always Updated

Hot water is coming from your water heater which has a large tank. It will take a while before the 'dirty' water fills the tank and you begin to get it out of the tap on the hot side, if at all.

Water is drawn off the top of the hot water tank. So when the dirty water goes into the tank and sits for awhile, the particulates will settle to the bottom. If you don't ever come close to completely draining the tank you may never see 'dirty' water at the tap.

That said, you will want to make sure and drain the tank after the sediment clears. After the water on the cold side has cleared, you'll need a garden hose and some time. There will be a faucet at the bottom of the water heater. Shut off the water heater, run your hot tap, shower would work best, until you get cold water. This will help reduce the pressure from the heated water. Once you have cold water running, shut of the water inlet to the water heater, crack open the faucet and let the water drain. Keep the hot water output open on the water heater and open the hot side on the tap furthest from your water heater. This will break the vacuum and allow the water to drain.

Hopefully you have a floor drain nearby. After all the water has drained, turn cold water back on, with drain faucet still open, and let water drain out for a few minutes. Once you no longer see sediment close the drain faucet, turn water heater back on and make sure inputs and outputs are open. This process should be done annually, regardless, to extend the life of your water heater, more so if your water normally has high amounts of sediment.

Everyone remember to say a prayer for Angel tonight. Surgery is tomorrow.

We love ya Angel. Stay down this time and take time to recover !

Good advice Stay Down and heal!

Many prayers for you WA you are greatly loved

The earthquake either broke a water main and you're now getting sediment in the municipal water supply or the water storage tank your water is coming from was jostled and all the sediment that was settled at the bottom was stirred up and sent out into the system. Could be both.

Water mains breaking and allowing sediment in happens frequently where I live during the winter due to the ground shifting from hard freezes. I'd imagine earthquakes, especially 6+ mag, could do the very same thing.

Landlord's...something that I do miss from renting! Let them deal with it, if they don't want to it's their loss of money when it comes to replacing the water heater. Avoid washing clothes, especially whites, until the water has cleared.