Hot water?

While I'm not an expert on either Malta or water my guess is that you've never tried to fill your bathtub with cold water. I bet if you did you'd find it's yellow too. Usually in a sink you don't accumulate enough water to really notice a difference in color. I have well water here where I live in Brazil and it's constantly yellow, smells of sulphur and cannot be used for drinking.

If both the hot and cold water are yellow then you can be relatively sure that the discoloration is from the water source. I understand that Malta is mostly well water. Does it have any odd smell, like maybe sulphur? The discoloration could be caused by minerals disolved in the water.

If the cold water really is clear and not yellow like the hot water then you're probably looking at some kind of build up of rust in the pipes and water heaters. Do you know what the hot and cold water pipes are made of? Are they copper, iron or PVC pipes? If you've got iron pipes then there's little you can do short of re-plumbing the entire house. Once they're rusted it will discolor the water. If you have iron pipes for hot water you may still have either copper or PVC for cold water plumbing, which could also explain the color difference.

Hope this helps you figure things out.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

have the tanks ever been flushed right through - usually the tanks hold about 500L... does anyone else in the street or apartment block have the same problem

I even had that in our appartment at tigne point which was rather new.

Dunno where the problem was but it was annoying for sure.

our water turns yellow for a bit after a power cut or repairs to the water main  - let the taps run for a bit, soon clears

Our water into our bathroom from the rooftop tank, is yellow and we don't drink it. We can't actually see yellow in our kitchen sink water, but then it's going into a silver sink. We are told that the water comes from the mains to the kitchen sink and is drinkable but we don't as it has a very strong chemical taste and smell, even when boiled. As a matter of interest my hairdresser told me that it's the yellow in the shower and bath water that stains blonde and grey hair in Malta to a light brownish colour. That is why so few of the senior Maltese ladies allow their hair to remain grey, they prefer to dye it with darker colours

kitchen water supplies MUST come DIRECT from the mains. The rest can come from the water tank

I make coffee from the tyb water of the kitchen and it definately coming from the main (cold water) and it doesnt smell funny at all.

This site I found when googling: http://www.cbnbh2o.com/tips/water_color.html

It's probably rust...especially if it's coming from the hot water. The water here is so harsh on everything. We installed a small hot water heater under out sink and we had to replace it within a year because it rusted out. We clean our water tanks on our roof once a year...it's amazing how fast it collects green algea. Also...Solar heater tanks need to be cleaned at least every other year...The stone collects onn the element fast

the water here has a very high mineral content.....

In 2005-06 the WSC produced just under 31 million cubic metres (cu/mt) of potable water in Malta & Gozo.
Approximately 13.4 million (43%) cu/mt. were produced from various groundwater sources, the main one being Ta' Kandja Pumping Station which is a series of underground galleries some 8km in length, 100m below ground.
In 2006-07 just under 17 million cubic (57%) meters of water was produced by RO plants. cu/mt.
Source: http://www.wsc.com.mt/content/water-pro … stribution

A very interesting link Oscar - answers a whole lot of questions that I haven't got round to researching! Thank you.

toonarmy9752 wrote:

kitchen water supplies MUST come DIRECT from the mains. The rest can come from the water tank

Where is it said ? I mean, is it supposed to be like that everywhere, or as everything in Malta this is from case to case depending on how serious the workers were ?

I'm asking because I'm almost sure all my water comes from the tank, as the pump which has been installed for me on the roof (as I didn't have enough water pressure) works both for the bathroom and the kitchen.

I found this from the contract from the Water Services Corporation, dated 2012 here:

http://www.wsc.com.mt/sites/default/fil … ct_eng.pdf

The quality and safety of water supplied
by us is guaranteed up to the first tap
closest to the meter. It is your responsibility
to ensure that your kitchen tap (or where
there is no kitchen, the tap from where
drinking water is drawn), is connected
directly to our water main. If we discover
that the water supplied by us to you is
according to health standards, but that
there is a fault in your system that is
causing deterioration in quality, we will
inform you accordingly.

It appears from this then that the mains water is only guaranteed to one tap and then I expect it is up to the builders and occupants to ensure that they make their own internal arrangements. It seems that water can come from anywhere, mains or tank, except for one tap, guaranteed and that tap could be situated anywhere.

One reason to have treated water for drinking delivered (as we do in 10L or 19.8L containers that fit onto a ceramic dispenser (from EcoPure or H2O) and it's cheaper to set up an account and pay in advance for a lot) or buy it eslewhere in smaller containers.

Duxx wrote:

Anybody has a clue why my hot water is yellow? cold water is ok, but when I fill out the tub hot water is yellow, also in kitchen (different heater) is the same situation

Landlords don't know why is so, I doubt it's the main heater as it's new, but have no idea why what else could be a problem

help?

Its a old question I guess but I just remembered something when I was in Malta last time.
The water in Malta is yellow because of high level of limescale deposits in pipes.
If you would have noticed that water kettles turn yellow within few days of usage.
The only solution which will really work is to install a double water filter after the water tank and one under the kitchen sink.
Nothing else works.

never had that issue in 5 yrs.....

The supplied water in Malta IS NOT YELLOW.

I can drink the water here easily but Lynn does not like the sweeter taste due to the high mineral content. It is those minerals that cause the deposit in water heaters etc. and eventually they need to be cleaned or changed. They also become increasingly inefficient so you are paying more.
As for 'nothing else works', just buy water for drinking, it's cheap enough.

Sometimes any water supply may become contaminated, it happens in UK, sometimes. Also, try drinking the water in the Outer Isles of Scotland; dark brown and 'peaty'. Excellent for accompanying whisky (if that is one's taste)

we too drink the water - however i can taste the water in tea but not in coffee - so we filter it using jugs and filter cartridges.

PS. If renting ensure your landlord gets the tank flushed and cleaned at least every 1 -2 years.

i do buy drinking water and have a brita for filtering tap water
but cold water isn't a problem, it's white (transparent) just as it should be

hot water is the problem, it's still yellow
funny thing is - it's more yellow in main bathroom than in smaller one, could be the fact that smaller one is closer to heather?

btw. heater is located on the roof, 50 l and 2 y.o.

landlord has offered to close the water and when we use all from tank that he'll clean it. Maybe at the same time we can clean the pipes (pvc) also, anyone done that before?

lately I have a feeling that the next tenant in this flat will have everything sorted out thx to me, and I have to go trough all this trouble

we'll nobody to blame but me, could have guessed that it will be like this since nobody lived in app for more then a year (This is the first time it's rented out even though the owner lives abroad more then a year now)

have you looked inside the water tank to see the colour ?

its always good to get a view inside the tank as debris and insects often get inside

Duxx wrote:

hot water is the problem, it's still yellow
funny thing is - it's more yellow in main bathroom than in smaller one, could be the fact that smaller one is closer to heather?

Both hot and cold were included as there had been mention of both, one statement was incorrect and of course the cold feeds the heaters.

Lesson. Anyone renting should check all their water systems before renting.