Water from airlock BUCKET sucked into wort

Yes, air lock bucket, since the there was too much bubbling to be contained by the airlock, we had a hose going into a bucket of water for the airlock. Well, when my husband went to put it into the secondary fermenter, he didn't take the hose out of the bucket, and the "bong water" (for lack of a better term) got sucked right into the mix (probably about a gallon and a half of water). The water was just tap water, that has been sitting in the bucket for a week.

Ugh... So how is this going to affect the brew?

depends, stuff could have been growing in it if it was just tap water. Only thing really to do now is wait it out and see what happens.

I usually run a large hose for blowoff out of my carboy for the first few days and then switch out to a smaller airlock with a bung that fits my carboy.

Well you guys did the right thing using a blow-off tube. But the change in pressure definitely causes suck-back like that. It wouldn't have been as big of a deal if you used sanitizer solution (i.e. iodophor or star san) but water that's been sitting out for a week? No bueno.

As far as effect.... you may get some funk but that fact that it's fermented and has alcohol is an advantage for you. Take a gravity reading now, and then again in two weeks. Has the gravity dropped? If yes, then you have an infection. You can just let it sit and run its course and you'll have a nice sour beer.

However many on here (myself included) have done seemingly disastrous things to our beer and they turn out to be amazing. So don't fret. What I said above was a worst case scenario.

But from now on use sanitizor solution or vodka in your airlock/blow-off. And also watch out for that negative pressure

If it does get infected how much longer would it have to sit? We've had some disasters too, but nothing like this! Now does it have to be airlock vodka, or can you use any hard liquor?

Any liquor is fine, it's just that vodka won't impart flavor if sucked in

let it ride and tell us how your sour beer turned out.

Yeah a lot of people use vodka or rum, I have some real cheap vodka I use in my airlocks or blow off tubes. If it gets sucked in then no harm, all it does is increase your alcohol. I also use star san when I have some available.

Normal tap water sitting stagnant for a week can harbor some nasty stuff, but if it didn't suck in the top of the water you may be OK. Some people practice open frementations and just leave the top since that is where most of the bad stuff hangs out, just keep your fingers crossed. Watch your sg if it's been stable and now begins to drop it means something new is consuming your beer. (Like Reno said)

Did I read that correctly? It sucked a gallon and a half of water into the bucket? I'd be more concerned about the beer being watered down as opposed to infection. That's a lot of water to add.