Whats going on with my hot/cold water?

So I haven't had to pay much attention to water in the past, had nice clean mountain water, but recently moved back to Boston and found something interesting with my water. Here is what my hot(top) and cold(bottom) water looks like:

I don't know much or enough about water, but my best guess is since I live in an old building and there is something built up in my hot water pipes. Anyone know whats happening here? I don't have anything to test it, should I pick something up(I consider myself an advanced brewer)? I usually pull hot water and boil it, but would I be better off starting with the cold? I know how important water composition is, I just don't know much about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

 

When I used tap water for brewing it was always from the cold side because more crud tends to build up in any tank than in straight pipe.
What you're seeing could be pretty much anything, from just silica fines to iron or manganese.

Wrt brewing, Boston's on MDC, yes? You should be able to find all kinds of water reports good enough to brew by, and assuming you're drawing from Quabbin the quality should be outstanding...

Cheers!

 

I'm actually in Somerville, and from some local brewers I heard the water in this area is much better and doesn't need much help compared to Boston. Thanks for the idea of checking the water reports, though

 

I believe using water from the water heater for cooking is not recommended for this very reason. Always start with the cold water for drinking, brewing and cooking. Hot water is for bathing, laundry and dishes.

 

Start by letting some of your hot water cool to room temperature and taste it. Don't know about yours but mine tastes pretty bad. Well, it did before I replaced the hot water tank with a Combi Boiler. Think about it for a minute. The cold water is cold and after a few seconds of running has completely flushed anything dissolved in it from you house plumbing out so you are essentially getting whatever comes out of the mains or your well. The water in the hot water tank, conversely, is hot and has had hours or days to react with whatever is in the tank and adjacent plumbing including things like the magnesium protective anode. If you haven't been draining/flushing your hot water heater (that's what the cock on the bottom is for - ever used it?) there is probably quite a pile of rust particles, calcium carbonate... in there.

Breweries do use hot water from this type of water heater but as water is drawn through them frequently it doesn't have the time to sit and dissolve heater components and minerals don't have the chance to deposit on the bottom.

 

Hot water can also be a problem in houses built before lead based solder was banned in residential plumbing (1986 in US and Canada). The lead in the solder isn't a problem in cold water pipes, but heat can cause leaching.

 

Yeah, don't use hot water from the tap. All the minerals concentrate in the tank, plus water heaters have a sacrificial anode rod that can be Magnesium or Aluminum/Zinc alloy. Not to mention some anaerobic bacteria that can thrive in warm water and react with the minerals/anode rods and create off smells or tastes.

Eh, I guess someone above already covered this.

 

Looks like you've got some sediment in your water heater. Time to flush it and replace the dip tube & anode rod.

If you're in a building with a boiler there's nothing you can do short of a point of use filter. Just use the cold for consumption.