When you turn on your tap, you expect the water that comes out to be clear. However, in some circumstances, it will be cloudy instead.
Is this something to worry about? It depends.
In many cases, cloudy water’s harmless, just a visual difference. But, in other situations, it can indicate faucet or plumbing issues that should be fixed to ensure your safety and limit damage to your appliances, dishes and clothes.
Quick Takeaways
- Cloudy faucet water is often caused by safe air bubbles
- Water that clears within minutes is normally harmless
- Persistent cloudiness can be the result of mineral buildup
- A clogged aerator is a common cause of cloudy water
- Professional faucet repair can clear up cloudy water fast
Why’s My Faucet Water Cloudy?
There are several potential factors that could cause your faucet water to be cloudy.
1. Air Bubbles in the Water
The most likely cause of cloudy water is air bubbles. This is also the safest potential cause as having more air in your water than is normally the case will not cause you harm.
The best way to test if this is the case for your water is to pour some into a glass and see if the cloudiness clears from the bottom to the top. If this happens within a few minutes, air bubbles are surely why you have cloudy water and is nothing to worry about from a health standpoint.
What could be causing this? In many cases, the aerator that you’re using may be clogged or dirty to the degree that this is the result. To test this theory, unscrew and remove your filter and see if the water’s still cloudy after going through filter-less conditions. If it’s not, simply cleaning your aerator will likely solve this issue.
Other possible causes include trapped air, a pressure increase down the line and greater water pressure in your home. Meanwhile, if the water’s simply colder than usual, there could be more air in it for that reason.
2. Hard Water
If you have cloudy water that never clears after you pour it into a glass, that’s a sign that it’s likely hard water. Other indications of hard water include white spots on glasses after they’ve been washed, clothes being discolored and stiff after going through the washing machine and mineral deposits appearing on appliances.
What causes hard water? As water travels after falling, it picks up sediment, and that sediment could include substantial amounts of calcium and magnesium, resulting in the water that you’re using at your home being rich in those substances.
If you’re sensitive to calcium or magnesium, hard water can cause health concerns. Otherwise, its main impact will be its ability to create soap scum in the bathroom, itchy deposits on your skin and clogged drains.
Thankfully, the Florida panhandle experiences much less hard water than the rest of the state does, but it does still happen here and should be something to watch out for.
3. Sediment, Such as Calcium Carbonate
Another potential cause of cloudy water that doesn’t dissipate is sediment in your water heater, particularly at the bottom of it. Fortunately, flushing your water heater on a regular basis should solve this issue. Conversely, if you don’t get this issue fixed, your water heater could become damaged; rust may even form.
If the cloudiness starts clearing from the top, not from the bottom, in a class of hot water, sediment build-up could be the culprit.
Is Cloudy Faucet Water Safe to Drink?
In most cases, cloudy faucet water’s safe to drink.
The main circumstances in which you should hesitate to drink it include if that cloudiness doesn’t clear or returns after disappearing, if the water has color at all, if it smells or tastes metallic or musty and if particles are settling at the bottom of a glass that was filled with water from your faucet.
How to Tell If the Problem’s Your Faucet or Your Plumbing
One of the clearest ways to determine if this issue is the result of a specific faucet or your plumbing as a whole is to compare water from faucet to faucet. Determine if cloudy water is coming out of each of them, and see if cloudy water that does appear dissipates from a glass from the bottom to the top in some but not others.
If there are differences between your faucets, inspect your aerators to see if any of them have gotten dirty.
Ways That Faucet or Plumbing System Repair Can Fix Cloudy Water
There are a few ways how faucet or plumbing system repair can fix your cloudy water. A simple one is the cleaning or replacing of any clogged aerators. Another potential cause of this issue is a faulty faucet cartridge, and an inspection of that could result in it getting fixed or replaced and your water becoming clear again for that reason.
Meanwhile, your plumbing system could be causing your water to go through increased pressure, which may be what’s causing excess air in the water that you’re drinking and otherwise using. Adjusting that pressure may help.
Assessing if your water heater’s experiencing more wear than should be the case or even has some corrosion can also ultimately result in your cloudy-water issue being fixed.
When Cloudy Faucet Water Means That You Should Call a Plumber
Consider calling a plumber if the cloudiness never clears, your water has a metallic taste or odor, there’s visible sediment in it, multiple fixtures are affected by this issue or you’ve noticed substantially reduced water pressure.
Our Punctual Plumbers Will Fix Your Cloudy Water Fast
Our punctual plumbers understand the various causes of cloudy water and are ready to help rectify this issue for you. We serve Niceville, FL, and the surrounding areas with and have a well-earned reputation for excellence.