In December 2006, we REPLACED FAUCETS for both of our bathrooms (Pegasus, up/Delta, down) in the home where we have lived for 30 years. No problem with downstairs - but immediately we began to see BLACK CHUNKS & SPECKS, along with RUSTY WATER, coming from the upstairs faucet.
We removed the aerator and FLUSHED OUT the faucet, which took care of the black specks & chunks (for a while), but when the FAUCET IS FIRST TURNED ON - RUSTY WATER STILL COMES OUT (clears later).
We gave the faucet a couple months to flush itself out, then called Home Depot, who immediately sent us a couple of NEW CYLINDER inserts to see if that was the problem. When the original cylinders were removed, we noticed the copper around the base was RUSTY looking. We're not sure if this was a manufacturing defect OR caused from exposure to the rusty water OR if the problem may be further "upstream" - in the pipes in the wall. Even with the new insert, the water is still rusty (when first turned on).
Today, I again removed the aerator, cloroxed the filters and flushed out the faucet. MORE BLACK SPECKS. Water is still rusty.
Since we really LOVE the Pegasus faucet design - and blogs affirm overall satisfaction with the product - we would hate to replace it, only to find out the problem is in our pipes. Someone suggested that perhaps some debris may have been dislodged during faucet installation. We would appreciate thoughts on that, please.
QUESTION: If the rusty water and black debris IS coming from the pipes, how can that be determined and is that something that the average homeowner/handyman can fix? Or is this something for the plumber?
THANKS!
We removed the aerator and FLUSHED OUT the faucet, which took care of the black specks & chunks (for a while), but when the FAUCET IS FIRST TURNED ON - RUSTY WATER STILL COMES OUT (clears later).
We gave the faucet a couple months to flush itself out, then called Home Depot, who immediately sent us a couple of NEW CYLINDER inserts to see if that was the problem. When the original cylinders were removed, we noticed the copper around the base was RUSTY looking. We're not sure if this was a manufacturing defect OR caused from exposure to the rusty water OR if the problem may be further "upstream" - in the pipes in the wall. Even with the new insert, the water is still rusty (when first turned on).
Today, I again removed the aerator, cloroxed the filters and flushed out the faucet. MORE BLACK SPECKS. Water is still rusty.
Since we really LOVE the Pegasus faucet design - and blogs affirm overall satisfaction with the product - we would hate to replace it, only to find out the problem is in our pipes. Someone suggested that perhaps some debris may have been dislodged during faucet installation. We would appreciate thoughts on that, please.
QUESTION: If the rusty water and black debris IS coming from the pipes, how can that be determined and is that something that the average homeowner/handyman can fix? Or is this something for the plumber?
THANKS!