That water shouldn't look like this

[wateronthebrain]

I'm living in an apartment, not UK but Western Europe where the water should be OK to drink. I contacted the landlord (the building belongs to the local council and is rented) to bring the yellow water to his attention. He's basically fobbed me off since October about this, actually lying to my face about the colour of the water I could see in front of me, until finally last week he said 'if you don't like it, we can terminate your contract!'
There's a tenants' committee here and I've been in touch with them, but this is a flaky place so whilst they've said they'll discuss it at their next meeting, I don't have a lot of confidence in them. This isn't so much a AIBU as I know I'm not, but I'm wondering what I should do about this? I live alone, no partner and am not currently working, so feel in a bit of a precarious position.

Discoloured doesn't neccesarily mean unsafe.

Could you order a home water quality test? Something like this one, which test for bacteria and a whole host of other stuff. It says they deliver Europe-wide.

Our water comes from a spring and goes brown when it rains as it's filtered through a peat bog - but it's also UV filtered before it gets to our taps so it doesn't necessarily mean it's unsafe.

This one test for more parameters.

Might set your mind at rest/prove you're right to be worried - either way it will be useful!

Discoloured doesn't necessarily mean dangerous but I wouldn't fancy drinking brown water!

Can you order a kit to test the water?

Can you contact the local equivalent of the council’s environmental health officer? They should be able to test it and check it meets the prevailing standards for your country/region.

You can send it to a lab to be tested, or do a home test.

A filter under the sink will make it more palatable for drinking if you are queasy about it even if it is safe.

I had this when I lived on an island. The water was still safe to drink. Just high in iron. There should be a supplier of your water that you can call and ask to do a water quality test or to send you a copy of their regular water quality test. Then you’ll see why it is orange. If it isn’t supposed to be...as in rusty pipes in the apartment, then they can back you up when you go to council with complaint.

That water's orange! I get people saying that water doesn't have to be clear to be safe, but it's orange. Who wouldn't be off-put by that?

Must save you a bit on teabags 👍🏻

Does it come from a tank? Is there any smell to the water?
Can you report it to your local council. Mayor’s office, public health department? I’ve lived in some off grid places and never seen mains water looking like that.

What do your neighbours think? Do they have the same problem or is it just your taps? If other people have the same water and drink it without issues, it's probably safe, albeit unappetising.

@madisonbridges

That water's orange! I get people saying that water doesn't have to be clear to be safe, but it's orange. Who wouldn't be off-put by that?

It is off putting, but if it’s safe to drink, the water supplier, landlord and council are not breaking any laws or endangering anyone’s health.

When I was living in that island, I simply bought and under sink reverse osmosis system in the kitchen which took out all the minerals and such causing the orange so my drinking, cooking and clothes washer water was clear. (I also brushed my teeth in the kitchen). I still had orange water in my toilet, my bath and shower....it was a bit yuck when you take a bath and can’t see your feet under the water. But you learn to live with it.

Just to let you know that we've moved this to the Property topic, as requested, @wateronthebrain

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to drip feed, but this has been a bit of a saga and I didn't want to make the opening post too long. I should have said that when the water was a darker shade it was also extremely salty! The landlord has suggested that it's the apartment's water softener that is the problem, and it has been switched off at various points but is now on again and it seems I'm just expected to put up with the fact that it dumps residue and salt into the water.
I tried some of the suggested testing strips, but as they didn't even pick up the salt, it suggests they're not reliable. The water company came in last week to collect and test the water, haven't heard back from the landlord about that yet. A couple of other tenants have had the same problem, but don't seem as bothered as me about it.

The water company came in last week to collect and test the water, haven't heard back from the landlord about that yet

Call the water company yourself. Even if you don’t pay the bill, you have a right to know the results as it’s water you are using/living with.

Look into an undersink reverse osmosis system. It’s a good Plan B if the water is safe and orange.

@EmpressCixi

The water company came in last week to collect and test the water, haven't heard back from the landlord about that yet

Call the water company yourself. Even if you don’t pay the bill, you have a right to know the results as it’s water you are using/living with.

Look into an undersink reverse osmosis system. It’s a good Plan B if the water is safe and orange.

I might try that if he doesn't get back to us The thing is, the took the sample once the water had cleared a bit (it comes and it goes), so it really needs to be tested while it's yellow/orange.