We just bought a house and today when I turned on the cold water tap in the sink, a whole bunch of brown water came out, and then a bunch of small brownish-gray things that were kind of sticky. I had to use soap to get them to wash out of the sink and if you pushed on one, it would smear, like ash or something. Then the water ran clear and everything was fine.

Any idea what this could be? We are on city water.

Thanks!

We just bought a house and today when I turned on the cold water tap in the sink, a whole bunch of brown water came out, and then a bunch of small brownish-gray things that were kind of sticky. I had to use soap to get them to wash out of the sink and if you pushed on one, it would smear, like ash or something. Then the water ran clear and everything was fine.

Any idea what this could be? We are on city water.

Thanks!
... exact name of that 'stuff' but always knew to run all faucets (hot and cold) for at least 10 minutes whenever away for a long period or whenever the water was shut off. Do so and know that this is not uncommon and is probably little more than sediment occurring during the time the water pressure was zip (during escrow?).

If the house set for a while, all sorts of crud may have built up in the water system. With any luck, all it will take is a goiod flushing. Don't be surprised if some of the appliances have problems too. Many of them it may just mean taking apart and cleaning up.