Just curious about how serious this can be? I have to run the water at least 15 seconds when I wake up in the morning (or anytime there has been a substantial amount of time from the last time I ran the water) to get to clear water. Is this something I need to worry about health wise?

I have to run the water at least 15 seconds when I wake up in the morning (or anytime there has been a substantial amount of time from the last time I ran the water) to get to clear water. What does the water look like> Dirty? Rusty? Other?
How old is your home and what material are the water pipes? Pump or city water? Back to you, Tom

The water color looks rusty/yellowish, it's not goopy or chunky or anything like that. When I run the water into the bathroom sink (white), I can see the rusty/yellowish color of the water against the sink. It clears after a bit. The house was built in 1955 - not quite sure about the pipe material. It is city water (actually glacier fed lake/river water cleaned at our water treatment plant... don't know if you need to know that... )



Forgot to add - when I run water into a glass from the kitchen sink,(without letting it run clear) I can hold it to the light and see that it has that same yellowish color...

The house was built in 1955 - not quite sure about the pipe material. My house was built the same year. I can tell you what's happening but you're not going to like the solution. We have galvanized iron water pipes that have built up rust over the years. The water sits in your pipes collecting iron oxide and other minerals, ( sulfur. Calcium carbonate,ect) When you make a draw the minerals will flush out after you run the water and it's clear. The solution would be to repipe the house in plastic. And I'll bet that when you take a shower and someone flushes the toilet the cold water drops to nothing. OUCH! PS. I repiped my house last year. Good luck, Tom

Wonderful - it's a good thing I'm made of money. Thanks for your insight!