Why rusty hot water flows from taps in Tashkent: explanation from Veolia Energy Tashkent

The cause of the cloudiness and rust

With the start of the heating season, residents of Tashkent began submitting complaints that hot water with an altered color and rust impurities was coming out of their taps. Veolia Energy Tashkent, in an official statement retold by the outlet Zamon.uz, explained this as a feature of the heating system startup: during launch, the hydraulic circulation regime in the main networks and internal building pipelines changes, and small mineral deposits and rust residues that accumulated over the summer-autumn break are flushed out of the pipes under water pressure.

What has already been done in the main networks

According to the company, specialists carried out primary circulation and flushing of the city's main heating networks on November 1–7, after which, according to Veolia's statement, the water quality in them was brought to the established normative indicators. This means that, according to the company's position, the problem has been resolved at the level of the city mains, and the complaints are related mainly to the internal networks of residential buildings.

Who is responsible and what residents should do

Management companies are responsible for the internal networks of buildings: when starting the heating, they are obliged to drain the water that has stagnated in the pipes and fill the system with water from the main networks. Veolia explains that in most cases it is enough to briefly drain the stagnant water in the riser for the color to return to normal; if the water does not clear, the management company should drain it until it becomes fully clear. If the management company confirms that rusty water is coming directly from the building's entry point, residents can contact the Veolia Energy Tashkent call center — specialists will come to the site and check the water parameters at the boundary of the networks.