I haven't a clue as to what that brown stuff could be, maybe it's something they stirred up in the well or could be from all the different water sources they are pouring into them having an effect on the lining of the well in your area. I haven't seen anymore brown water since we replaced our water heater and haven't seen any brown staining on any other surfaces so it could be that we are running off a different well than you are.
Another problem might be do to the fact that the water company has had to make so many repairs on so many sections of their water line that has broken, do largely to the fact that when they laid new water lines a few years back (I think it was almost 4yrs ago), they only made it as far down the mountain as just past the post office. The well level drops then picks back up, putting added pressure to the old lines the farther down the mountain it goes. I would say that there are probably still a lot of small leaks going on that haven't even sprung up to the surface yet do to the stress that the old lines are under. Other than that, if it were me, I would call someone out to test the water to find out exactly what the red stuff is.
As for dry skin problems besides having hard water, being at a higher elevation with low humidity levels doesn't help much either. And sometimes winter weather can be just as drying to our skin as a hot summer. My skin actually dries out more in the winter than in the summer months. Speaking of which, I really miss having that lotion place uptown because I was probably one of their best customers during the fall and winter.
Snwbnny, if your concerned about wasting any water while draining your water heater, a good idea is to hook a garden hose up to it when you drain it so you can use the water for watering trees or plants. Once you drain it, you might consider hooking up a water filter to help keep anything from building up in it again. I know our neighbor drains his every year into a bucket. When everything settles you can look at the bottom of the bucket and see about an inch to two inches of muck. He's lived up here for 20 something years and said it seems like the normal life span on his water heaters has been 3 years (4yrs max), even before all this commotion with the wells this year.
As for the use of pumice stones, I only use those as a last resort. I have had problems in the past were the pumice actually seemed to scratch the porcelain, creating a more rough and porous surface for stains to adhere to more easily. It could have been because the porcelain was old but I don't take chances on using one anymore.
I like the idea of using denture cleaner though, I never tried that before and it sounds like a great idea that I will certainly have to try out.
Water softeners are great as long as you don't make the water so soft that it actually feels slimy. We have some friends that do this and it makes it so darn hard to tell if you have all the soap rinsed off or not. Great points Mtman and Wrightwood, I couldn't agree with you two any more.
And yet another point of view, from the Witchy Poo
