Why is my well water brown all of a sudden?
Sudden brown water is usually stirred-up iron and sediment: heavy pumping or a dropping water table pulling from the silty bottom, rain pushing surface water in, recent well or plumbing work shaking rust loose, or a slug of iron bacteria sloughing off the casing. If it follows rain, test for bacteria too.
Run an outside spigot for 20 to 30 minutes: water that clears was a stirred-up slug, and water that stays brown is an ongoing source. Note whether hot taps are worse, which points at the water heater rather than the well.
Brown water plus slime in the toilet tank points at iron bacteria shedding, and that is a cleaning problem. Brown grit that settles points at sediment, and a pump set too low or a silting well is a contractor conversation.
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