Why is my hot water rusty colored?

Answer 1

You have iron in your water. When you heat the water and it mixes with oxygen it becomes rust. You can try different types of filters and water softeners to try and stop it but they have mixed results depending upon how much iron you have in your water.

Answer 2

It means the inside of your Hot Water Tank is starting to rust. If it is an electric tank, shut the power off and the water feed and open the drain at the bottom to drain the tank. Open the hot side of faucets in the house to drain all the hot water. When all the water is drained, close the faucets opened, close the drain, fill up the hot water tank. Go upstairs, unscrew the aerators and slowly open the hot side of faucets to drain the air until you have full flow of water. When all air is purged from the system it is ONLY then that you should turn the breaker for the HWT back on. If the air is not purged and the tank is not completely filled with water, you risk burning out the elements. For a gas tank, shut the gas off and do the same as above except for the electrical. Then fire up the gas after.

Answer 3

if it's just red for a few seconds at the start then it's probably just rust