First of all, I live in a college dorm, so there's really nothing I can do about the water quality coming from the faucet. But until recently, the water had been perfectly fine. Today I went to fill up my jugs to leave them sit out before a water change, but the water in the jug looked murky and had a funny smell. I tested it: .25 ammonia and .5 nitrate, which it normally doesn't have. I tried another faucet to see if it was just a problem with our spigot, but the water was the same. I left some water in a jug, and it does clear up as some sort of red-brown particles start to settle. I'm hoping it will clear up in a day or two, but what can I do if it doesn't? Would it be safe to filter it mechanically (like pouring it through a waschcloth, since I don't have a brita or anything)? Or does that smell indicate there may be something dangerous and invisible in the water?

Sorry if there's another post on this already, but I didn't see one.

Sometimes water companies do "back washes". What this is exactly, I don't know - but I remember when I lived up North they had them every so often. It usually lasts a few hours during that one day, and then it's back to "normal".
Can you hold off on storing the water until tomorrow, and see how it is then?

I hope it's better, and it's just a back washing thing.

Debbie