Diagnosis requires more info.
Was it a tub-and-shower Faucet that was replaced? ... or a Tub, and shower-faucet?
What else was replaced besides that... like pipes/tubes behind the walls, water heater, holding tanks, etc?
Have any of your neighbors noticed anything similar?

When you telephoned the tradesman to ask about it, what did he say?

That makes no sense at all. A new fixture should not cause rust.

I agree with the previous post. It may be a coincidence, and you need to eliminate other variables.

The one thing that I can think of is, did the plumber have to turn off the water to your residence in order to do this work? If so, if the main water shut off was rusty, the rust may be coming from there. But if that were the case, you'd have rust at all your faucets, too.

I think you should call your plumber, but try to get him to explain it over the phone. You don't want to pay for another service call.

I have a really good plumber with a great warranty program. He would come out for free to check up on something like that.

The rusty water is just the older lines discharging some sediment that was dislodged when the pipes were worked on.
It'll pass and it's harmless.

I used to live in a little town where they regularly purged the lines by opening the fire hydrants up fully. The water was an ugly brown for a week afterward. It's just sediment.

To Briggi, Old Man and Cliff - thank you all for your help.

another distant possibility is that the plumber snuck in a non-galvanized iron fitting

I tend to agree with the post above me, in that the rust is more than likely the result of the pipes discharging some rust that was broken loose by attatching new hardware. It is odd that it hasn't gone away already. You could always open up the faucet all the way for a while and see if it goes away.

You could always attempt to get the plumber to come out and make sure he installed everything properly, and mention on the phone that you should not have to pay for the follow up visit. Most plumbers guarantee their work, but not all.


Good luck...

A new faucet has no rust, so I don't see that causing your problem.
rust probably dislodged itself from the old pipe.