http://www.democraticunderground.com/11582523Oh my.
You know, the primitives seem to have a lot of problems with their plumbing.
irisblue (1,732 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 02:50 PM
black stuff in toilet bowl-long
I have 2 cats that like to drink from the toilet bowl, I keep the lid closed to keep the cats out. Interestingly the dog doesn't try to drink from the toilet....maybe bad memories from baths in the tub next to the toilet.
I have had a problem with black stuff on the inside of the toilet, such that daily toilet cleaning wasn't keeping it clean looking any longer.There is no rust coming from any faucets in the house, so I figured it wasn't from the main water lines, just the internal pipes in the toilet.
I did online research. I have a 6 yr old Kohler brand flap flush valve with a wash down type post flush rinse system. I drained the tank, blotted the inside dry then flushed the toilet and then removed as much water as I could from the tank, turned the water valve off and then cleaned the parts I could reach in this order 1-tank,2-small holes under the seat rim that runs water down over bowl sides and the lower,3- water level part of the bowl.
The tank, did have some orange sediment in it, but no orange water was ever in the bowl; I cleaned the tank by wiping it out, then the pouring a half gallon of bleach, enough to cover the bottom and up the sides of the tank. let that sit for 20 minutes.
I then opened the valve, refilled the tank, flushed the toilet twice, then redrained the tank and toilet bowl again and poured bleach into the bowl, I soaked some paper towel with bleach and laid them over the small water holes under the seat rim, just enough bleach so it would adhere to that area, waited another 20 min, came back, removed the paper towel and re filled and flushed the toilet twice.
Redrained the tank and bowl again and poured in white vinegar in the tank, waited (you guessed it) 20 min, flushed the through the bowl, placed vinegar soaked paper towel under the seat again and waited...(good thing I only had one cup of coffee this am).
I reason that there must be some type of build up in the internal pipes in the toilet, while there is some orange sediment in the tank, there is no orange water in the bowl, just black. So could the bowl pipes be clogging with rust from the tank? Should I routinely run vinger thru the tank and bowl to keep the black stuff down?
There is no way to stop the cats from drinking that water....I already have 4 water bowls in the house. Thanks for any help.
First up, Skippy from New York City:
NYC_SKP (53,464 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 02:55 PM
1. In my experience, black stuff has come from deteriorating black rubber parts.
These may include the flapper, the tank-to-bowl gasket, and the tank bolt seals.
There are no pipes inside the toilet, but there are rubber parts in the connecting hose and the wall valve itself.
I would recommend against using bleach or vinegar, as they are both solvents and each are able to dissolve certain materials.
X_Digger (14,052 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 02:59 PM
2. You might want to replace the flapper seat and gasket. They frequently break down into black goo..
The gasket between the bowl and tank is often made of a black spongy material, topped with a black rubber ring on the tank side that the flapper seats against.
That part breaks down eventually from chlorine in the water supply (supposedly- I think it's a conspiracy to make you buy new stuff, lol.)
It's a 30 minute job to replace the gasket, if you have the room to get to the tank bolts.
The other piece that is of a similar material are the rubber washers that hold the tank to the bowl.
Once it's drained and dry, try rubbing them with a paper towel- if you get black gunk, you've found your culprit.
valerief (36,739 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 03:13 PM
3. The cats can lift the lid?
irisblue (1,732 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 03:29 PM
4. one of them has been trying....
I will occasionally hear a thumpy thumpy sound from the bathroom, mostly mid evenings, by the time I get there no cat is present. I've narrowed down to two. Those two are still quite frisky and playful for being both of them 11 years old. Furoverlords.
IrishAyes (2,515 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 04:31 PM
7. You should keep the lid down always for more important reasons than cats.
When the toilet is flushed after normal use, the air that shoots up carries with it a slew of bacteria and fecal matter that you can't see. This cloud can spread as far as 5-6 feet from the bowl and contaminate everything around.
You did such a great job of cleaning that if weekly additions of a cup of vinegar or bleach to the tank don't stop the black stuff from reappearing, you might need a plumber to check your water lines because no telling where that gunk's coming from. Try this: draw water in a clear glass or bottle from the kitchen faucet at night, let it sit on the counter overnight, then see if it's clear in the morning. That would give you some idea of how far the problem extends. You might get "lucky" enough that you only need to replace some of the pipes closer to the toilet.
And finally, Ugly, she with a face like Hindenberg's:
Warpy (72,059 posts) Tue Oct 8, 2013, 07:37 PM
9. What you might need to do for the k*****s is get them a water fountain that aerates the water they drink, something they probably miss once the water in the bowls goes stagnant.
Amazon and pet stores usually have a variety to choose from at various prices.
I have a renal failure k***y who only cares if it's wet, so I haven't had to get one.
However, I do know there are a lot of cats out there who won't drink water that's been sitting there for a while.
