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Kelly


Hermes

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a weird toilet question
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Um, my toilet is being...interesting. I was hoping maybe someone had experience with this and could tell me what in the world is going on.

So I just went into the bathroom a while ago and noticed that the water in the toilet was a really dark brown. Of course, at first I thought that there was probably some gross plumbing issue going on and it hadn't flushed properly last time. So flushed it again. And the water came back brown - again. Earlier today the water coming out of my kitchen sink was brown, which has happened a few times before (I live in an apt, so I never know when work has been done on the pipes. I assume that it turns brown then, but I don't really know. It happens a few times a year.) I let the water run for a few minutes in the kitchen and everything was back to normal. So I thought that maybe the water in my toilet was brown for the same reason (since I hadn't used the toilet since the kitchen water was brown, so it couldn't have been replaced with clear water yet.)

So...I flushed it again. Again, it came in all orangey-brown. I took the lid off of the tank, and the water in the tank looks really gross. There are like dark orange flecks of something covering the whole top of the water. There's also a light orange residue all over the bottom of the tank. I stuck a metal rod in there and poked around and when I scraped an area, the white stuff would go away.

The only thing I've done lately is putting one of those bleach tablets in the tank. But I did that like a week ago and haven't had a problem until now. And I've done it for the past two years with no problems.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on...and more importantly, how to fix this? I know it's a long shot because I'm sure me describing it without anyone seeing it isn't the best way to go about asking the question, but obviously there's nothing else I can do. I can't invite you all over to come look at my toilet, lol.

-- Edited by ttara123 at 22:11, 2007-02-20

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Fashion is art you live your life in. - Devil Wears Prada | formerly ttara123
Deuce


Dooney & Bourke

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Sounds to me like they were doing some work on the  waterpipes in your neighborhood, or a main line is broken. The only thing That works is just running the water to get it flushed out of the pipes. Than happened to us when a pipe broke on our street, once the water was back on it took some time for it to settle and clear out.

Just wanted to add that you can turn the water to the toilet off and try to use a brush to coax the stuff that has settled it the tank when your flush, that way no other water will be filling. hth

-- Edited by Deuce at 00:14, 2007-02-21

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Elle


Hermes

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Yup, my vote would be for work on the pipes.  If it was in fact a pipe that was underground or something, you're probably getting heavy clay soil in your water.  If not it would just be rust and stuff from them rummaging/cutting/fixing etc.

I'd call your property manager/landlord and let them know what's going on.  They'd probably be able to tell you if anyone else was having a similar problem or it they'd ordered work done on their pipes.  You could also call the city and see if any work is being done in your neighborhood (or drive around and see if they've got anything dug up).

If you keep flushing the toilet a few times and it doesn't seem any clearer, I'd totally drain it, wipe out the tank, and then turn the water back on.  There should be a valve in the wall that connects the the pipe/hose coming off the toilet.  Turn that all the way off, take the tank lid off, and hold down the flush handle until all the water drains out.  Wipe the tank, and then turn the valve back on and it should fill up again, hopefully with cleaner looking water!  I wouldn't attempt it if the valve looks really rusty though.

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