OK, what the heck is in the water here? (Sun City: live in, mold)

[Dewey59]

I keep getting blackish stains in my toilet that will not come out with any kind of chemical - not even muriatic acid! So it is definitely not mold / mildew because I also use CL2 tablets. The only thing I have found that will remove it is pumice stone, which scratches the porcelain and makes it even more susceptible to staining!

So now I am thinking of some kind of water filtration system, but I need to know what to filter. Does anyone know what particular chemical in the water causes this? I live in Sun City West, so my water comes from an aquifer.

[sc37]

Sounds like your bleach tablets are reacting with iron or manganese that's in the water, creating black stain deposits.

[LBTRS]

We don't get black stains...we do get red stains in the toilet once in awhile in a bathroom that isn't used. They come out easy though with a brush and toilet bowl cleaner.

[Sovetsky Medved]

Here in Youngtown, I get like a black mold that forms at the water line in the bowl, I just pour bleach in and it goes away.
I never had this happen anywhere else Ive lived, Also the water here tastes a bit funny.

[locolife]

I've also seen the red stains in bathrooms that don't get used frequently but never black.

[new2colo]

If you haven't already, try a toilet cleaner called The Works. At the risk of sounding like some cheap commercial, it gets stains out of toilet bowls that other cleaners don't. It should be available at your local Walmart or Target.

[Zippyman]

Maybe check to see if the parts inside the tank are coming apart (the float & tank washers?)

[wit-nit]

Black means something is wrong in the piping system, not the water. Red is iron/rust in the water.

[AZ Manager]

Those tank tablets will eat up all that rubber in a tank after a while and could be the cause of the problem. I'd try replacing the interior parts or just get a new tank before adding a water filter. Epcor water is very hard, hardest water I've had in the valley by far, so a filter won't fix the problem but a soft water system could if the problem is coming from the minerals.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

A pink stain on sinks and toilets normally is bacteria https://www.ewswater.com/pink-stains...-get-rid-of-it . Rust sometimes looks pink or brown. But the iron isn't all that high in our water in AZ (it is extremely high in MN). The black lines could be mold or as others have said, something that is breaking down in your waterlines/tank. If it is black mold, see https://www.ewswater.com/pink-stains...get-rid-of-it/ . Originally, I noticed black mold when we come back in October from not flushing for 6 months. The tank will also become black. So you will also need to scrub and bleach the tank too.

That said, I don't think I've noticed the black mold any longer not that we have a carbon filter and softener. But I will take note in a couple of months.