Pink stuff in shower & toilet

[kingman99]

We have a water softener and carbon filter in our house. It was installed about 3 months ago and we're noticing red stuff in the shower stall in the corners and also in our jetted tub sometimes. I also see it at the water-level in the toilets sometimes.

What is our softner putting into the water to cause this ?

[greg-cws]

Pink residue can form as a result of colonization by airborne fungi and/or bacteria. Toilets and bathrooms are places where fungus and bacteria can thrive, even in a "clean" home.

Rest assured that a new softener like yours isn't putting anything into the water to cause this.

The following organisms have shown up in our research - Rhodotorula rubra/Rhodotorula mucilaginosa & Serratia marcescens. Some biologists suggest that certain strains of Candida fungus will cause similar growth in public and private bathing areas.

On chlorinated water supplies, there is usually enough residual chlorine in the water to prevent such growth. Water softeners will react with chlorine as the chlorine attacks the softening resin, so the net chlorine residual will decline. The softener isn't removing the chlorine, but the chlorine is being used up by attacking the softener.

Of course, we don't want chlorine in the water in our homes, so we have to deal with certain challenges like this.

The best way to mitigate this growth is to adopt/maintain a detailed cleaning regimen in your home - Scrub away the existing growth and sanitize with bleach or other disinfectant. Dry the shower stall after use. Spray the shower/bathtub periodically with an antibacterial. Use approved disinfection tablets in the toilet tank.

It is also very important to make sure that you have a water softener that includes technologies like automatic electronic injection of Pur-Gard and disinfectants like SP-5000 to ensure your softener never becomes a haven for bacteria.

Older softeners that don't include automatic disinfection apparatus can become a breeding ground for HPC's (heterotrophic plate-count bacteria), which further negate the effects of chlorine, and can become a food base for other bacteria and even certain fungi.

Good luck !

[kingman99]

Thanks for the advise !!!


Pink residue can form as a result of colonization by airborne fungi and/or bacteria.

The following names have shown up in our research - Rhodotorula rubra/Rhodotorula mucilaginosa & Serratia marcescens. Some biologists suggest that certain strains of Candida can cause similar growth in public and private bathing areas.

On chlorinated water supplies, there is usually enough residual chlorine in the water to prevent such growth. Of course, we don't want chlorine in the water in our homes, so we have to deal with certain challenges like this.

The best way to mitigate this growth is to adopt/maintain a detailed cleaning regimen in your home - Scrub away the existing growth and sanitize with bleach or other disinfectant. Dry the shower stall after use. Spray the shower/bathtub periodically with an antibacterial. Use chlorine/bromine tablets in the toilet tank.

Good luck !

[ion_avenger]

Greg, I have my customers pour some Pur-Gard on the growth and scrub.
It removes it completely and stays away longer



Pink residue can form as a result of colonization by airborne fungi and/or bacteria.

The following names have shown up in our research - Rhodotorula rubra/Rhodotorula mucilaginosa & Serratia marcescens. Some biologists suggest that certain strains of Candida can cause similar growth in public and private bathing areas.

On chlorinated water supplies, there is usually enough residual chlorine in the water to prevent such growth. Of course, we don't want chlorine in the water in our homes, so we have to deal with certain challenges like this.

The best way to mitigate this growth is to adopt/maintain a detailed cleaning regimen in your home - Scrub away the existing growth and sanitize with bleach or other disinfectant. Dry the shower stall after use. Spray the shower/bathtub periodically with an antibacterial. Use chlorine/bromine tablets in the toilet tank.

Good luck !

[TopGear]

Hi, I have a simular problem. The slime in my house is more yellowish/brown though. Mainly in the toilets and sometimes the shower too. Is this the same bacteria ?

[greg-cws]

Is this an actual slime, or just yellow/brown stains ?

[TopGear]

Its smooth in the shower and sinks, but slimy at the toilets. The water smells like fish in the shower too.

[greg-cws]

Hi

Have you ever had your water tested ?

It sounds like you might possibly have issues with both iron & bacteria.

I would test for the following ASAP:

Hardness
Iron
TDS
Manganese
Total Coliform
Fecal Coliform

Let us know your test results and we will be able to assist you further

[TopGear]

I called the university extension, county ag office and a independant lab. Tests run around $300. Is that a good price ?

[greg-cws]

You could probably find it cheaper, but it's reasonable for the services of a professional laboratory if it includes the coliform testing also.

[TopGear]

Hi guys,here is what they found.......

Hardness 600mg/l
Iron 2.0mg/l
TDS 1300mg/l
Manganese 0 mg/l
Total Coliform 200CFU
Fecal Coliform ND
Nitrate 5mg/l
Nitrite ND
Sodium 300mg/l
Copper 10ppb
Lead ND

What do we do now?



Hi

Have you ever had your water tested ?

It sounds like you might possibly have issues with both iron & bacteria.

I would test for the following ASAP:

Hardness
Iron
TDS
Manganese
Total Coliform
Fecal Coliform

Let us know your test results and we will be able to assist you further

[greg-cws]

That's not very nice water. You're not drinking it, are you ? :eek:

Do you have any kind of water treatment equipment installed in the home at all ?

What is your main pipe size, how many bathrooms do you have ?

[TopGear]

We have a WaterTech Reionator softener. Our house main pipe is 1 inch. We have 3 bathrooms in the house.

We stopped drinking the water about a month ago, is it ok for the dogs to drink?

Rhis water test is from our kitchen cold whitch is softened. My husband says we should have tested it before the softener too. Is that right ?

[ion_avenger]

That reionator is a mixed bed on anion/cation resins and can foul easily.
I take these out all the time cause of unhappy customers.

Do a test on your raw unfiltered/softened water, you might fiind mucho better results.

If you cant afford the new test,bypass the reionator and see if your water gets better

[TopGear]

OK, we had two samples drawn - one outside at the hose spigott and one inside at the same faucet we tested from before,just with the softner bypassed.

Outside Hose
Hardness 600mg/l
Iron 0.5mg/l
TDS 850mg/l
Manganese 0 mg/l
Total Coliform 130CFU
Fecal Coliform ND
Nitrate 0.8mg/l
Nitrite ND
Sodium 380mg/l
Copper 0.5ppb
Lead ND

Inside Kitchen----Softner Bypassed
Hardness 600mg/l
Iron 0.5mg/l
TDS 850mg/l
Manganese 0 mg/l
Total Coliform 20CFU
Fecal Coliform ND
Nitrate 0.8mg/l
Nitrite ND
Sodium 380mg/l
Copper 0.5ppb
Lead ND

I don't get it, the water is WORSE after the softner how is that possible ?

[ion_avenger]

I'm not surprised at all,looking at those test results.

What you have, is a mixed bed of anion & cation resin being exposed to high hardness levels. The anion resin is fouling and starting to leach nitrates. Your softener is also contaminated with bacterial growth-HPC bacteria. HPC grow in all softeners unless they are disinfected periodically (like every week !) That's why I buy systems with Pur-Gard injection for my customers.

Your high TDS is incomplete regeneration which is allowing regeneration byproducts to go into your house plumbing.

You need to disinfect your system and reprogram it to rinse longer.
That reionator is using either the Clack WS1 custom valve or a Fleck 6700 custom if its older. How many buttons do you have on your control electronics, and is the display LCD or green VFD ?

[TopGear]

Hi guys

Thanks so very much for your help !!

My husband said we need a local expert and not to just get all our help on the 'net, so we called our plumber who referred us to Affordable Soft Water Service of Lindon, UT. They sent a technitian to our house who went through the system and made lots of changes for us. He opened our system and vacuumed out the white stuff from our tank, he said that it doesn't work right in our area and makes the water worse, so I guess you guys called that one right.
He poured disinfecting cleaner into the tank and then ran it all through our house, left in in for a hour and then rinsed it all out. It was so nasty, we had little flakes of brown and black coming out of the pipes and it smelled like rotten eggs. After he rinsed it all for about 15 minutes with all the faucets on it started to smell much better. He also put a dripper feed into our tank to dripp disinfectant into our salt tank.

Its been a week now and no musty smell or anything, so I think we're set.
When should be the best time for us to have the water tested again ?
:D

[ion_avenger]

Very cool ! Glad to hear you got taken care of. Test it in about another week to see how your number look. Test from the same faucets/fixtures and send it to the same lab.

[TopGear]

Heres the test results


Outside Hose
Hardness 600mg/l
Iron 0.5mg/l
TDS 850mg/l
Manganese 0 mg/l
Total Coliform 130CFU
Fecal Coliform ND
Nitrate 0.9mg/l
Nitrite ND
Sodium 380mg/l
Copper 0.5ppb
Lead ND

Inside Kitchen----Softner in Service
Hardness 10mg/l
Iron 0 mg/l
TDS 1209mg/l
Manganese 0 mg/l
Total Coliform ND
Fecal Coliform ND
Nitrate 0.9mg/l
Nitrite ND
Sodium 680mg/l
Copper ND
Lead ND

Why is the sodium level higher after the softner, I thought they didn't put salt into the water?

My soap test kit says the water is soft, so why is there still calcium in the water?

Why doesn't the softner take the nitrate out?

thanks

[ion_avenger]

I like to see a big change like that, well done!!!

Softeners add sodium (not salt) to water on an exchange basis with the calcium in the water that's why they call them ion-exchange softeners.

The calcium on your test is below the level to be called "soft" so its OK for residential softening use.

Softeners can't remove nitrates. That's why those bozos added the white (anion) resin to the tank. If you want to take out the nitrates you need to add a anion filter AFTER your softener.

[TopGear]

OK I understand. Is the Nitrate level high enough to be worried about or is it OK to leave it in the water?


I like to see a big change like that, well done!!!

Softeners add sodium (not salt) to water on an exchange basis with the calcium in the water that's why they call them ion-exchange softeners.

The calcium on your test is below the level to be called "soft" so its OK for residential softening use.

Softeners can't remove nitrates. That's why those bozos added the white (anion) resin to the tank. If you want to take out the nitrates you need to add a anion filter AFTER your softener.

[greg-cws]

EPA MCL is 10ppm, so according to the US government, anything up to 10ppm is OK for human consumption.
My personal belief differs...I don't think we should consume any nitrates/nitrites at all from our drinking water since most of us get plenty from our food, especially if you eat cold cuts, jerky, certain sausages etc...

Geriatric and pediatric populations are especially at risk to nitrate consumption so I personally recommend removing any and all nitrates from drinking water. The working water in you home can have a low level of nitrates ( <= 1ppm)without having much of an adverse effect in the home.