Water Squirt
Water Squirt
Why did my bathroom sink squirt out black water but then went back to white then black and is it bad?
My hand touched the black water and I’m kinda worried. If its bad can you tell me why and how its bad and what can i do to fix it? If its not bad tell me.
Janelle, it’s most likely mildew in the water which is a fungus, so it can’t really hurt you. Your skin is designed to protect you from things like that so you shouldn’t really worry about it. When water stands for a really long time, mildew starts growing on the sides of the pipe in the drain, because it’s a moist environment, just like in your shower, so when you turn the water on, the mildew gets dislodged from the pipe and swept along in the water. That’s why it was black, then clear, then black again, it’s because of the two different sections of pipe, the first one being between the drain and goose-neck, and then the second section of pipe between the goose-neck and the upright, which is the pipe that goes down to the sewer. Both of those don’t contain water, so there would be mildew growing there, but the goose-neck does contain water, so it would be the short burst of water that was clear. If you run the water long enough, it should run clear eventually. If it doesn’t you should call your local department of water & power, since they service your house. Hope that is helpful, and resolves your worry. Black water is icky, & smells bad, but it can’t really hurt you.
Emgee, how does mildew grow in your shower? Because it’s already present in the water, you moron. Mildew grows anywhere there’s a moist environment, and that includes the inside of pipes. Stick your finger inside your bathroom or kitchen faucet if there’s not an aerator on the end. Feel that slippery stuff? That’s mildew. It grows around gaskets, in the cracks, nooks, & crannies of the shower or tub, inside faucets, underneath the RTV or caulking in your shower, in the drainpipes, on the porcelain inside toilets (that’s what that stuff growing around the waterline and up inside the rim of the toilet is), hell it will even grow on shampoo or conditioner bottles if you leave them on the floor of the shower, it’s everywhere.
The last time I checked, rust is usually red, brown, or reddish-black, not black. Only mildew is black, and given the fact that the water changed colors, there may have been some rust dislodged from someone working on the pipes, but only if it was inside the building. If it was out past the turn-off, or the main, it would disperse and not be visible. I’ve replaced faucets, uprights, rooted out clean-outs, and cleaned out my share of drainer clogs, so I think I have a pretty good working knowledge of plumbing. You want to call someone names, go elsewhere, don’t do it here where the objective is to help people, not put others down.
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