Yes, I have the same exact problems too, here in DFW area of Texas! Never had it with the well water. They both get city water from the same supply. I’ve gotten stomachs flu type symptoms when drinking the water without filtering. Nearby cities have spent the money to filter for iron and manganese, but mine claims the water bill would need to go up significantly. Thanks for this recommendation I will definitely try it! I’m going to ask my neighbors if they have the same thing going on with their water. Not sure how it can be the pipes, since our home is fairly new and we noticed these issues within the first year. Thanks! How does that compare with your experience? The house is a little over 10 years old & there is black ring around toilets & bathroom sinks. If I am not wrong, then I think it is one of most common problems which is usually found in many homes. See below. These minerals could be part of the terrible taste of our city water. The hand held shower head has gunk only on lower end of shower head, which stays damp when hanging in its holder. The most common approach to control iron and manganese bacteria is shock chlorination. Oddly enough I’m living in Alpharetta too, but in a brand new townhouse. I have never liked using Clorox but now I’m constantly using it on faucets, shower heads, drains and in the toilets. To rule out manganese, you can get a test kit from Amazon* and check the levels. How can I disinfect the plastic pipe that runs the filtered water to these areas? The cause yes (manganese) but no solution. Holy cow! Hi, I am hoping someone may have experience with sanitizing / flushing a plastic water line running from a water filtration system in a basement up a floor level to water dispenser on a refrigerator and this same plastic pipe supplies water to a drinking water faucet at the kitchen sink. ☺ The rotten egg smell presence in water should be treated with extreme caution. For us after cleaning it didn’t come back for a few months (it was fine through winter but now that summer here it seems to be coming back). Funny enough though it looks like kinetico has a solution for this exact thing. As a result, we wanted something more convenient that could produce clean and good-tasting drinking water on-demand. None of the rest of the house has pvc and it is in all toilets showers and sinks. Yours is magnificent! If excessive iron or manganese is present in your water supply, you might consider an alternative source for drinking water, or water treatment. So if you want to know how much manganese is in your drinking water, you have to get it tested. I have the exact same problem in Fulton county GA as well. It’s still a hugely annoying problem, for example I got a power toothbrush a few months ago and the other day I noticed that the slime was trying to grow in the indentations of the toothbrush body. That has two reasons: As a result of the above factors, a typical whole house water filter may not be able to remove manganese and thus not solve your black gunk problem. Brand new house built in 2016. I clean my toilet every day but once a week give the toilets a good scrub around the rim also my taps. Now that I know it’s not a health but only a cosmetic issue I’m less worried about it though. Phosphate will help sequester the iron/manganese. Thank you! I did a lot of research, and we finally decided to invest in an RO-90 – Ultimate 5-Stage 90 GPD Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System* from APEC. This is a horrible issue even without health risks and seems nobody had a cure. We have lived in newer homes in NC and FL over the past 40 years and have never experienced this problem. A slime layer is loosely associated with the bacterium and can be easily washed off, whereas a capsule is attached tightly to the bacterium and has definite boundaries. That is because there are no federal drinking water standards for manganese. Dr H., you’re scaring me! At first I was horrified but, after calling our water department OUC, they confirmed it was manganese buildup and not a health problem. I’m looking into whole home water treatment systems for this exact same thing in Peachtree Corners/Dunwoody, GA. One of the guys mentioned kinetico which I had back in Vegas and it worked well, although didn’t suffer from black slime there. Clearly this is a serious water quality issue that my county/state, and more, believe sweeping under the rug is the best solution. I’m about two hours drive to your west and we have similar issues with blackened fixtures, probably for the same reason. These microorganisms live in some water supplies and feed on the dissolved manganese and oxygen present in the water. Not sure which direction to take now. Ewww. I cleaned it off, and I was relieved when hydrogen peroxide didn’t foam up (suggesting scary bacteria). that are written with horrible grammar and/or spelling. Iron bacteria are not known to cause disease. Our old house built in 1988 is 3 miles away and we never had these problems. Manganese in hair samples correlates with violent criminal behavior in prisoners. This work is supported by New Technologies for Agriculture Extension grant no. We’re in Orlando, FL, and – cleaning the kitchen last night – I was horrified to see the black slime on our kitchen faucet. Any idea how I can tell the difference between maganese build up from black mold? There are also whole-house options that filter — not to be confused with water softeners — those won’t remove the offending minerals (manganese and iron). If bacteria regrowth is rapid, repeated shock chlorination becomes time consuming. Since excess iron and manganese are aesthetic problems that affect all potential uses of the water they are most often removed from all water entering the home using Point-of-entry (POE) treatment devices. They do not cause health problems, but do form a reddish- brown (iron) or brownish-black (manganese) slime in toilet tanks and can clog water systems. I’m glad someone posted a source instead of just repeating speculation. However, at least 0.3 ppm of dissolved oxygen is needed to carry out oxidation. I don’t think so, I has this prob prior to replacing the kitchen pipes underneath with pvc and i continue to have the problem. I put a half cup of bleach in the toilet tanks every other month (clean bowl, turn water supply off and drain 1/2 tank to clear bowl, second half gets bleach and flush. Very worrisome. Our toilet tank is completely black and the PVC piping in the basement has turned black. It has only been happening for about a year and a half. This blog and comments is fantastic. It’s been a nightmare since we moved into our house 5 years ago. Ok, maybe the last part isn’t commonly known unless you are from there. Pretreatment is required to fully oxidize sulfur species to sulfates and to control pipe corrosion. Secondary iron and manganese standards are established as guides to manage taste, odor, and color of water. It also accumulates in my Keurig water tank. Clean with bleach, white vinegar etc..must let it soak for a couple of minutes and then scrub. I previously lived in another city in a house that was built in the late 1930’s & never had this problem. I recently learned those exist but they cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. So don’t waste your money on a plumber unless it’s just once to learn how they do it.. We live in the northern U.P. In addition, iron and manganese bacteria are not known to present a health risk. Will call supplier Thanks for the great information. (We have a Bawell Platinum so bring water to the bathroom for toothbrushing.). Have had city and county come flush/ check. Im broke from all the multiple self repairing projects, new supplies i’ve thriftily fixed correctly myself, but I can’t figure out this? This reduces the available quantity and pressure of the water supply. I was blaming the lower water pressure in my house for this. Thank you for the great information for I too have been worried about the health issue. What type of filter did you have installed? I can’t say for certain but I did not notice the hunk until after I had it installed. Interesting thread – I live in Sandy Springs, GA, also Fulton county in a new (2013) town home. All of my plumbing is barely three years old. Black slime/gunk building up anywhere there is consistent moisture – like toilet bowls, faucets, and showers. When clean the toilet jets, I find small black chunks of what I assume is manganese. I live in Ypsilanti. Because it is basically a huge canister(like the housing your filter sits in) except it doesn’t have a filter in it. Im in CT and my kids toys in the bath get blackened after a week or so – Ive never noticed any bad taste or discoloration in the water itself (we dont drink the tap water anyway though-Brita) but the toilet tank – the sink drain – and the bathtub drains are caked in the black slimy stuff – i figured it was because the house was really old and i worry about health issues – but from what I’m reading lots of people having same problems even with newer plumbing – i wonder if PEX piping makes a difference? I live in Southport, NC, which is basically on the coast between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. Your information has really helped. Water testing for total coliform, fecal coliforms, iron bacteria, sulfur bacteria, slime bacteria, fecal streptococcus waterborne bacteria, protozoans, other pathogenic disease causing organisms in drinking water. 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