Yellowish/cloudy water occurring in 1 toilet only


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Old 12-08-19, 06:28 PM
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Question Yellowish/cloudy water occurring in 1 toilet only

Hello - We have three toilets in our townhouse - one downstairs and two upstairs. The last two weekends we went away, when we returned on Sunday the water in just one of the upstairs toilet bowls was a cloudy-yellowish color. After 2 or 3 flushings the water becomes clear again and we don’t see the murky water again till the toilet sits for a couple of days again. The other two toilets including the other one upstairs and all the other water resources in the house remain perfectly clear.

Our townhouse is about 20 years old and I don’t believe it has any copper piping. We also have a whole house water softener that’s been in use for about 15 years.

I replaced the whole inner workings of the suspect toilet about 5 or so years ago but I’m wondering if they need replaced again. There’s also a shower in that same bathroom (used daily aside from when we’re gone) as the toilet but the water in that comes out clear as well.

Any ideas as to what is causing it? Would replacing the inner workings fix it? Could it be something in the vent that runs out the roof of the house? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
 
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Old 12-09-19, 04:22 AM
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Take a sample of the water before it goes into the toilet tank. If clear then it's something in the toilet. If not then determine where that particular feed comes from. If no other water source is cloudy, where is the feed coming from after it branches off the main supply line.
 
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Old 12-09-19, 06:09 AM
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and I don’t believe it has any copper piping.
Lets start at the beginning, what kind of plumbing do you have and is there any difference (newer/older/different) of what goes to this toilet vs the others!

On the mechanical you replaced, anything odd looking, rusting parts?
 
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Old 12-10-19, 02:18 AM
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Question Thank you!

Thank you both for your replies! The water coming out of the fill tube is clear so I'm guessing it must be in the tank. The parts look gunky so I guess I can start there with replacing the fill valve, etc and see if that works. Thank you both again!
 
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Old 12-10-19, 04:27 AM
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I would just clean the tank and components. It's likely a biological growing in the tank so I doubt simply replacing the fill valve will get rid of the color. Turn off the water to the toilet. Hold down the flush lever until the tank is empty. Then get a brush and scrub off the inside of the tank and all the bits inside. Turn on the fill valve and let the tank fill then turn it off again. Hold down the flush lever until the tank drains. Now that you've rinsed the gunk out treat everything inside the tank with a bleach solution and let it sit for half an hour. Then turn the water back on and see if the water is clear.
 
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Old 12-10-19, 02:08 PM
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Ah, thank you! I think I'll give your cleaning suggestion a try before starting to replace parts. I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you!
 
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Old 12-15-19, 04:50 PM
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Repeat the bleach in the toilet tank treatment every few days for a week or two to try to kill off bacteria that started to grow inside the perimeter holes under the toilet bowl rim.
 
 

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