There is black gunk coming from toilet hole that clean water comes from sometimes its chips & spots that just look like bacteria or growth. Any ideas?
Toilet gunk from clean water hole
toilet
Related Solutions
You can try replacing the wax ring. Usually, that will fix the type of leak you describe.
Essentially, there is a wax gasket which seals the area between the flange (in the floor) and the porcelain (on the bowl). Due to age/movement/etc, this gasket will eventually fail, and cause leaking when the toilet is flushed.
Replacing the ring is a relatively straight forward procedure:
- Remove the toilet
- Turn off the water to the bowl
- Disconnect the flexible water pipe from the shutoff valve
- Flush the toilet, holding down the handle to get rid of as much water as possible (use a plunger to push the remainder out)
- Loosen the bolts on either side of the bowl (These may be corroded or completely stuck. You may have to hacksaw these off)
- Gently rock the bowl side to side to release the seal, and then move the toilet off of the drain
- Invert the bowl, exposing the seal on the bottom of the toilet.
- Install a new wax ring
- Remove the old wax material from both the bowl and the flange with a putty knife (you will likely also find a plastic "funnel", which can be removed as well)
- Take your new wax ring, and install it on the bottom of the bowl (the rounded portion will be facing up towards the bowl.
- If you were forced to hacksaw the bolts from the flange, install the replacement bolts to the same position on the flange.
- Reinstall the toilet
- Lift the toilet back up, and thread the bolts through the holes on the side of the bowl (do not let the wax ring touch the ground until you are ready to drop it in its final position).
- When the bowl is in its final resting position, sit on the bowl to seat it in place. Rock back and forth gently to squeeze the wax ring. The base of the toilet should now be resting on the ground around the entire base.
- Reinstall the washer and bolts holding down the toilet. Be careful when tightening these bolts (do a little at a time, switching between the 2 as you go). You do not want to break the flange or the bowl.
- Trim up the bolts with a hacksaw to adjust the length (if necessary). Reinstall the plastic caps over the bolts.
- Reconnect the flexible water line to the shutoff valve
- Turn on the water
Those symptoms indicate that the blockage is likely beyond the trap that's built into the toilet bowl. It may be where the toilet meets the floor near the wax seal, or it may be even further down the line. If a plunger isn't dislodging the blockage (remember the goal is to suck up, not push down with the plunger), then you can get an auger that's specially designed for toilets (and I would recommend the longer version just in case your clog is further down the line):
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Best Answer
Sounds like deterioration of major rubber stuff, so get a plumber to entirely replace ALL of the toilet's components. Noticeable chunks typically indicate your tank gasket is going quick & not just the tank needing to be cleaned. These particles can collect & clog the toilet's functions if not addressed.
This requires removing the tank & you may as well replace the bolts, their washers, the flapper & the fill valve along with the new tank gasket. Probably $400 in parts & labor for a Handyman or Journeyman Plumber ($20-$30 if you do it) & good for at least a decade, so consider doing all toilets to ensure all water wasting is stopped.
However, getting a new toilet(s), that may work vastly better, might be the same Pro price & of course would fix the gunk problem. So, ask the Pro about this option as a quicker & better alternative. Lowe's cheapest Project Source toilets ($100-$130) were wonderfully welcomed replacements for my place when I did them.