# What is the red stuff in my toilet and shower? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373 "2003-06-30T17:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/1 "2003-06-30T17:03:42Z")
First off - I am quite certain this is NOT RUST. I am quite familiar with rust and rust stains in the washroom and this definetly isn’t it. Inside my toilet bowl and on the floor/tile of our tub red _stuff_ forms after a short while (3-4 days) after cleaning. It cleans quite easily and I don’t need any wicked chemicals or hard scrupping to remove it. It is kind of a “bright” red, lighter than rust in color… almost has a pinkish hue. Any idea what it is? Is there some kind of bacteria or something that is comonly this color found in washrooms/showers? Just to remind you: **IT IS DEFINETLY NOT RUST**. If it matters, I’ve only seen this in our new home (brand new, just built). The pipes are all plastic, save a very short stretch of pipe off the hotwater tank that is copper. The water in our city is chlorinated and flouride is added. It has quite a low iron content though, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/2 "2003-06-30T17:14:32Z")
Sorry to issue a WAG here, but I’m pretty sure it’s algae. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/3 "2003-06-30T17:17:17Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s lead. I’ll go find a cite now. . . ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/4 "2003-06-30T17:19:34Z")
Or a slime mold. In my climate it takes several weeks for it to start devloping but yours may make it form quicker. There is probably bacteria in it as well. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/5 "2003-06-30T17:20:14Z")
No, it’s not lead. It is some sort of organism. It will grow on the insides of wet cups and so forth, too–basically on any damp thing, just like mildew. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/6 "2003-06-30T17:21:02Z")
I get the same crap in my bathroom. I’ve found it happens especially in the areas of the tub where water my sit for a while and also on my calk around the faucets. I concur with An Arky that it is most likely an algae. The onlly thing (so far) that I’ve found that kills it is any bathroom cleaner as long as it is accompanied by feverish scrubbing. Bleach will get rid of it almost instantly, but I’ve found, finally, the thing that will prevent it and that’s Clean Shower or products like it. Sorry couldn’t be of more help. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/7 "2003-06-30T17:22:34Z")
Of course all I found was a message board that said it was **iron** so I’ll just shut up now since I don’t know what in the hell I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/8 "2003-06-30T17:23:58Z")
Around San Francisco, even the mold is gay. 🙂 We get a pink mold/algae that’s usually fairly uniform in appearance in addition to the regular blotchy black stuff. Give it a squirt with bleach - if it disappears, it’s mold. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/9 "2003-06-30T20:40:50Z")
If you see red stuff in your toilet and shower, and you feel faint, then I can only conclude that you’re bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/10 "2003-07-01T03:15:26Z")
I thought it might have been colloidal copper, did a search and found this. Says it could be colloidal iron or iron bacteria. [http://www.wese.com/html/body\_water\_that\_stains\_.html](http://www.wese.com/html/body_water_that_stains_.html) You could put a drop of nitric acid on it. If a blue solution is formed, then its probably copper. Watch out for the NO2. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/11 "2003-07-01T03:23:29Z")
I get the same stuff around plugholes and where the water trickles at the end of flushing the toilet. You can see traces wherever water pools for long. It isn’t a living thing because it doesn’t spread, it’s just a stain. It’s something local because when I lived a few miles up the mountains it didn’t happen. The club nearby has the same stains in the washbasins in the toilet. I find that lemon juice gets it off best. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/12 "2003-07-01T03:56:21Z")
I doubt that it is the cause of **bernse** ’s problems, but [Serratia](http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/dlc-me/zoo/microbes/serratia.html) is a bacteria that can make the things it grows on turn red. As the link above(briefly) points out, this is a likely cause for some of the “miracles” where “blood” appears on bread, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/13 "2003-07-01T04:34:16Z")
[Iron-related or iron-precipitating bacteria](http://www.uaf.edu/fs/water/ironbact.html) are one possibility: > [@](#): > > These bacteria are the ones responsible for making that reddish-orange, slimy-looking deposit inside the flush water holding tank on the back of your toilet. These bacteria do not need light or air to proliferate or multiply. They flourish and they obtain energy by the oxidation of dissolved iron in the water from the ferrous to the ferric state. The ferric form is precipitated as ferric hydroxide (Fe(OH)3). The color could also come from a red algae. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-red-stuff-in-my-toilet-and-shower/185373/14 "2003-07-01T10:38:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \* > \*\*…this is a likely cause for some of the “miracles” where “blood” appears on bread, etc. \*\* Ah, so not only is **bernse** bleeding, but it’s from his stigmata!! Who’s going to be organizing the bus tour?