Water or plumber experts?

[Pixguy]

So my Kohler toilet was running (2 yrs old and chain must've caught up) so I removed cover to fix and I see this film and white particles floating. I expect to see rust with iron water but never saw this.
I have a whole house filter as well as a salt water softener. Is it salt and what's the film?

 

[LittleBill21]

reaction with the toilet itself, nothing to be worried about

 

[Doughknob]

Mine in my 3 kohlers is clear. I have no filters or softeners. Something to do with your artificial water. LOL

Take a smple to your university extension office...

 

[Jchonline]

taste it!

 

[Pixguy]

The water in bowl is clear and no staining and we did have the water tested prior to moving in. Nothing out of the ordinary but yes to iron.

 

[Pixguy]

taste it!

I'll send you a sample!

 

[ponytug]

Since you mention that you have a water softener, I am guessing that your water is hard.

We saw similar floaters in our toilet when our water softener had its main valve piston sheared off internally causing it not to regenerate the ion exchange resin, despite going through the motions of backwashing, salt cycling, etc. From the outside, it looked like everything was working, but upon disassembly the piston was in two pieces. (Fleck 2500) We get what I believe calcium/magnesium sulfate flakes floating on our unsoftened water, as in leave a bucket out for awhile and you see them floating. They are not acid soluble. My guess is that CO2 diffuses out of the water, shifting the pH, causing the flakes to form, but I am not a water chemist.

So, you might want to check that your softener is working. Does old fashioned soap curdle in your water or do the suds stay foamy, with milky water in the sink?

All the best,

Peter

 

[Pixguy]

Since you mention that you have a water softener, I am guessing that your water is hard.

We saw similar floaters in our toilet when our water softener had its main valve piston sheared off internally causing it not to regenerate the ion exchange resin, despite going through the motions of backwashing, salt cycling, etc. From the outside, it looked like everything was working, but upon disassembly the piston was in two pieces. (Fleck 2500) We get what I believe calcium/magnesium sulfate flakes floating on our unsoftened water, as in leave a bucket out for awhile and you see them floating. They are not acid soluble. My guess is that CO2 diffuses out of the water, shifting the pH, causing the flakes to form, but I am not a water chemist.

So, you might want to check that your softener is working. Does old fashioned soap curdle in your water or do the suds stay foamy, with milky water in the sink?

All the best,

Peter

Thanks for your insight. It is a half bath that's not used daily and I'll do your suds test but the shower still feels different than a non softener shower and I hear the softener regenerate (I think) once a month.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

For peace of mind I would grab a 5 gallon bucket of fresh water and flush the tank out a few times.

 

[ponytug]

@Pixguy FWIW: our defective softener made some difference to the water quality, but the water quality got significantly better when we put a new softener in. I would be the first to admit that we have very hard water.

All the best,

Peter