I have little black specks in my shower and faucet water?

Question

I live in an upstairs apartment and on occasion I see little black specs in both my shower and faucet. The leave a black stain. What could they be?

Answer 1

forget all other answers but this one. You have mold spores. That means there is a lot of mold that you cannot even see yet, but that are present. Pay attention here, I'm going to tell you how to kill this stuff, not merely wipe it from the surface.

Go to Lowes, Home Depot, one of those places and get a box of trisodiumphosphate, commonly referred to as TSP.

Now get 1 gallon of water, add 1/2 cup of bleach, 1/4 cup of a powdered detergent like Tide or something and then 1/2 cup of TSP. Mix well. Wear gloves if you have sensitive skin. Apply liberally to all surfaces with a sponge or sponge mop. Let stand for 10 minutes and then wipe off. No need to rinse off surfaces. This will kill what you can see as well and what is behind the fixtures, sheetrock, wallpaper, etc. It is the only known checmical to do so. We used it all the time in the painting business and it is effective.

Answer 2

Sounds like a mold problem. Go get some CLR, It will clean the stuff off, along with anything else that might be there. After that I would continue to clean the shower and faucets with vinegar and baking soda. Make a paste with the baking soda and water, rub it on the area, put vinegar on your sponge and wipe. You will need to rinse a couple of times. The vinegar smell will go away in very short time. The combination will foam, don't be alarmed, it's supposed to. That's how it eats away at whatever isn't supposed to be there. It will not harm the fixtures or the finish, it's very gentle, both on you stuff and the environment. I also use this combination once a week on my drains. It keeps them clear, and I use it to clean my toilets.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

how arrogant can you be Lorenzo?

an english teacher answering a "trade question" with such confidence and you're a school teacher?????

anyhow ~ this can be any of a number of problems.  without seeing or touching the black specks it's hard to make a judgment call.

it may just be residue from someone working on the common pipes.  flux may have washed up through the pipes and left particles or banging could have loosen foreign debris.  

it's just too hard without seeing it.

Answer 4

ok she said its in the water. so i doubt its mold spores. i think its a rubber washer going bad.

Answer 5

I have read that sometimes a rubber washer in the shut off valve will start disintegrating and create black flecks in the sink etc.