Black water coming out of the bathroom sink?? Help

[Anonymous]

I live in Dupont/Kalorama.

So, this morning, after I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and put on some makeup, I went to rinse a cap, and black stained water came out of the sink, like it was used to wash coal or something. What could this be?

I live in a nice building, and whenever they do turn off the water, they usually post a sign to advise the residents. I haven't seen any signs in a long time. I am trying to reach the super just in case.

My paranoia is that a plastic teeth cleaning pick got down the drain last night and unloosened something. (I was using them last night to clean something in the kitchen and they fell out of the box on the bathroom sink counter). Last night I found a toothpick caught between the drain plug (the kind that push up and pull) and the drain. The opening isn't that wide that I think a toothpick could have gotten down, but you never know. (I even used an old pair of tweezers to see if something had.

I know I sound slightly neurotic--am 8 months pregnant and really don't want to deal with a leaky bathroom sink. Husband is out of town.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Did the water come up from the drain or the faucet? If the drain then it may be clogged and that water will be gross because it sits in a u joint where bacteria grows.

[Anonymous]

If it's only one faucet that's it's coming from, I would think a worn out black rubber washer in there. I've had that happen before several times. If it's from more than one faucet and especially when running hot water, I'd check the hot water heater. Sometimes some sludge/sediment/even rust backs up in there.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP. This is OP. I wasn't clear in my original post. It came out of the faucet. It didn't come out of the kitchen sink (but I only used it maybe 20 minutes earlier when it happened).

So, I take it this something that requires a plumber?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, PP. This is OP. I wasn't clear in my original post. It came out of the faucet. It didn't come out of the kitchen sink (but I only used it maybe 20 minutes earlier when it happened).

So, I take it this something that requires a plumber?

9:55 here. It depends on how adventurous you are and how fancy your faucets are. I remove the tops of my faucets all the time (just unscrew them) and see what's up in there. If there's a black washer, take it out, go to Home Depot with it in hand, get an identical one, go home and put a new one up in the faucet and see if it works.

If it's the hot water heater, you better call a plumber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, PP. This is OP. I wasn't clear in my original post. It came out of the faucet. It didn't come out of the kitchen sink (but I only used it maybe 20 minutes earlier when it happened).

So, I take it this something that requires a plumber?

9:55 here. It depends on how adventurous you are and how fancy your faucets are. I remove the tops of my faucets all the time (just unscrew them) and see what's up in there. If there's a black washer, take it out, go to Home Depot with it in hand, get an identical one, go home and put a new one up in the faucet and see if it works.

If it's the hot water heater, you better call a plumber.

Unscrew them with a wrench, "I" should have been clear. I use a thin piece of rubber between the faucet and the wrench so that I don't scratch the faucet. This is probably not the best way to do things, but it's worked for me for 20 years. I never have the patience to call someone when I think I've got a shot at doing it myself.

[Anonymous]

10:05: Thanks again for being so helpful.

This makes me want to learn home repair. Anyone remember those "DIY books that I think Time Life sold in the 80s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:05: Thanks again for being so helpful.

This makes me want to learn home repair. Anyone remember those "DIY books that I think Time Life sold in the 80s?

9:55 here. Yeah, I remember those. You've got something better now, which I should have suggested before. My husband looks up everything youtube. I bet there's something related to this on there. Might be worth a search.

[Anonymous]

Back when we were dating, DH bought me the best present ever: a book called Dare to Repair. It's written for women (why, I don't know - must be a marketing thing, because men can use it too) and contains step by step instructions on how to do a large number of household repairs themselves.

Good luck OP!

[Anonymous]

The same thing happened to us recently--we took of the mesh filter at the end of the faucet and found pieces of black rubber washer that had disintegrated. We were able to unscrew the filter end with our fingers, but you can do that with a wrench if it is too tight. We rinsed out the filter twice a day for a week or so, and everything seemed fine. I don't know where the washer came from, though...