The former owners of our now 5 year old home were a little too thorough with their attempts to keep the toilets clean.

I kept finding black chunks in the toilet when I flushed. Initially, I was thinking it was mildew because the house stood vacant for some time. Though that should have disappeared. And then one toilet kept running….

Look at the black floaties and the dissolving gasket on the water intake to the left…

When I lifted the tank cover, I discovered that the inlet seal to the toilet was falling apart on the toilet. Ofcourse, I now went and checked the other seals as well… all four toilet seals are bad, disintegrated … and the guest house toilet gave me the reason why… bleach tablets. There was a remnant of a bleach tablet in this toilet.

Upon further reading bleach and rubber do not mix… This is also why you should not use bleach on caulked areas in your bathroom because bleach eats plastics and thus rubber!

All of this can be fixed, even though it is annoying, but what is concerning is that we have an alternative septic system that has been bleached for the past 5 years.

Do yourself a huge favor DO NOT USE bleach or chlorine tablets in your tank and regularly check your seals!