Pink Ring in the Shower or Toilet on Daniel Island? What It Is and Whether Your Water Is to Blame

Every so often a Daniel Island or Mount Pleasant homeowner calls us a little worried: there's a pink or orange ring showing up around the shower drain, along the grout, or right at the waterline in the toilet bowl. They scrub it off, and a week later it's back. The first question is almost always, "Is something wrong with our water?"

I'm Christian with Avery & Sons Plumbing + Tankless. The short answer is usually no, and here's why, plus what actually keeps it away.

What that pink stuff usually is

In most homes, that pink film is a common airborne bacteria (often Serratia marcescens) that lives on damp surfaces and feeds on soap residue, shampoo, and body oils. It isn't coming out of the pipes. It floats in on the air, lands somewhere that stays wet, and grows. That's why you see it in the same spots every time: drain rings, shower corners, the toilet waterline, pet water bowls, and the bottom of the soap dish.

Our warm, humid Lowcountry weather gives it plenty of help. Bathrooms that don't dry out between showers are exactly where it likes to live.

Does a softener or filter cause it?

Not directly, but people notice it more after they install one, and there's a reason. Softened water and chlorine-removing filters don't create the bacteria. But a whole-house carbon filter takes out the chlorine that used to slow it down a little at the tap, and soft water can leave a slicker soap film behind if you're using the same amount of soap as before. Both can make the spots show up a bit faster.

That's not a reason to pull the system out. It just means the bathroom routine matters more than the equipment.

What actually keeps it away

• Dry things out. Run the bath fan during and for 20 to 30 minutes after showers, squeegee the glass and walls, and leave the shower door or curtain open so it can air out.

• Cut back on soap. With soft water you need less soap and shampoo than you think. Less leftover residue means less for the bacteria to eat. Our post on soap scum on shower glass explains how leftover soap builds into a film that bathroom grime loves.

• Clean with a disinfecting cleaner, not just a scrub. A bathroom cleaner with bleach or another disinfectant, left to sit for a few minutes before you rinse, does more than wiping alone. Don't mix bleach with other cleaners.

• Hit the hidden spots. Toothbrush holders, shampoo bottle bottoms, shower caddies, and the underside of the toilet rim are where it hangs on and spreads from.

• Change out pet water bowls daily. Pink slime in a dog bowl is the same thing, and it comes back fast if the water sits.

When it's worth a call

Pink film on surfaces is a cleaning problem. Color in the water itself is a different story. If water comes out of the tap pink, red, brown, or cloudy, or if the color shows up inside your RO tank or fridge filter housing, that's worth a look. So is a filter system that hasn't been serviced in a long time, or a rotten-egg or musty smell along with the stains. Those point to something in the plumbing or the treatment equipment, not just the shower.

If your area just came through a boil-water notice, it's also worth flushing lines and changing filters the right way. Our post on what to do after a boil-water notice walks through it.

Easy next step

Avery & Sons Plumbing + Tankless services water softeners, whole-house filters, and reverse osmosis systems on Daniel Island, in Mount Pleasant, and across East Cooper. Call (843) 305-5555 or visit averysplumbing.com.

Most of the time, that pink ring is just telling you the bathroom needs to dry out a little better between showers. Keep it dry, go easy on the soap, and it usually stops coming back, neighbors.