Cloudy Water In Toilet Bowl (Explained & Solved)

Uh oh, ever looked in your toilet bowl and seen something…cloudy staring back?

Don’t worry – that milky, murky water staring back at you isn’t necessarily a sign of plumbing issues. While it can be a bit unsettling, cloudy toilet water can have a few different explanations.

Some are simple and some require a bit more attention.

The good news? I got you.

In this post, I’ll explain why there’s cloudy water in toilet bowl, and offer some easy solutions to get your bowl sparkling clear again.

Why Is My Toilet Water Cloudy?

Let me go over the most common causes of cloudy water in the toilet bowl:

Also Check Out: Matte Black Personalized Siphon Jet Toilet

Air Bubbles

Air bubbles in the toilet bowl are a pretty common cause of cloudy water. 

If the cloudiness clears up after a few minutes or when you flush again, it’s probably it. 

High water pressure from your plumbing system can force tiny air pockets into the water stream leading into the tank and eventually down into the bowl.

Hard Water

Cloudy toilet bowl water can also be caused by high mineral levels in the water supply, especially in areas with hard water.

Minerals like calcium, magnesium, and silica dissolve in the water and can form solid deposits in the toilet tank and bowl over time. 

These deposits make the water look cloudy.

Cleaning Product Residue

Many bathroom cleaners boast about their scrubbing power or stain-fighting abilities, but the strong ingredients they contain can sometimes leave behind cloudy residues.

Things like surfactants, bleaching agents, fragrances, colors, and preservatives may not fully dissolve when the toilet bowl is refilled.

This causes the water to look cloudy, almost like milk.

Also Read: Toilet Water Supply Line Through Floor

Plus, these residues often stick to the sides of the bowl too.

Well Water Issues

If you get your water from a private well, sometimes the water there might look murky or cloudy. 

This could happen for a few reasons, like:

• There’s a lot of tiny bits of sand or dirt in the water (sediment).
• It has a lot of minerals in it.
• Maybe there are some bacteria growing in it.
• There might be other stuff in the water that shouldn’t be there.

Whatever it is, if your well water is cloudy, it’s gonna make your toilet bowl look cloudy too.

How To Fix Cloudy Water In Toilet Bowl

Here are a couple of ways to clear up a cloudy toilet bowl:

#1 Flushing And Cleaning

If air bubbles or cleaning product residue seem to be the cause of the cloudy toilet bowl water, thorough flushing and scrubbing the toilet should help clear things up.

Fill up about 3 gallons of water to a bucket and bring it into the bathroom.

With the bucket in front of the toilet, flush like normal so that the tank begins to refill. When the tank is about half full, pour water from the bucket into it.

The extra flow from the added bucket of water will help push out any trapped particles or residues causing the cloudiness.

Give it another flush or two, and see if it’s clear now.

If not, grab your toilet brush and give the bowl a good scrub, then flush again.

Also Read: Why Are 14” Rough In Toilets More Expensive

#2 Remove Mineral Build Ups

If the water still looks cloudy even after you’ve flushed and cleaned everything, it probably means there’s too much calcium and other minerals buildup in the tank.

You’ll need to put in some work to get rid of it, but once you do, it should fix the problem for good.

Here’s how to scrub these away:

1. Turn off the toilet’s water supply valves behind the unit and flush a few times to drain most of the water from the tank (some water will be left).

2. Grab a bucket and position it under the fill line to catch any spills.

3. Disconnect the flapper chain from the valve without dropping anything into the tank

4. Carefully remove the tank lid and use a brush to scrub away any calcium or mineral deposits from inside the tank.

5. Unhook the flapper valve at the bottom of the tank and clean that too.

6. Reinstall everything back together, and turn the water supply back on and refill the tank to check if everything’s working properly.

7. Flush a few times to rinse away any sediments that might still be hanging around.

Once the toilet bowl water runs clear, you’re all set! 

Wrapping Up

Flushing, cleaning and scrubbing the tank should clear up the cloudy water in your bowl.

But if you have cloudy well water, install sediment filters, water softeners, UV sterilizers, or other solutions to remove contaminants before they reach your toilet.

Treating the water source is the best resolution, if this is the case.

Apart from the things I mentioned, A partial clog in the drain line can also trap sediment and make the water appear cloudy.

FAQs

Cloudy Water In Toilet Bowl After Flushing

If there’s cloudy water in the toilet bowl even after flushing a few times, it probably means there’s a mineral buildup in the tank or drain line issues like a partial clog. Flushing more won’t help.

Toilet Water Cloudy Smells

The smell is caused by the bacteria in the water. Flushing it a few times will get rid of the smell.