I sometimes get a pink stain on my bathroom fixtures, in my pet’s water bowl or on other surfaces. Sometimes, the growth grows from my faucet screen. What is it and how do I get rid of it?

The pink stain is a non-pathogenic bacterium known as Methylbacterium. Methylbacterium is transported in air and the cells commonly settle on surfaces. When the conditions are right for growth i.e. the right amount of moisture, food, and temperature, a few cells will multiply to many cells, and, since they are pink colored, when enough are present on a surface, the pink stain results.

Consider using a relatively strong household disinfecting solution to attempt to eliminate every last one of the cells, otherwise the remaining cells may grow back to form the pink stain that you just cleaned off of your surface. Mold and fungi may also be transported through air and grow on surfaces in this manner.

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1. Is the water fluoridated?
2. How hard is our water?
3. I sometimes get a pink stain on my bathroom fixtures, in my pet’s water bowl or on other surfaces. Sometimes, the growth grows from my faucet screen. What is it and how do I get rid of it?
4. Why are my faucet strainers and other plumbing fixtures clogging with white particles?
5. Why does my humidifier water grow slimy over time?
6. Why does my water smell like sulfur?
7. Why does tap water sometimes look milky white or appear to have air bubbles?
8. Why does my water taste like plastic?
9. Why is there a musty odor at my faucet?
10. Why is my water is cloudy after the Water Department flushes hydrants in my neighborhood?
11. Why do the drains in my house smell?