Are you concerned about a variety of colors staining your tubs, sinks, and faucets? We’ll help you pinpoint why your New Hampshire water isn’t as clean as it should be and how to fix the issue moving forward.

Why is my water staining?

Water staining happens from a chemical imbalance or hard water in either city or well water. They typically show up as either pink, red, brown, black, green, or blue stains on fixtures and appliances, can cause your glassware to look cloudy, or can make your clothes look yellowed or dingy.

Identify Different Kinds of Stains.

No matter what color or discolorations happen throughout your home, the issues can be irritating and time-consuming to deal with. Here are the most common stainings, how they will impact your home and health, and what you can do to get rid of them!

  • White Spots or Streaks
  • Pink Stains
  • Yellow or Tea-colored Stains
  • Blue-Green Stains
  • Orange/Red Stains
  • Black/Dark Brown Stains

White Spots or Streaks

White streaks are caused by limescale or excessive calcium and magnesium in your water. While it’s not going to hurt your health, it’s a struggle to clean and can cause permanent damage to appliances, water heaters, and plumbing.

You can use lime descaler to dissolve lime on fixtures and grout — or use acids like vinegar and lemon juice to clean the limescale off. But, you will find that you constantly have to clean every place water touches, and it can become time-consuming and costly.

Pink Stains

You may notice some pink toilet bowl stains caused when airborne bacteria meets city water that’s low in chlorine, which isn’t dangerous. The staining is easily solved by using a bleach-based product.

Yellow or Tea-Colored Stains

Yellow and light brown stains on your fixtures, appliances, laundry, sinks, and tubs can be caused by manganese or tannins (organic material from decaying plant life), most often in well water. If it is indeed tannins, you may smell a slightly earthy smell. In some cases, the light iron color may be iron.

Manganese will not typically cause harm in lower levels but can cause an upset stomach when it’s over .05ppm in concentration. At that level, you’ll see stains and notice a sour or greasy flavor in your water.

Blue-Green Stains

Blue or green stains usually point to low pH and corrosive groundwater coming through your plumbing fixtures. This water is a problem — not because of the water quality — but because metals “leach” into the water and bring undesirable chemicals like copper rust into your home.

It’s very typical to see this in New Hampshire and the other New England states because the city wells draw water from shallow bedrock. You will need to get this fixed as soon as possible to avoid long-term health effects and potential damage to your plumbing.

Orange/Red Stains

Iron and manganese are commonly found in New England water, specifically in well water. Naturally occurring chemicals can be washed from the soil into drinking water through surface water run-off or rain. Besides the unsightly color, you’ll notice a metallic taste, laundry stains, and clogged valves.

Typically not concerning to your health, they do carry some issues and warnings. Iron can ruin home items and clothes as it leaves a rust stain wherever it lands. And while these compounds won’t typically hurt individuals, formula-fed babies should not ingest water tainted with manganese. If you’re concerned about manganese, opt for filtered water as you’re making bottles.

Black/Dark Brown Stains

If you’re wondering, “Why is my water leaving brown stains,” you’re not alone! Black or brown colors in the water may be one of the most concerning to a homeowner. This staining is attributed to the highest manganese levels, which is most common with well water.

Sustained high levels of manganese are associated with slowed physical development, loss of appetite, reproductive issues, and anemia. Be sure you take care of this issue as soon as possible.

Solutions for Water Staining and Prevention.

What cleans the staining?

Most staining will come off with a mixture of baking soda and distilled white vinegar, applied with a scrub sponge. If you really need some tough action for stubborn stains, mix cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide. Scrub the thick paste on the stained area until gone.

What cleans iron water stains?

To clean iron stains off ceramic, make a paste of borax and lemon juice to rub on and clean off as often as needed.

Eliminate water spots and staining.

As an NH homeowner, you have a few options for sourcing the best pure water. NH Tap provides the highest quality solutions to meet your needs and get you stain-free water flowing through your pipes and faucets.

Water Softener

The NH Tap’s intelligent water softener system provides an entirely reliable water treatment system with backup battery power and is virtually maintenance-free with our full-service options. You’ll get rid of white staining and spotting for good and enjoy a better clean for everything in your home once again.

Whole-Home Water Filtration

Whether you’re on well water or city water, if you’re dealing with manganese, iron, or chlorine issues, we have the right whole house water filtration system solution to get rid of all the unwanted chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides that may be contaminating your home and harming your health to give you pure water from every faucet.