Biofilm in Drake II Siphon

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SAS

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I have been having a recurring problem in my Drake II toilet. There is apparently a biofilm growth in the siphon area of the bowl. After flushing you can see small to medium fibrous looking deposits exit from the siphon hole as the toilet is refilling. I have tried all of the usual remedies - bleach, enzymatic/bacterial cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, etc. with no luck. It keeps coming back. I've also tried to get into that area with a brush, but I really can't do it effectively.

We have 3 other Toto toilets in the house and do not have this problem any where else. Also the tank is completely clean, so the problem isn't in the water coming in or from the tank. I'm at the point of replacing the toilet unless I can figure this out. It's very unpleasant to have things float up from the bottom of the bowl after you flush - and this is the main floor guest bathroom.

Any suggestions?
 

Reach4

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Have you tried drizzling a strong chlorine bleach solution down the overflow tube, using a funnel?

On a longer term thing, consider Kaboom "Scrub Free!" Toilet Cleaning System or Fluidmaster "Flush 'N' Sparkle" bleach system to cut back on future deposits. They are probably not going to take off your existing deposits.

Since these go inline with bowl refill, they may cause the refill to be incomplete. In that case, you could replace the fill valve with one that has a variable refill adjustment.

Some people put a slow release chlorine tablet in the tank, but that can degrade the flapper, and probably other things.
 

SAS

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Have you tried drizzling a strong chlorine bleach solution down the overflow tube, using a funnel?

On a longer term thing, consider Kaboom "Scrub Free!" Toilet Cleaning System or Fluidmaster "Flush 'N' Sparkle" bleach system to cut back on future deposits. They are probably not going to take off your existing deposits.

Since these go inline with bowl refill, they may cause the refill to be incomplete. In that case, you could replace the fill valve with one that has a variable refill adjustment.

Some people put a slow release chlorine tablet in the tank, but that can degrade the flapper, and probably other things.
Thanks for the quick response. I have tried the chlorine in the overflow tube, but I'm reluctant to overdo it with chlorine as I have a septic system. I have installed the Flush N Sparkle with the septic safe cartridges, but that hasn't helped much. I really wish I could come up with a way to scrub the interior cavity behind the siphon hole, but no brush I've tried seems to get up very far. My next try maybe to hook up a garden hose to the shower and see if flushing it through the overflow tube breaks off the existing deposits unless someone has a better ideal.
 

Reach4

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You could use a small pump to recirculate the solution from the bowl to the overflow. That would minimize the volume going down the drain. One cup of bleach is unlikely to have significant effect on the septic.

Making the water more acidic with vinegar before you add the chlorine bleach will make the bleach more active for killing stuff. But you don't want to overdo it, because if the water is too acidic, you can generated chlorine gas. I measure the pH before adding bleach, and you probably are not going to get equipped to do that.

You might find an assortment of brushes similar to this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-9-G...ush-Cleaning-Chemistry-Lab-Glass/172397398436
 

SAS

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You could use a small pump to recirculate the solution from the bowl to the overflow. That would minimize the volume going down the drain. One cup of bleach is unlikely to have significant effect on the septic.

Making the water more acidic with vinegar before you add the chlorine bleach will make the bleach more active for killing stuff. But you don't want to overdo it, because if the water is too acidic, you can generated chlorine gas. I measure the pH before adding bleach, and you probably are not going to get equipped to do that.

You might find an assortment of brushes similar to this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-9-G...ush-Cleaning-Chemistry-Lab-Glass/172397398436
I've tried vinegar and bleach, although the pump idea is interesting. I was trying to think of a way of plugging the siphon hole. I can vacuum out the water in the bowl, and if I could plug the siphon hole, I would be able to fill the cavity from the overflow tube with whatever might work best and let it sit like that for a day or so. Any ideas on how I could do that? In the meantime I've order the brushes and I'll see how that goes.
 

SAS

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I have been having a recurring problem in my Drake II toilet. There is apparently a biofilm growth in the siphon area of the bowl. After flushing you can see small to medium fibrous looking deposits exit from the siphon hole as the toilet is refilling. I have tried all of the usual remedies - bleach, enzymatic/bacterial cleaners, hydrogen peroxide, etc. with no luck. It keeps coming back. I've also tried to get into that area with a brush, but I really can't do it effectively.

We have 3 other Toto toilets in the house and do not have this problem any where else. Also the tank is completely clean, so the problem isn't in the water coming in or from the tank. I'm at the point of replacing the toilet unless I can figure this out. It's very unpleasant to have things float up from the bottom of the bowl after you flush - and this is the main floor guest bathroom.

Any suggestions?
Here are a couple of photos. One shows the little floater in the bowl and the other is a close-up of it. You can see in the close up that it's semi-transparent and floats to the surface.
 

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