I have a blue/green stain in my sinks, shower and toilet, what is causing this?

The blue/green stains that are commonly present in sinks and other fixtures are due to copper in the water.

When the interior of copper pipes corrode or dissolves, the water that is used in your home may deposit some of this copper corrosion in your sinks, toilets, showers and other water using fixtures. Our water has a trace amount of copper in it and is well below the amounts allowed by the Federal and State governments.

Most copper found in drinking water is due to the copper being dissolved from the water service, your plumbing and your plumbing fixtures. It has been found by scientific studies that up to 80% of the copper that is leached into the water in a customer home is from faucets within the home. We add a chemical to reduce this type of corrosion but it is not intended to fix this problem 100% but to reduce the possibility of high concentrations copper in your water.

The Winchester Water Department recommends the use of Lime Away, CLR, Red Be Gone and similar cleaning agents to remove these stains, please check the manufacturers instructions for cleaning your particular fixture and to follow the instructions on the label of the cleaner you choose to use.