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When cleaning the faucet aerator I find the rubber washer gives off black stains as if it's dissolving. Does this mean it's time to replace the washer?

It also happened when replacing the faucet. There were rubber washers in the flex pipes that lead into the faucet. It felt like I opened a fresh black paint as my towel would not stop being stained.

I am concerned about this rubber dissolving and contaminating the drinking water.

Could someone shed some light if I'm missing something important about washer maintenance?

Dirty Towels

Supply Line

Aerator

2 Answers2

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I've definitely had them do that when they are old.

Generally plumbers replace supply lines when doing any work. Given the price of the supplies lines, the potential cost of a leak and the general cost of a plumber's labor, it doesn't make sense to re-use them.

I typically don't worry about it (unless the supply is plastic) but if I have a spare I'll swap it otherwise just re-use. All the water supply pieces are rated as safe for potable water and the washers are generally there to stop leaks ( they don't have a constant stream of water passing over them ). If the water was constantly passing over the washers there would be nothing to rub off on your fingers.

As long as there is no leak I don't think it is worth putting too much mental anguish into the state of the washer. If you live in a brand new perfectly finished home then replace the supplies pipes / plan to replace the supply pipes when doing a project and you know they are old. The cost is negligible compared to repairing any water damage unless your bathroom / kitchen already has some amount of water damage.

I did have a plastic cut to size toilet supply crack and cause a flood so if I ever see those I replace them immediately. Not sure what the best practice would be around braided lines with washers.

Fresh Codemonger
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As FreshCodemonger noted, rubber gaskets and other items in contact with tap water will eventually weaken and disintegrate. The black stuff you see is likely carbon black being released as the rubber degrades. From The effect of carbon black composition in natural rubber compound

Almost all [natural] rubber compounds use carbon black (CB) as a filler. Carbon black filler functions to strengthen, increase the volume, improve the physical properties of rubber, and strengthen vulcanization.

Possible health hazards seem to be confined to breathing in (dry) carbon black into your lungs, or having it catch fire, neither of which seem to be relevant to washers disintegrating in water.

In my opinion, having the black pigment-like substance released indicates significant degradation has already happened and so the washer or hose should be replaced.

Armand
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