When your toilet shows irregular behaviors, there must be some issue with it. One of the common problems many users complained about was tiny air bubbles in the toilet bowl.
Though this issue may appear nothing serious, you are supposed to handle the problem on time before it becomes worse.
Normally, air bubbles in the toilet bowl mainly happen from clogging issues. The clogging may incur in your toilet system, sewer line, or vent stack.
Identifying the trouble and quickly fixing it should be your key concerning point to keep your flushing toilet functioning.
Why Is My Toilet Bubbling?
Do you notice small bubbles in the toilet after flushing?
A negative pressure is built in the sewer line area when your toilet bowl is full of tiny air bubbles after flushing.
Generally, an excessive clog is the main culprit behind the negative pressure.
Air and pressure are not properly balanced between the sewerage system and external air.
Here are the possible causes of toilet bubbles when flushed.
- A Clogged Toilet
Do you notice bubbles in the toilet when flushed? If yes, the toilet system may have a clogging issue. It can happen for various reasons.
As a minor issue, this can occur due to toilet paper or, as a severe issue, human waste might be blocked between the sewer system and plumbing line.
Regardless of the reasons, air bubbles will be generated due to pressure build-up. If you notice any gurgling noise after flushing, it will likely have a clogging problem.
The clog can be a small or serious one. For example, if the toilet noisily releases air after flushing it, it is a sign of a serious clog. But if you only hear a babbling sound at the end of the flushing, it is a minor clog.
- Blocked Sewer System
Our household sewer system includes several sub-lines from different fixtures, including the toilet line. All of them are connected to the mainline.
Do you notice bubbles in the toilet bowl even while not using the toilet?
If yes, this can happen due to clogging issues in your sewerage line. The problem may pop up while using your shower or draining the washer.
Your sewer line may have clogging problems for different reasons, but the primary reason could be hard solid waste or something not supposed to flush. The clogging trouble may happen in various locations of the home’s drainage system.
- Clogged Vent Stack
The key role of a vent stack is ensuring free airflow from the toilet system. This vent stack has a direct connection to each toilet of the resident. Their setup is generally located out of the house.
Different types of debris from the outside environment may enter the vent stack and cause air bubbles in the toilet bowl.
- Defective Cistern
Do you notice tiny air bubbles in the toilet tank beside the toilet bowl? If yes, there might be a defective cistern.
This problem may occur when you live in a too old house for several decades. However, if the plumbers have failed to install the seal appropriately, even new homes can show this problem.
The main culprit of this trouble is a defective flapper. It fails to provide a perfect airtight seal when not using the toilet flush. However, you can often see toilet bubbles when flushed.
Watch this explainer video to understand why it happens.
How To Fix A Toilet That Has Small Bubbles?
Whether your toilet bowl is having tiny air bubbles while flushing the toilet or not flushing it, here are some effective solutions:
- Plunge The Toilet
Let’s start with a simple solution. It is effective too. Manage some duct tape and put it on all the drains of your household.
Then, insert a plunger inside the toilet. This approach will unclog it.
Now, you may wonder why this method will be effective. Covering all the drains with duct tape will create extensive pressure, which will fail to go away through the plunger.
This will ultimately remove the clogging.
- Unclog The Toilet Using Chemicals
If air bubbles are still coming out, you can use chemicals inside the toilet bowl to remove the clogging.
You may have to wait around one hour or more after pouring chemicals. Then do proper flushing.
You can use the Drano. It is a common household item that many house owners use to remove clogging issues in their toilet or plumbing lines.
Though it may take a little time to work, it effectively removes huge blockades from toilet systems. In order to get a perfect overview of the application method, you can go through the instruction manual.
- Snake the drain
Are you still failing to remove the clog? Grab a plumber snake. This flexible toilet accessory can be an effective option to get rid of your toilet clogging.
Get a plumber snake and put it in the last part of it inside the toilet bowl. Keep pushing and pulling to remove the clog. Once you think everything is free, move the plumber snake out of the toilet bowl and flush it properly.
If you can manage an automatic toilet snake, the job will be easier. Even tougher clogs appear easy-going for motorized plumber snakes.
However, you may need to detach your toilet seat if the clog is too deep.
If you are experiencing any hollow bubbling sounds after using the plumber snake, put the lumber snake inside the sewer, situated outside of the house.
- A Proper Shower Drain Cleaning
Our shower drain often gets full of various hard and solid items, leading to blockage issues.
As a simple solution, you can put a minor quantity of baking soda followed by white vinegar inside it. Wait for 15-20 minutes.
Then, properly flush the drain system using warm water.
- Make The Vent Stack Free
Due to the structure of the vent stack, you may find it hard to see clogging issues inside a vent stack. Grab a little flashlight and put a long stick inside it. Alternatively, you can pour hot water inside the vent stack to eliminate the clog.
However, if you have already delayed the procedure, you may experience clogs on the condensation trap holes and pipe entrances. Use pliers to fix the problem.
- Replace The Toilet Flapper
Want to change your toilet flapper? Go through these steps:
- Switch off your shutoff valve
- Flush your toilet to remove all water from the toilet
- Detach the clips to take out the faulty flapper. Remove the flapper chain too.
- Place the clips of the new flapper to set up the intact one. Attach the new chain too.
- Make a proper adjustment for this new flapper chain to achieve an accurate length.
- Try out the new flapper
If your toilet flapper has become damaged or leaky, installing a new one should solve the bubbles’ problems. Generally, faulty toilet flappers fail to prevent the water from getting inside the toilet tank.
Conclusion
Are you still wondering about tiny air bubbles in the toilet bowl? Your toilet bowl may have bubbles issues for different reasons based on your toilet system and other plumbing-related hardware.
We have already discussed all the primary causes of this problem and solved it.
Make sure you figure out the problem first and choose an effective solution based on it. Otherwise, it will be no use. If you are still failing to deal with the problem, it is better to call a professional plumber to handle the task efficiently.