Hi,

I was away for 5 days and when I got back I found worms in my toilet. They are really really tiny and I had to look really closely into the toilet to see a few of them moving. They are less than half an inch in length and white or slightly yellowish in colour. I read up online about drain fly larvae but the ones in my toilet do not have black heads and do not look as large. Someone help me! I'l really freaked out. Are they coming from me or the drains?

They are some kind of insect larvae, not worms, that need water to be born in. It's spring and this is what you can expect, especially after a very snowy winter. I live in an area where we get swarms and all sorts of sudden infestations. Flush them down, spray, etc. Every year we get a huge swarm of citronella ants near our lower level toilet, which has open earth around the soil pipe behind the wall. They look like termites, queen and all, but are pretty harmless.

I don't use bug spray because I don't like that kind of chemicals. I put bleach in a spray bottle. In a pinch I use whatever spray cleaner I have around.

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. But I've flushed them away many times and one or two will always appear on the toilet floor again the next morning. It just looks so gross. I've poured bleach and hot water down but doesn't seem to work. Is there any way that I can get rid of them entirely? And will they go away as the weather gets colder later in the year?

It is impossible to seal a house entirely. You haven't described where your toilet is, on what level, on what material, what's behind the wall, where the soil stack is. Pouring bleach down the drain isn't going to help. Spray bleach all around the floor and wall and bottom of the toilet if you can't get behind the wall. If they are around the base, maybe take the toilet off the floor and put a new wax ring in.

I'm living in a flat on the first floor. There is no soil behind my wall and there's only concrete, wood and tiles in my bathroom. This is the first time that this has happened. They only appear in the toilet after a few hours of not flushing. Is it possible that they are coming from the drain or the toilet itself or both?

They could be coming from the rim of the toilet. There are small holes in the rim that allow the water to swirl down the drain. Pour 1 cup of bleach in the tank, wait a few minutes then flush. Repeat only this time, let the bleach sit in the tank for a good half hour. Also, pour 1 cup of bleach in the bowl and wait a half hour. This might resolve your problem.