A lot of times, as even an adult, you come across a situation where you are left stumped. You have no idea how to solve the issue if you do not even recognize what it is about.

This is where the internet comes in; now, we can all lean on our virtual communities. When this person came across something in their toilet bowl, they knew what corner of the internet would be able to help.

Plumbing problems can often become the bane of an adult’s existence. This person came across something incredibly confusing and decided that perhaps a Reddit community could help.

Not everyone can afford to call a plumber or expert at the drop of a hat, and hence, it was a good idea to first find out whether the problem was big enough to require professional assistance.

User Taway8091 posted some pictures to Reddit that were both confusing and concerning. They saw some strange things floating up their toilet bowl, which left them scratching their heads.

They found the strange object floating into the toilet bowl the night before. They described it as “hard but thin and brittle like an eggshell.” They reported that pieces broke off quite easily when pressed. The color they noticed was also odd. They said it did not seem metallic or plastic either.

They were stumped as to what it could be and hence turned to the ‘What Is This Thing’ subreddit to outsource the question. A lot of people immediately had ideas on what it could be.

Another Redditor with the username xzxnnx wrote, “I would guess mineral buildup that broke loose in the tank. Take the tank lid off, and you may find a perfect match for the place where it came from. For sanitation reasons, toilets are designed to prevent things from coming back up, so the most likely source of this is the tank or dropped into the bowl by a human. Toddler humans are especially good for that.

They also imparted some important information: “Mineral deposits should fizz and dissolve if you drop a little bit of vinegar on them.” This is a great tip for anyone who might come across something like this in their own lives. Just to confirm whether it is limescale or mineral deposits, you can use vinegar to see whether it fizzes. If it does, then the doubt in your mind should be confirmed; it is indeed mineral deposits.

Other people agreed that it might be from the tank, limescale and mineral from water which might have collected over time, a redditor with the username badgersbunk added their two cents, “It looks like it came from the inside of the tank. I’ve seen a lot of tanks have something going up the corners inside and it does chip off when old.”

The original poster later added a comment confirming everyone’s suspicions, “I’m guessing it’s a chunk of mineral deposit and general sink/toilet debris that built up and dislodged in the drain pipe. It’s not really rounded like a pipe though and has more of a harsh bend. Picture taken on a standard envelope for scale. Pretty creepy seeing this in the toilet at 12 AM.”