Drinking Water

bibbly

Okay, excuse me if this is a stupid question, and also please excuse me if this isn't in the right part of the site, but feel free to move.

Is it "safe" to drink water from the upstairs bathroom? When I was growing up my parents always said not to drink the water from the taps in the bathroom but why? Isn't is the same source as the downstairs taps?

Thanks.

derrick

bibbly wrote: »

Okay, excuse me if this is a stupid question, and also please excuse me if this isn't in the right part of the site, but feel free to move.

Is it "safe" to drink water from the upstairs bathroom? When I was growing up my parents always said not to drink the water from the taps in the bathroom but why? Isn't is the same source as the downstairs taps?

Thanks.

It depends how the bathroom water is fed.
If it is from the mains then it is OK, but it could be fed from a tank, (usually in the loft), if it is there are then two types of tank cold water, "potable" and "non-potable", the potable will be safe to drink and the tank should have a sealed lid and "filtered" overflow and vent, if the lid is not fitted/sealed, then the water is not drinkable.

To check if it is fed from the mains,close your main incoming stopc*ck and open the taps, if the water stops immediatley, then it is mains fed and drinkable, if it continues to run then it is tank fed,(unless the stopc*ck is passing), and needs finding out which tank you have.

Nile

Hello bibbly

If you mean drinking water from the cold tap in your bathroom, it should be fine. I'm no expert but I think that the domestic water supply enters the home via the kitchen.................so on a hot summer's day, that's where the cold water will be at the coolest temperature and most refreshing/fresh tasting.;)

We have MSE members who are plumbing experts and I'm sure they'll post their comments soon.

Regards

Nile

derrick

Nile wrote: »

Hello bibbly

If you mean drinking water from the cold tap in your bathroom, it should be fine. I'm no expert but I think that the domestic water supply enters the home via the kitchen.................so on a hot summer's day, that's where the cold water will be at the coolest temperature and most refreshing/fresh tasting.;)

We have MSE members who are plumbing experts and I'm sure they'll post their comments soon.

Regards




Nile

I had assumed the OP meant the cold top

gmgmgm

If you have a combi-boiler, chances are you have no water tank and so you could technically drink any water in the house at all- even the hot water.
At my old house, we were supposed to only ever drink from the kitchen cold tap as that was the only tap on the mains supply- everything else went through a tank. Never caused a problem though!

AndysDad

I think usually all the upstairs taps come from the water tank in the loft.The only ones on the mains supply in my house are the kitchen,utility and downstairs toilet.

bengraves38

Hi,

Just had a conversation with a colleague on this subject the other day.

Apparently in days gone by and still now in many country side areas, the mains water comes into the property and straight to the cold tap in the kitchen. Then from there to the cold water tank in the loft & subsequently back to all other taps.

The reasoning behind this is, if the cold water supply pipe freezes you still have a tank full in the loft until the supply pipe thaws. This also however means that the only directly supplied tap in the property is in the kitchen, and as previously mentioned drinking from a water tank is not normally recomended.

Just check if your water is tank fed.

Hope this helps

sparky883

Why do you need to drink out of the bathroom tap? If you are talking about swilling when brushing your teeth i cannot see a problem!!

bibbly

Wow this has got quite a few responses and I'm still not 100% clear. Thank you for the people who did reply.

Okay. I don't have a combi-boiler. I have a water tank in the airing cupboard in one of the bedrooms, but presumably that's the hot water tank. As for turning off the stop c*ck, I don't have one. Don't laugh, I really don't! The water board came when they fitted a water meter and think that somehow my stop c*ck has been either removed or built over (the kitchen has been completely redesigned by previous owners). I know it's stupid, because if I ever need to stop the water supply into the house I have to do it from outside, in next door's driveway.

So I still don't know the answer to my original question!

Oh, and for the person who asked why I wanted to know there are two reasons:

(a) I was curious - don't ask me why it suddenly occurred to me! and

(b) I was very very poorly not that long ago and desperate for a fresh glass of water but couldn't make it downstairs so had to wait for someone to come home and help me!!

rockin_plumber

ok another way to test...
You may get wet :rotfl:

Does the water from your hot tap appear to come out slower than the cold tap in the bathroom

You could try this.........

Place your thumb over the outlet of the hot tap and turn it on........
You should be able to stop this as from your explination it is fed from a tank...

Do the same with the cold tap...
Unless you have really poor mains pressure you wont be able to stop this if it is direct off the mains.

So if you turn on the cold tap and cant stop the flow of water out of the cold basin tap with your thumb..

You can safely say it is off the mains and drinkable :T

McAzrael

sparky883 wrote: »

Why do you need to drink out of the bathroom tap? If you are talking about swilling when brushing your teeth i cannot see a problem!!

I have plastic cups in my bathroom cabinet for when I get up in the night wanting some water and the kitchen downstairs is just too far away. And I live in a tiny house.