water quality and old iron loft tanks

00ec25

as the last few threads are about water related issues anyone have any thoughts on this situation

house built 1964 with galvanised cold water loft tank supplying bathroom cold water (bath & sink) as well as the toilet. The loft tank has by now of course got a fair few accretions and rusticles(?) on the walls and floor and I notice that the toilet gets a yellow stain after 2 -3 days as does the sink - note this is not usage related before you ask as the downstairs facilties are fed from the rising main and stay clean

any thoughts on what sort of contaimination is in the water?
Last time I looked at a replacement loft tank it was rather a lot of money (well over £50 4 years ago) just for a bit of plastic, but I am wondering if it's just a false economy not to change it over - heathwise and/or continued staining etc

DVardysShadow

00ec25 wrote: »

house built 1964 with galvanised cold water loft tank supplying bathroom cold water (bath & sink) as well as the toilet. The loft tank has by now of course got a fair few accretions and rusticles(?) on the walls and floor and I notice that the toilet gets a yellow stain after 2 -3 days as does the sink - note this is not usage related before you ask as the downstairs facilties are fed from the rising main and stay clean

any thoughts on what sort of contaimination is in the water?
Last time I looked at a replacement loft tank it was rather a lot of money (well over £50 4 years ago) just for a bit of plastic, but I am wondering if it's just a false economy not to change it over - heathwise and/or continued staining etc

If the iron tank is sound, then there is no point in changing to a plastic tank - because the plastic tank will suffer many of the same problems. The primary health problem for me is that your bathroom sink cold water comes from an open tank, which means that the water is not fit for ingestion [ie teeth cleaning]. It is not enough to cover the tank, this tap should be mains cold water.

But the bath is probably best fed off this tank, because it provides the right pressure for a mixer tap shower. The only problem with the toilet is unsightliness. In your position, I would change the sink and toilet only to mains water feed - which will cost more than £50, I should think, but will use the money more effectively in dealing with your issues.

AdrianW2

I was under the impression that a covered tank, insulated and with a screened overflow pipe was suitable for potable water, am I wrong?

(if I am wrong I'll be upset that I spent many hours in a hot, cramped and dusty loft attempting to reroute our pipework so that a lid and byelaw 30 kit would fit on our tank)

ariba10

Having seen the state of some of these attic storage tanks there is no way I would drink any water from them.

It is so ingrained in me that I will not use water from the hot tap even now that we have a comby.

ormus

in our last house, purchased c1987, we found a dead pigeon in our loft water tank.
hence why you should only drink from a kitchen tap.

27col

In my house the water in the bathroom sink cold tap is fed from a covered cistern in the roof space. It has been like this since I built the house in 1977. I have been cleaning my teeth and having the odd glass of water for all that time, without any ill effects. On the odd occasion that I have looked in the tank there has never been anything to be seen except, sometimes a little sand. As the tank feeds the other taps in the house except the kitchen sink. I figured that the water is changed so regularly that it is unlikely to ever stagnate. If I was plumbing it again I suppose that I would supply the sink with mains water, but I am unlikely to change the existing supply, any time soon.