Water wastage or sense?

Bogof_Babe

Today we have a warning from United Utilities about a possible hosepipe ban, and we are being asked to conserve water usage where possible.

I'm not on a meter so this isn't a money saving question, but I have always been in the habit of running the pipes through in the morning after they have been off all night, before filling the kettle, to get rid of the water that has been standing in them. I'm in a flat in a Victorian conversion and I've got no idea what the pipes are made of. The pipework where the stopcock is appears to be copper.

Is this an old wives tale or is it still sensible to run off the standing water before drawing any that is for drinking purposes?

C_Mababejive

This was an old wives tale from the days of lead supply pipes. Overnight,certain "types" of water could cause lead to migrate from pipe to water then to your bod when you drink it.

I would advocate the purchase of a filter jug for drinking water.

My guess is your pipes will now be non lead anyway.

Bogof_Babe

Yes I thought it might be an old wives tale, except that this house being probably over 100 years old there's no way of knowing whether it was constructed in the days of lead pipes being standard.

I'll have to assume they were changed when it was converted to flats I suppose, which was in the 1980s.

Hannah_10

If it did have lead pipes though, is there a rule that says they had to be changed? I don't know, I'm just wondering.

If you do need to run off water why not run it off into the washing up bowl and use it later for something. My hot tap can take ages to get hot but there's always plant watering, or putting it in the bath ready for my next wash. If you get a bucket full a day then pour it into the loo instead of flushing. If you look here it says the average Brit uses 16 buckets of water a day, so you can probably find uses for the water you run off.

If you can put the water you are running off to good use then you don't have to chose between chancing it with the pipes and wasting it.

Bogof_Babe

Thank you Hannah, some excellent ideas there. I'll pass on the garden watering though as it's a first floor flat lol. I'll run it into the washing up bowl to rinse my tea cup in (would be a bit too cold for my breakfast dishes). A soapy sponge should be okay in cold water to wash a mug.

Sponge

If the water hasn't been run for a while, e.g. overnight, then I always run the tap to get 'fresh' water. Nothing to do with lead contamination, but simply because the water is fresher, colder and generally nicer to drink, especially in the summer.

If you're serious about your tea, then you should always do this.

withabix

Sponge wrote: »

If the water hasn't been run for a while, e.g. overnight, then I always run the tap to get 'fresh' water. Nothing to do with lead contamination, but simply because the water is fresher, colder and generally nicer to drink, especially in the summer.

If you're serious about your tea, then you should always do this.

Might be colder, but as someone who designs and builds water treatment works and infrastructure, I would say that the rest of that assertion is all in the mind.

Fresher? How long do you think it was since it left the treatment works? What about the chlorine and other chemicals? What about the treated storage reservoir - how long do you think it was in there?

DVardysShadow

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

... I'm in a flat in a Victorian conversion and I've got no idea what the pipes are made of. The pipework where the stopcock is appears to be copper.

Is this an old wives tale or is it still sensible to run off the standing water before drawing any that is for drinking purposes?

In your situation, I would run off some water. The internal pipework is copper, but there is no telling whether you have lead from the street main to the house. It is not an old wives tale - lead pipework does contaminate water which stands - and there is still lead pipework in place..

roddydogs

Still Lead here to the internal stopcock..1932 build.

LeifGR

Why not simply have the water tested? Some water utilities offer this for free, and even if you have to pay it will be a small price for peace of mind. If it shows all is OK, you'll recover any costs by the water you will save. A quick Google for "water test lead" gives ample links.