New home: plumbing question

OccasionalPoster

Hi all,
FTB here. Our survey has flagged an issue with the cold water tap in the kitchen, namely that it's connected to the cistern and not the mains. There's no quote for this work on the report, so I'm wondering if anyone here knows how much it would be to put right? Is it a major issue or a relatively quick job?
Thanks so much for any advice.

"The cold tap in the kitchen sink is not connected to the rising main, which is potentially a health hazard. I recommend removing the cold water storage cistern in the attic, and having all appliances connected directly to the main."

anselld

Depends on the rest of the system.  Normally if there is a cold tank it also feeds a vented hot water cylinder, so if you removed the cold tank you would also need to fit an unvented hot tank which would not be cheap.  It would be best to get your plumber to have a look and give you a quote.

AdrianC

Cold water tanks in the loft are an old way of ensuring there's a bit of pressure at the taps - but you really don't want the kitchen tap on one. The water in the tank can be a lot less fresh than from the mains at best... and at worst, dead pigeon soup.

Nor do you really want that in the bathroom tap... Dead pigeon makes toothpaste taste off.

How easy it is to put right depends on the layout of the plumbing in your place. At the very simplest, the plumber can disappear up to the loft, disconnect the pipe feeding the tank and the one leaving it, and connect them together... Not a huge job.

OccasionalPoster

Thank you, that's handy. The kitchen needs doing but ideally not right away, so I was wondering if it's something we can fix quickly, enabling us to drink from the tap before concentrating on the bigger kitchen refit. Sounds like it's okay as a standalone job.
My second question is... how did they drink from that source for 50 years!?