Water Tank Flats

outlaw777

Hi everyone I stay in a block of 6 flats and have been informed for the past 2 years I could have been drinking dirty water from a tank in the attic of the top floor flat, is there any way I can get to the bottom this ASAP, do I need to hire a plumber to look into this for me or contact my local water supplier?

nofoollikeold

1. Normally the cold water supply to the kitchen is direct from the mains and not from a tank.  The cold (and hot) supplies to other outlets may well be mains fed.
2. If the water pressure at the kitchen cold tap is much higher than that at, say, the bathroom basin cold tap, then it is almost certainly mains fed.
3. You should only drink water from a mains fed source.  If you drink from a bathroom tap you have a much higher chance of drinking tank fed water.
4. If your property is purpose built in the last 50 years it will almost certainly conform to correct practice.  If its a conversion, and / or older, not so certain.  
5. Doubt your water supplier will be interested.  Suspect you would have to pay for your own plumber to determine source of your kitchen water.

outlaw777

Any idea on how much a new water connection would cost?

Jeepers_Creepers

Outlaw, as NFLO says, your kitchen cold tap should be direct from the safe mains.

Do you know where the main incoming stopcock is located? (If not, you should...). Turn this off and you'll hopefully find that the cold kitchen tap stops running, but any other hot and cold taps in the flat could (likely will) keep on running. That's because the other taps are likely supplied by the storage tank on the roof.

Can you do this check and report back? Shut off the mains stopcock, and tell us which taps immediately stop running.

Belenus

Has Rodney been hiding in your attic?

Section62

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Do you know where the main incoming stopcock is located? (If not, you should...). Turn this off and you'll hopefully find that the cold kitchen tap stops running, but any other hot and cold taps in the flat could (likely will) keep on running. That's because the other taps are likely supplied by the storage tank on the roof.

Can you do this check and report back? Shut off the mains stopcock, and tell us which taps immediately stop running.

If there's only one storage tank in the loft then it sounds like the flats have a common/shared supply, so the OP shouldn't turn that (main) stopcock off without discussing it with the other residents/leaseholder(s)/management co first.

Step 1 is to work out whether the OP has their own supply (i.e. billed individually by the water co), or if it is shared.  Whether or not the flat is metered, and where the meter is will also give some clues.

[Deleted User]

Belenus said:

Has Rodney been hiding in your attic?

Meow meow!

Jeepers_Creepers

Section62 said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Do you know where the main incoming stopcock is located? (If not, you should...). Turn this off and you'll hopefully find that the cold kitchen tap stops running, but any other hot and cold taps in the flat could (likely will) keep on running. That's because the other taps are likely supplied by the storage tank on the roof.

Can you do this check and report back? Shut off the mains stopcock, and tell us which taps immediately stop running.

If there's only one storage tank in the loft then it sounds like the flats have a common/shared supply, so the OP shouldn't turn that (main) stopcock off without discussing it with the other residents/leaseholder(s)/management co first.

Step 1 is to work out whether the OP has their own supply (i.e. billed individually by the water co), or if it is shared.  Whether or not the flat is metered, and where the meter is will also give some clues.

Oops, my bad. What I meant was "Do you know where your main incoming stopcock is located? (If not, you should...)."

canaldumidi

outlaw777 said:

Any idea on how much a new water connection would cost?

To start altering pipework within the building (as opposed to just within your flat) you'll need consent from your freeholder.

Another_Level

outlaw777 said:

Hi everyone I stay in a block of 6 flats and have been informed for the past 2 years I could have been drinking dirty water from a tank in the attic of the top floor flat, is there any way I can get to the bottom this ASAP, do I need to hire a plumber to look into this for me or contact my local water supplier?

Have been in blocks of flats that have communal potable water storage tanks in the loft, often the size of a small swimming pool.
The property owner (freeholder) would have the tank regularly inspected and water quality tested   

Really needs a proper plumber to inspect and advise,  they will need access to the loft tanks. Find a proper plumber at https://www.watersafe.org.uk/ or similar.