2 stopcocks in flat - why?

[diyyid]

Hello

I live in a flat and it has 2 stopcocks. One under the kitchen sink which turns off both kitchen taps and hot water for bathroom sink & bath.

The other one is behind a wall panel behind the toilet which turns off toilet water tank and cold water for bathroom sink and bath.

Out of curiosity I'm trying to figure out why there are 2 stopcocks. All the articles I find about this only mention 1.

Not sure if it matters, I have a combi boiler but at some point there was a water tank system. I'm not sure how old the building is.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Older properties, especially of the Victorian era often had 2 supplies coming into the property. One feed for the kitchen sink, (that would have been the only water in the house), and a second feed for the original outside WC.

 

[Nige F]

The one behind the wall panel is/or was coming from a communal roof cistern - . If you had a water meter fitted you might find that it only meters the cold to the kitchen and feed to the combi. A friend of mine has this setup - of course as a layperson he is unaware

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

The one behind the wall panel is/or was coming from a communal roof cistern - .

Good point Nige, missed the bit about it being a flat!

Dated a girl a few years back, she lived in a Victorian House. Told her she'd be cheaper on a meter, young Lad from AW came to look, said she needed 2 meters as 2 supplies. I checked, stoptap in her kitchen also shut off supply to the outside WC, (which was now feeding her shower as well, she didn't use the outside WC because of spiders....).

Told AW, they sent him back, he wouldn't have it. Basically with his proposal, she'd have paid twice for every shower.

 

[diyyid]

Interesting...I didn't think we had a communal tank, but that would explain the very high cold water pressure.

No meter, Thames Water bill according to the size of property and their usage estimates.

Now I need to figure out a way to access the stopcock behind the wall, the panel is quite firmly installed

 

[endecotp]

the panel is quite firmly installed

I found a tile that was siliconed, rather than grouted. It was totally indistinguishable; I found it by taking the side off the bath and peering inside the pipe void with a mirror on a stick, and spotted the access panel from behind...