Drinking water from hot water header tank

[chrism71]

Hi, This is my first post so please forgive me if I don't follow the correct method.

All cold water basin taps (en-suite, main bathroom, downstairs loo) except the bath & kitchen sink are fed from the hot water header tank in the loft.
The customer and their 2 small children have been drinking this water for a couple of years.

My questions are please?
1) Could there a genuine reason why the builder would go to the extra expense of running 2 cold supplies around the house?

2) Is this healthy?

3) Should I be advising the customer to get these taps fed straight from the mains?

4) If consuming this stored water is unhealthy, is there any online info I can print & hand to the customer please?

(the tank is covered & lagged well as the property is only about 11 years old)

Thanks in advance, Chris

 

[Alastairreid]

Could there a genuine reason why the builder would go to the extra expense of running 2 cold supplies around the house?

am not a plumber but in my 30 or so yrs in the construction industry I have never heard the like.

Is this healthy?

No the water is stored still and stagnent!.

Should I be advising the customer to get these taps fed straight from the mains?

Absolutely imo yes.

 

[Kes]

All of our upstairs cold water taps, cisterns etc are fed from the h/w header tank, as the pressure and flow from the mains is so poor. There may well be other reasons for this setup that apply to the OP's customer.

I can't say that we drink from the upstairs taps, but we do brush our teeth etc so it's inevitable that we consume some of it, and have been doing for over 20 years. The tank is the usual cylindrical thing with a rather poorly fitting lid and some insulation.

There are header tanks made for water that is to be drunk. As far as I can tell the only difference is that the lid is smaller and fits far better, and more dust-proofly, than the standard thing.

 

[TonyW2]

The drinking water supply comes direct from mains via the kitchen tap.

The other cold water outlets come from the cold water storage tank that also acts as the feed to the hot water storage cylinder.
This means that showers can be fitted with equal pressure head on both hot and water supply and that the flow is not affected by mains supply fluctuations.

(I assume you are not saying that the cold water supply comes from the Central Heating water header tank?)

 

[Paul Barker]

Basically it's a southern standard plumbing practice.

Oop here we only provide balanced cold if and when needed.

 

[Alastairreid]

i wouldn`t have thought it it would be good practice to use stored water as drinking water! i certainly havent come across this practice in scotland.
or northern ireland for that matter.

anyway if thats par for the course in England "you live and learn"

 

[Malc C]

All cold water feeds (cold taps, cisterns and machines) in our house are fed direct from the cold water main. The only cold water feeds from the storage tank are to the HW cylinder and shower pump.

I would of thought that supplying cold drinking water from a storage tank to taps would be a health hazard ??

 

[TonyW2]

Dead pigeon or two helps build up immunity.
Toothbrushing gives only an acceptable low dose of bugs!

 

[boabcelt]

I frequently come across tank fed cold water in older property. Having had the job of pulling dead pigeons from the tank (a few years ago as an apprentice!) I certainly would think twice about drinking the water. However, if a byelaw 30 kit has been fitted there should be no danger. The kit basically is insulation for the tank, an insect mesh for the warning pipe and a vent for the close fitting lid.

 

[namsag]

The water wont be stagnant as it is constantly being replaced as hot and cold are being drawn off , bit unless lid perfectly sealed you can get debri fro the roof tiles/felt falling in /insects/ rodents/ birds without ever knowing.
Very common on estates around my way that where built in mid 70`s either using the one tank for hot and cold or two seperate tanks for each, with only the kitchen sink mains fed

 

[JohnD]

it isn't considered to be drinking water. Drinking water comes from the kitchen cold tap, straight from the water main.

the cold water to the bath tap, WC cistern and washbasin comes from the cold water storage cistern. It isn't stagnant since it is constantly being used and refilled from the main. Properly installed, the tank has a close fitting lid; is insulated to prevent it getting warm in summer, and has an insect screen on the overflow.

I'm stunned that you've never heard of a cold water tank.

 

[AndyPRK]

you sure the bath cold is off the mains ?

 

[D_Hailsham]

Every house I have ever lived in - eight, ranging from 20 to 100 years old - has been plumbed like this. The only cold tap fed directly from the mains was/is in the kitchen. That was the drinking water tap. All other cold taps, showers and toilets were fed from the cold water tank in the loft, which also fed the hot water cylinder.

 

[AndyPRK]

The bathroom sink should be mains.

 

[JohnD]

says who?