stored water in my loft

[talma]

theres a black box in my loft with avery small box the pipes a close togeher, is there a correct way of putting them correctly or size (distance eihter way) can anyone help.

[alegeegee]

sounds like your descibing an expansion tank

dont be a **** and try to mess with stuff you havent a clue about! get a plumber heating engineer in to explain the basics

[buildersmate]

Your question doesn't make sense to me - what exactly are you trying to do with them? The big one is probably the cold water storage tank. When you draw hot or cold water out of the taps (all except the kitchen tap), water from this tank replenishes what you used up. In turn this tank is filled back up from the mains water supply via a ballvalve.

The smaller one is probably the expansion tank for the CH system. This replenishes small amounts of water that the CH system may lose from evaporation or leakage.

Both tanks should be insulated all round except not underneath, and have plastic covers to stop crud dropping into them.

[brachiopod]

"...covers to stop crud dropping in..."

Is that the technical term then, buildersmate ?!! ;o)

[stanleyman]

"...covers to stop crud from dropping in..." I can confirm this is a properly described technical term, AKA a sh** cover or byelaw kit which means nothing to most people. If you don't believe me just ask on any site.

[buildersmate]

crud dropping in.

I once found a dead bat in an uncovered tank. Adds a bit of flavour to the toothpaste when cleaning ones teeth.

[fly258]

Slightly off topic and apologies to talma, but why is it only the kitchen cold tap that is fed from the mains ? The times I have to go downstairs in the middle of the night for a drink of water because I'm too forgetful to take a drink up with me and I dont much like the taste of bat / spider / fiberglass / crud etc. Is it just to make the H&C pressures equal?

[Tim B]

Crud. Excrescence produce by the decomposition of brass alloys submerged in sea water. You don't get many galleons in your water tank, do you?

[stanleyman]

Fly258. Not all installations have only the cold main at the kitchen sink. This is from when the water supply was poor and storage was needed to give a constant supply. Some have the cold main at all cold outlets and some have the cold only from the tank at the bath. A gravity shower needs both feeds from the tank to balance the pressures.

Since unvented hot water systems have been allowed in the UK and water supplies greatly improved, mains hot water systems are becoming very popular giving good pressure and flow at all outlets without the need for loft tanks. If you are not using a water softner you can drink from any outlet. Your bathroom tap can be plumbed from the mains, if it is not already, without too much trouble.