Commercial building water supply

[kahunabean]

A long time ago in an office building in London I took a quick drink of water from a basin tap (NOT a water fountain). A guy from facilities dept happened to be there and he said 'Oh God don't drink that - it's a blend, use the water fountain' . Excuse me, a 'blend' what might he have meant ? I never asked him - to be honest I was a bit shocked by his reaction. Do buildings have 2 water supplies - one fit for drinking and the other a bit iffy ? I didn't get ill, by the way.

[j2buttonsw]

Most houses and offices have two cold water supplies: one from the main water supply (usually only available from the kitchen tap and is under mains pressure) and the other from a cold water storage tank (ultimately fed from the mains). This tank is usually placed in an unhygenic area such as in your attic or on top of buildings and can easily be contaminated (unless they have stuck to the rigid bylaws). Thus, in most modern houses the bathroom cold taps/toilet water feeds are from the storage tank (at much lower pressure) and in officies only taps designated as drinking water are from the mains supply. If your cold water storage tank is up to modern regulations there is no problem but you can imagine unkempt water tanks with dead pidgeons floating in them. Why have them? Well, in case your mains water is cut off you still have a full tank of available water.

[skelly]

The previous answer is absolutely spot on. I work in an industry where I've seen a few old water tanks in loft spaces and plantrooms and trust me, you would never take a drink from them. In public areas drinking water should be marked, you've probably never noticed the labels before but you will now. If it isn't marked drinking water, well, don't drink it. The "blend", probably he meant that it was a mixture of hot and cold water from a single tap so that you have warm water rather than one or the other.

[xyzzyplugh]

Agree with J2; Remember, 'your own house too!' Don't drink from the bathroom tap it may have dead things in it.

[brawburd]

this whole subject has worried me for some time. In care homes for older people there are designated rinking water taps, usually the main kitchen and very few other areas, meaning that bedroom water is not fit to be drunk. Unfortunately, tell that to someone with dementia and see how long they remember. Alternatives are offered, such as water coolers, but this is not the answer. We needn't really wonder why there are infection outbreaks in such places?

[Gef]

I'm not sure if it's still the case but the building regulations in Scotland in the 1970s specified that ALL cold taps in a house were mains fed. By the way, I work in a school (in Scotland) and was surprised to find that all taps (including the kitchens) are fed from the storage tank on the roof. However, I have been drinking the water for 30 years with no ill effects although some of my colleagues my dispute that - LOL.

[j2buttonsw]

Interestingly, well to me anyway, I was talking to a plumbing friend of mine and apparently your hot water feeder tank is often your cold water storage tank which may shed some light on the "blend" vernacular. You share the hot and cold storage tank so they are the same pressure (which helps when feeding to a shower etc).

[paulz]

that's why we connected our bathroom sink to mains supply, it saves a trek in the middle of the night