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Do people drink water from the bathroom tap tap

158 replies

KW33 · 25/02/2025 18:58

Back story is I work in a perdomately male work place. We have a small coffee machine that needs to be filled up with water every so often. The unisex toilets are not too far from where the team sit. On two separate occasions, one male manager went into the bathroom to fill up the water. I interjected and said no, I will get water from the water despenser in the kitchen which is not close to where the team sit. Then the same thing happened today, another male colleague went to do the same thing. I again interjected and got the water from the kitchen water despenser. When I asked the colleague today, he said it's the same water tank so why wouldn't you use the tap water from the bathroom. I said no that's disgusting at which point another male colleague said there's no difference. He would use his tap water in the bathroom at home. Again I was lost.

So now I want to know is this a thing? I have never used the bathroom tap water as drinking water and never would. However this might be a me thing, or is it a woman thing. I have now started asking everyone....even though what one of them said about it being from the same tank may be true. In my head the kitchen tap water can be used for drinking and the bathroom tap water is for washing your hands etc. Has anyone else had a similar experience or thing to be amazed at what some people class as normal and you class as disgusting.

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AntiHop · 26/02/2025 15:31

A few decades back, bathroom taps often drew water from water tanks in attics. Things like mice may get into the tank, hence bathroom water not being suitable for drinking. These days, you can get sealed tanks that are totally safe.

In a work place or a public place, if water in toilet basins is not safe to drink, it should be labelled as such.

usersdlkgp099uohlk · 26/02/2025 15:31

. The unisex toilets are not too far from where the team sit. On two separate occasions, one male manager went into the bathroom to fill up the water.

The issue isn't the water, it's the fact that the taps are in the loo. If unisex, men will have touched their cocks and then the taps, there are likely to be microscopic faeces and fith all over the taps as well as in the air. Google how much stuff gets spread around public bathrooms just from a flush after a shit without putting the loo seat down.

The person filling up will be touching those taps, potentially touching the jug to the tap or into the sink.

It's revolting and unhygenic. Tiny bits of shit urine and menstual blood with your water? Mmm yes please.

sueelleker · 26/02/2025 15:28

My cold water comes straight from the mains, so it makes no difference which tap I use.

1SillySossij · 26/02/2025 15:19

Also up til the 70s some water pipes were made of lead. When fears about lead poisoning became more prevalent, sometimes just the kitchen tap was replaced with copper

whatapalarva · 26/02/2025 15:09

I don't drink the bathroom tap water, no rhyme or reason.. maybe goes back to childhood with water tanks in the loft but don't know why. Same in hotel rooms, I use bottled water to fill the kettle and make sure I have bottled water next to the bed. Silly really but habit now I suppose.

ManyATrueWord · 26/02/2025 14:57

Home is mains fed. A big office building - I probably wouldn't because it probably comes via a tank.

henlake7 · 26/02/2025 14:36

I would at home because I dont have a tank but I def wouldnt at work as its a Victorian hospital with dodgy plumbing!

So I think its less about the location and more about the state of the plumbing!

Magnastorm · 26/02/2025 14:31

AProfessor · 26/02/2025 13:41

Best to use bottled water with the lowest calcium content, as under heat the calcium content will slowly harden and block the internal coffee machine water parts.

Or you just descale it.

Magnastorm · 26/02/2025 14:31

I quite happily drink from bathroom tap at home, because I know that all my water comes directly from the mains supply - there is absolutely no difference in the water out of any tap, even the garden tap or the toilet fill, if it came to it.

Obviously if a tap is fed by a tank then you shouldn't drink from it.

At work I don't drink from the toilet taps, but it's probably entirely safe as it's not marked as not being drinking water.

kitchenhelprequired · 26/02/2025 14:18

For the coffee machine it really doesn't matter if it's mains fed or not - heating it to make coffee will get rid of most things that could be an issue.

In a work environment any tap which isn't mains fed should be labeled as not for drinking. In a home environment it depends but most people only have mains fed in the kitchen so shouldn't be drinking water from a bathroom tap unless it's being boiled.

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 26/02/2025 13:51

RampantIvy · 26/02/2025 08:37

I assume you are being tongue in cheek here.

In newer house all cold water taps are fed straight from the mains.

Older houses will have a cold water tank. I wouldn't drink tap water that isn't straight from the mains.

😄😄 i am, as much as i don't like it, others can do as they please

AProfessor · 26/02/2025 13:41

Best to use bottled water with the lowest calcium content, as under heat the calcium content will slowly harden and block the internal coffee machine water parts.

BMW6 · 26/02/2025 13:19

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 25/02/2025 19:04

Absolutely not 😭 the bathroom tap is for washing and teeth brushing, not for drinking

No physical difference I'm sure but its morally unacceptable imo

Where does Morality come into it?

MemorableTrenchcoat · 26/02/2025 13:17

Longwaysouth · 26/02/2025 12:48

If in the UK and are on mains water you can drink it.

Unless it’s been stored in a tank in the loft.

Longwaysouth · 26/02/2025 12:48

If in the UK and are on mains water you can drink it.

Toxicfamilyproblems · 26/02/2025 12:44

I did as a teenager for years as my mother would regularly withhold access to water/kitchen. She told me I’d get sick
from the bathroom tap but I was thirsty so I drank it on many occasions and I was fine.

brokenwand · 26/02/2025 12:42

no - I wouldn't drink water from the bathroom unless it is boiled in a kettle or similar.
Bathroom cold water often comes from a cold water tank in the loft & could have been sat there goodness know how long with dead spiders & who knows what in it as they are usually open

RampantIvy · 26/02/2025 12:41

If you want to find out where the cold water in your bathroom comes from switch the stopcock off to stop the mains water and turn your cold tap on. If it runs freely then it comes from a water tank in the loft. If you get a few drips then nothing it comes from the mains and is safe to drink.

Ilovecakey · 26/02/2025 10:55

I never drink tap water at all

Holdonforsummer · 26/02/2025 09:00

Totally fine unless it has been specifically marked as non-drinking water.

sanityisamyth · 26/02/2025 08:57

JacqFrost · 25/02/2025 21:09

Can't say I ever fill a glass with water in the bathroom but it's all water from the same source at the end of the day isn't it.

Not necessarily.

RampantIvy · 26/02/2025 08:37

mumofoneAlonebutokay · 25/02/2025 19:04

Absolutely not 😭 the bathroom tap is for washing and teeth brushing, not for drinking

No physical difference I'm sure but its morally unacceptable imo

I assume you are being tongue in cheek here.

In newer house all cold water taps are fed straight from the mains.

Older houses will have a cold water tank. I wouldn't drink tap water that isn't straight from the mains.

Daniki · 26/02/2025 08:32

No because only the kitchen tap is mains fed the rest is from the tank.

fluffiphlox · 26/02/2025 08:16

I know this is a bit of a dick move but to save your embarrassment if you have to write anything in work (other than anonymously on a forum) the word is ‘predominantly’.

jnh22 · 26/02/2025 08:13

I’m a woman and drink from the bathroom tap at home or in hotels.

However, I’d probably not use water from a men’s work bathroom tap for communal coffee as men’s toilets seem to be of dubious cleanliness. Though - the water would be boiled thereby killing any germs so you’d probably be ok.