Non-potable water in uni room

[AllProperTeaIsTheft]

Dd just started her first year at university. She has a wash basin in her room, but the tap says non-drinking water. Does anyone know if that mean she shouldn't even brush her teeth with it? Thanks!

I don't have a water tank, all taps are connected to the mains but my neighbours water tank is in my attic which IMO is bonkers. I couldn't live somewhere where my neighbours could be messing with my water supply.

Oh, to answer the OP, I wouldn't brush my teeth with it, you never know what could be in the water tank, pigeons, rats, spiders etc.

I had one in my last house and always brushed my teeth upstairs. However unlike you, I died and I am now just a ghost haunting the corridors of Mumsnet.

What is this thing about drinking water upstairs?

I mean if the issue is the water from the water tank, esp the hot water, surely, you’ll find it upstairs AND downstairs?
So you shouldn’t drink water from the hot tap, regardless of whether you are upstairs or downstairs.

Iny old house the downstairs taps fed off the mains and the upstairs from the tank in the loft. There was a separate hot water tank that fed all the hot taps.

Only my downstairs taps are fed from the mains. The upstairs taps (including the cold water ones) are fed from holding tanks in the loft. They are lidded so hopefully there aren't decomposing pigeons in there.

So you had TWO tanks? One fir hot water and one for cold water but only upstairs?
Ive never seen that before, even in houses that have a hot water tank.

And tbh, it don’t really understand the point if the cold tank for upstairs. Why, why why….

There are 2 feeder tanks in the loft and a hot water cylinder that holds water for the hot taps in a cupboard upstairs

In my house the cold water tank in the loft supplies the water to any cold taps in the bathroom as well as the toilet and shower. The tank is uncovered but I still use it to clean teeth.

Downstairs the kitchen sink cold tap comes straight from the mains.

I think this was a very common set up in decades gone by. It's only with the take over of Combi boilers that water tanks in the roof aren't as usual anymore

I have feeder tanks and my house was built in 2000. When we replaced our boiler 2 years ago we kept the existing system as we have 3 toilets/2 showers and it suited us to not have a combi put in.

My old house was built 2000 as well.

Anyone with a combi boiler does not have a cold water tank, it’s straight from the mains.

🙄

I've a combi boiler. I also have a cold water tank.

Why do people post confidently when they are wrong?

80% of houses in the U.K. have combi boilers.

Really? That sounds very high.

Anyway, I'm in Ireland. I've a combi boiler. And a cold water tank.

Because combi boilers don't need cold water tanks.

Can she speak to the facilities manager? They will know why it says that it's not potable water.
Depends on why.

Since we got a combi boiler we no longer have a tank

My OH works for a council pest control team. One of his call outs this week was insects coming out the tap. Turns out there was an earwig infestation in the water tank 🤢 obviously quite rare but I wouldn't be ingesting water from a tank.

I would not be remotely concerned.

DD had this at Durham. She cleaned her teeth and washed her hands and face in the sink .She also drank from it on drunken occasion and lived.

Me too.

One of my lines of logic is, that's the same water that flushes the toilets & feeds the showers. In a residential block, the toilets are flushed often & the showers are often used. The water is constantly replaced from mains with chlorinated water. Chlorine kills germs. Yes it may sit in loft tank for a couple days on the rare holiday weekend, but usually it only pauses in loft tank for an hour at most... I'd drink water sat in a plastic bottle for a few days too.

Because combi boilers don't need cold water tanks.

Again, you are wrong.

I have a combi boiler. I also still have my tank for cold water.

This is because water pressure is not always sufficient to ensure cold water supply to all taps.

Hot water is produced entirely via the combi boiler.

Seriously, some people....

She will be fine.
In uni we did lots with the water in the room including drinking it......
I was more disgusted when I heard some students didn't bother with the loo in the middle of the night!!!

Since we got a combi boiler we no longer have a tank

Not in all cases - where I am, cold water tanks are retained. Sigh.

Combi boilers heat water directly from the mains when you turn on a tap, so you won't need a hot water storage cylinder or a cold water storage tank in the roof space. They are also very cost-effective and energy-efficient as water is heated instantly rather than being heated and then stored in a cylinder.

www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/products/boilers/explained#:~:text=Combi%20boilers%20heat%20water%20directly,then%20stored%20in%20a%20cylinder.

If you have low water pressure, maybe that's why you have a cold water tank. But combi boilers don't need them to work properly.

I was wondering how long it has been since I lived in a house with a tank, I've had a combi for so long.

If you have low water pressure, maybe that's why you have a cold water tank. But combi boilers don't need them to work properly.

That's exactly why.

I had already had a new power shower fitted a few months before my boiler packed in & I replaced with a combi boiler.

These don't work with power showers, typically

Secondly in a busy house, with several water sources being used at once, like mine, water pressure becomes an issue.

This was alleviated by a) including a pump and b) retaining the water tank which allowed a workaround to be found for the power shower.

The point is, not all combi boilers mean that the households don't also have water tanks.

And it's completely fine to use that water for brushing one's teeth, back to the OP's question.