I don't want to drink water from the basin in the toilets!

[Bekindtoyourknees]

AIBU to ask if anyone knows the rules/regs regarding access to drinking water at work?

My employers have renovated our building and we have had no access to drinking water for 12 months, apart from the ladies' WC basin which is apparently fed from the mains water supply. There is no evidence that they will ever build a kitchen.

I know that many people throughout the world have no access to clean water and I shouldn't feel entitled, but getting a drink of water from the toilet makes me feel blaargh

I couldn't drink from a tap where someone else's arse juice may be present.

OP do you really think that the water from the bathroom sink is not safe to drink? Or do you just not like the idea of getting water from the bathroom? If its the latter, I think YABU.

In no way is this acceptable or even legal. Health and safety standards state that you need to supply drinking water free of contaminants and if not then bottled water. They should put in place a drinking water dispenser. Bathrooms are not hygienic and the number of people who leave without washing their hands does not make it a contaminant free zone.

"Access to drinking water at work: The law requires employers to provide an adequate supply of wholesome drinking water for all persons at work in the workplace. This must be readily accessible at suitable places and conspicuously marked by an appropriate sign. Drinking water taps should
not be sited where contamination is likely, eg in a workshop where lead is handled, or in toilet facilities or washrooms."

YANBU - loads more germs in the toilet cubicles, on the taps, etc.

But how do you suggest those germs get in to water coming out of the bottom of the tap? I can't think of any circumstances when people with unwashed hands would bring them into direct contact with the underside of the tap.

summer - That is interesting. I have visited local authority offices where staff had to fill kettles from basins in toilets.

Do you have men working there? Are they supposed to go in or are they supposed to ask a woman to go and fetch them water?

If the water supply in the ladies comes straight from the mains, it is of the same quality as you would get from your kitchen sink. We would not normally drink water from our bathroom washbasins as these are generally fed by a tank in the loft where the water has been lying for some time. Although you might not like the idea of water coming from the ladies, there isn't really anything wrong with it. If you are boiling it for tea/coffee, any germs will be killed anyway. If you want a drink of cold water, you could bring your own bottles.

I would never drink water from a tap that is in the same room as a toilet. Not everyone shuts the lid when they flush.

Can't you take your own in or will they not provide a water station?

You could contact the Environmental Health department at your local authority, or raise your concern with Health and Safety Executive online.

Can you get your boss to get a water cooler in?

Have you heard of bottles? They are a marvellous invention that allow you to carry liquid

The water from my bathroom tap actually tastes better than the water from my kitchen! I don't think it would bother me.

This thread is hilarious. You are all breathing in the nasty germy air in that bathroom, so why are you all getting her up about drinking water coming from a tap? As someone up thread said, you brush your teeth with water from a bathroom tap.

And your own bum germs are just as icky as another person's.

Sorry I also meant to say YANBU for feeling like that, but I can't imagine they have an obligation to provide anything other than clean drinking water.

unexpecteditem I love the phrase BUM GERMS - I have to get that into a conversation!

Weeel it is true.. a lot of the smell after a shit is fecal matter.. that smell you get up your nose of shit that you can't seem to get rid of is a piece of shit tangled up in your nose hairs. Sometimes it's unavoidable.

Doesn't mean I want to voluntary drink somebody elses shit.

I never thought I would say shit so much in one post

I have a water phobia (amongst many) of a severe nature hence....

www.brita.co.uk/brita/en-gb/cms/fill-and-go/fillandgo2012_0.grid

HTH

To quote myself on another thread:

"I really worry about how frightened and clueless we as a society we have become."

It's mains water.
Let the tap run a little if where it is located bothers you that much.
Or any of the multiple other suggestions upthread.

I would just take my own water. I don't get the issue.

I don't think that I am all that or terribly astute btw , but I despair at the over-worrying that goes on about a range of issues.

You don't tend to (though you can) contaminate yourself with bacteria present in the faeces or vomit of someone who has come into work with norovirus, or E.Coli or camphylobacter. Would you seriously eat in a cafe that served food/drink made in a loo? Think about the hand that wiped the arse with a tummy bug turning on the tap, then you going into the same loo, turning on the tap, filling a cup to drink, not washing your hand and walking out. Basic public health. Ick.

Not everyone closes the lid when they flush

For goodness sake, how do you imagine dreadful poo germs manage to float upwards from a flushing loo into water in the tap? If it bothers you that much, let the water run for a few seconds.

when a toilet flushes without the lid, the contents of the loo shoot up.. hit the ceiling and spread themselves across the room... spreading with each non lowered lid flush.

It's one of the reasons fecal matter make their way around the house and basically any reading material taken into the loo should stay there.

I don't give a rats arse what other people mind what they ingest due to not caring about junk like that.. but I do :)

You chew on that poo.. makes no odds to me