To not drink bathroom water?!

[AddisonM]

What is the answer to this??

I would never drink it. I’m unclear on why, other than my mum, aunts etc all used to say you shouldn’t drink water from the bathroom tap.

This is a long standing debate between DH and I - he thinks I am insane. It’s the same water, says he.

I assumed it was one of those weird family idiosyncrasies but then my neighbour the other day said something about never drinking water from the bathroom tap 🤷🏻‍♀️

So you people who don't drink from the bathroom tap...where do you brush your teeth?

I’ve also heard you should avoid drinking from the bathroom tap in some older buildings as the pipes are old copper/metal which could leak lead into the water. Again - no idea how true!!

You mean lead pipes. (How would copper pipes leak lead??). Many older houses have lead pipes supplying water to the bathroom and/or kitchen.

A long time ago, bathroom taps were fed from a tank in the loft.

I don’t think it’s that long ago. Our taps are fed from a tank.

All our water is directly mains fed and is fine to drink in bathroom or kitchen. We have not got a water tank.

This might be a UK thing because of the tank set up thing. I grew up in NZ and would drink the bathroom water no problem. As an adult now I am less keen todo this as it feels unhygienic for some reason. I see people at work drink from the shared toilet taps I find this hard to understand when there is a kitchen with puffier water right outside - surely what is essentially a public toilet is pretty filthy and not the place to drink the tap water?

dementedpixie
Why pigeon water?

I have this with Hubby re the hot water. He can't get his head round that with a combi boiler it heats the water there an then and its fine to drink warm (sensitive teeth) and no different to the cold tap as its not been stored anywhere etc

It depends on the house. I drink it though. I would be more worried about lead that dead pigeons. These tanks should be covered nowadays so it's probably fairly unusual for them to contain dead stuff.

Purifier

@Singinginshower

dementedpixie Why pigeon water?

Its a joke as the tanks in the loft could have things floating in them (although they actually have a lid)

YANBU.

I can't drink bathroom water either! I don't even brush my teeth in the bathroom because I remember how bad the bathroom water tasted when I was a kid. It's such a weird mental block for me. Soon as I moved out I started using the kitchen sink*.

*I have been told off on here before for admitting that... It's not like I'm spitting my toothpaste froth all over the dishes though!

Our house used to have a large cold water tank in the loft next to the hot water one. It was still in the loft (but disconnected) until we had it removed recently. I have only recently started drinking from the bathroom tap when DH explained it's all mains now.

Yeah, ours used to be fed from the loft, but this changed when I was about 16. I still didn't (and don't) drink from the bathroom, because we were always just told we shouldn't. I mean, it's no major issue that I don't. But yeah, that's why.

Brushing your teeth using miniscule amount of water compared to drinking a whole glass of it.

I have a convention system with hot water storage tank in main bathroom that stores heated water and a cold water tank in the loft which isn't fully covered and has debris floating in it. So I definitely never drink water from the taps in the bathroom.

@LittleStepsDaily

I wouldnt drink from the hot tap, no matter whether from the bathroom or the kitchen, because the hot water sits in a tank in the loft. The cold taps are connected to the mains in most houses so it is the same water

If you have a combi boiler, it's the same water that comes out of either tap, but heated by the boiler (so like a huge kettle).

I'm pretty sure there's no tank in our loft as it's been converted into our bedroom.
But the "dead pigeon" stories of my childhood have stuck.

For the people who don't want to go downstair for a glass of water, the solution is take a bottle of water upstairs with you when you go to bed. I'm living in a house for the first time in 30 years (previously in flats) and that is my solution to the glass of water issue.

I remember the wonder of discovering (contrary to my mum's admonitions against drinking bathroom tap water lest it come from a tank) that in almost all houses these days it's mains-fed, so you don't have to trek all the way downstairs to refill your bedside water glass.

Then you get a cat, and the bugger starts drinking from your glass, and you realise you need to go downstairs anyway to get a clean one...

Then you get a puppy, and it just upends the glass over the duvet in a fit of spaniel-ish overexcitement...

But at least the water is safe.

I made my plumber install mains water to the bathroom when I renovated - and much to his amusement, I ask him if I'm ok to drink from it every single year when he does the boiler service. It's still ok - but it absolutely wasn't with the old tank

Wow it’s amazing how many people have said not to drink from the bathroom taps. I was also brought up this way but now know all of the taps carry the same water from the mains (no loft water butts here) but surprisingly I still can’t drink it, it just tastes different. I’m sure it doesn’t really and it’s all in my head haha!!!

I've never drunk water from a bathroom tap in my life. Too many dead pigeon stories. I don't see any reason to start now.

@WotWouldCJDo

I’ve also heard you should avoid drinking from the bathroom tap in some older buildings as the pipes are old copper/metal which could leak lead into the water. Again - no idea how true!!

You mean lead pipes. (How would copper pipes leak lead??). Many older houses have lead pipes supplying water to the bathroom and/or kitchen.

Because copper pipes are were often soldered with lead. That’s how on Earth

Even when I lived in a flat I didn't 😀

You mean lead pipes. (How would copper pipes leak lead??).

Lead solder to join them

Ooh no, I would never get a glass of water from the upstairs tap!