Dh and tap wrong-ness

[Glonty]

DH is completely impractical around the house - no idea how anything works/spatial awareness etc.

Mostly I don't care, but his tap behaviour drives me insane. Before a drink of water from cold tap, he insists on running it out for about 45 seconds to a minute.

Doesn't care about the potential water bill impact, or the environmental impact.

He says its to get 'cold' water. We have a 2-way tap in kitchen (like most uk houses).

And even if he has done the running tap, if someone switches it round to warm for anything, and he wants another drink - he runs it again for 45 seconds. He doesn't understand about the valve just by the tap head that switches it from cold to hot there. He thinks about 10 metres of pipe will all be full of hot water.

How can I help explain this bullshit to him????

I 100% agree with him. Nothing worse than lukewarm water. Obviously a jug in the fridge would solve this.

Could you keep a jug/bottle of water in the fridge so it is cold enough for him? Don’t think you will stop this nonsense now, so try to think of a way round it.

Yes, keep some water in the fridge. I bought one of these because it was the cheapest way to get a fancy bottle and now I just keep refilling it and putting it in the fridge.

https://www.ocado.com/products/voss-still-artesian-water-glass-bottle-80001011?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw8diwBhAbEiwA7i_sJe6ZTkMNLPwhyUmCmR8a-1v6zDzfxXWgObpKTpjJWLDFGK3LC32nBhoCM9gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I do the same I’m afraid, although maybe not 45 seconds, sounds excessive. But if there’s any warm water still in the mixer tap it’s gross to drink.

I got him a jug for fridges but our fridge is quite small and he never tops it up, only me

I have to do this, it needs to be cold. But fridge water tastes different and is too cold, the taste remains in it after it's warmed up too 🤮

I’m the opposite. I like mine at room temperature😂

I do this too, but not to the excess of 45 seconds - maybe more like 3 seconds. Drinking warm water is vile - it's sat up in the tank for god knows how long.

We don’t have a tank, it comes from the pipes so I have to run it a few seconds to get the cold stuff from underground, in the summer I would have to run it for much longer before it runs cold.

I do this and it definitely is colder - think about it. Water in the pipe at the point the tap is turned off is basically warmed by the heat of the house. The water coming from beyond the heated house part of the pipe is much colder.

It's just a few seconds and you need to chill out. The bill and environmental impact of this in the scheme of things is negligible.

PLUS If you live in an older property with lead piping (now phased out and illegal), the advice from the water boards is to run the taps and specifically not to drink the water that has been standing in the pipes

• run it for one minute first thing in the morning for the water standing in the pipe overnight to discharge.

• if the cold tap is more than 50 metres from the water mains run the tap an extra 15 seconds for every extra 10 metres to the water main.

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/help-advice/drinking-water-quality/is-there-lead-in-my-water

Can you compromise and ask him to run the water into a jug or the kettle rather than it going to waste!

I have one of these at home. There doesn’t seem to be anything you can do about it.

45 seconds might be a bit overkill but running the tap to get "fresh" cold water to drink is entirely normal to me, mixer tap or not.

No to the tank- your kitchen cold water tap is straight from the mains

nope sorry, with your DH on this. As others have said the first few seconds or so is water that has been sitting in the pipes. I don't time it but test the temp before I fill the glass.

I was talking to DH about this just the other day- when we were little it was normal to have to run the tap to get cold water whereas now it's pretty much cold immediately. Have taps changed? Maybe your husband hasn't realised this and is still getting water like it's 1985.

I have the opposite problem- my DH hates to waste a drop and so when we have a jug of water on the table during a meal and don't completely finish it, he wants to serve the same water at the next meal rather than fresh. We have compromised by using the old water in the dog's bowl.

You shouldn't be drinking water from the tank at all.

I run the two for a good 30 seconds before I have a drink, every time!

I also run mine for a bit, probably about 10 seconds. It definitely is colder when I do this.

I’m with your dh on this one. Lukewarm tap water is disgusting. We have a jug in the fridge too though.

I'm team DH I'm afraid!

I do the same as your husband

He’s right!