To drink water out of the bathroom tap

[Hihosilver123]

I live in London, and my house is on mains water. At night, I fill my glass with water from the bathroom tap. My friend says you shouldn’t do that and should only use the kitchen tap. Surely, on mains water, the water is the same from every tap?

It depends on your system. Our “family” bathroom is fed from a cold water storage tank in the loft so no one drinks from it. Our en suite is entirely mains fed so the water is fine to drink. I think fewer and fewer homes use a cold water storage tank but we definitely still have one and the water is not the cleanest or freshest.

Worked with a plumber for many years and the shit I've seen in tanks is incredible.

I only drink from the mains kitchen tap unless I'm sure there's no tank. In our flat we have a tank for the bathroom. They are still very common

In older houses there could be lead pipes, maybe it's that, people often have their main pipe updated but not the others, I m sure DH said we had some lead pipes under the bath but our bathroom sink ones are copper. If your plumbing is fairly modern with no water tank then all taps should be ok to drink from.

It depends how old your house is and what the plumbing is. In some houses, it’s definitely not okay to drink from the bathroom, but in many it’s fine.

Not so, at least not in the UK.

I live in a house built around 1976.

The cold water that feeds the kitchen cold tap, the downstairs loo and hand basin comes directly from the mains.

The cold water that feeds the upstairs toilet, the bath and hand basin cold taps are all fed from the cold tank in the loft.

I just couldn’t. Purely psychological but my childhood home had a tank in the loft that fed the bathroom taps, only downstairs was mains. We used to give each other nightmares about rats falling in the tank and drowning and what if we drink it? 🤮

it always stuck with me even now I have mains in the bathroom I still couldn’t drink from the taps because in my mind I still think the bathroom tap water could get contaminated.

doesn’t really help you sorry 😂

My flat has tanks in the loft which feed one of the bathrooms so I never drink water from there.

If you have a header tank in the loft then definitely no. Easiest way is if you have a combi boiler then you can drink from any tap. Is you have an immersion tank (vented cylinder) then don’t, Only drink from the kitchen tap.

If you have a cylinder that’s unvented, then you can.

If you have a header tank, this is a water tank in the loft that stores water for a gravity fed system. This can accumulate lots of crud, including dead birds etc if the lid is not on properly.

Omg eye opener or what. How do you know if your bathroom tap comes from a tank???

Our main bathroom cold water is definitely from the tank in our loft! Absolutely no question about it. When I changed the taps I turned off the feed from the tank not the mains. When DS uses the “family” bathroom in the night I hear the water tank refilling (loft conversion so tank is the other side of a stud wall). Our en suite is mains because, as it is on the same level of the tank, it needs mains pressure.

If you have a header tank in the loft it's not a good idea because creatures are known to fall in them and die.
If you have a water softener and use the bathroom tap then you may be ingesting too much salt. The kitchen cold tap should be unsoftened water for this reason.

@Hihosilver123 It comes from days when people has an old tank in the loft {Dust and spiders &c} that served the bathroom... combi boiler and no tank? You will be fine.

Even If you’re on mains, sometimes upstairs taps come from a tank in the loft! So I really need to know whether you’ve got a water tank or not before I can vote!!

Have a look in your loft. If there is a tank in there then tie off the ballcock (so it doesn’t refill when level drops) and turn on the bathroom cold tap. If the level in the tank drops then that is where your bathroom is fed from. IMPORTANT release the ballcock when finished.

There will be one in the loft with water in it, we have an old tank in our loft but it isn't used now, our water all comes straight from the main so there may be a redundant tank still up there but empty

One of the cozy sounds of my childhood was hearing the tank refilling in the loft after someone flushed the loo or had a bath.

Gurgle gurgle drip drip

Same with pull chain loos! Ker KLUNK Pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Buttons are much quieter.

my bedroom is in the loft but I still think about drinking the bathroom water!

If you have a combi boiler your water will not come from a tank. If you have an older immersion heater it will do.

I have a tank in an upstairs cupboard but my kitchen and bathroom are downstairs at the other end of the house. I can't work out if it's safe or not

Just seen the boiler comments

I really, really wouldn’t drink from a bathroom tap unless you KNOW for certain that the water for it comes directly from the mains (ie not from a tank in the loft). A plumber would be able to tell you if you can’t find out for yourself.

I once looked in the tank in the loft of an older house we were living in, and it was GRIM. Dead flies, scum on the surface, etc.

Seriously, I would check which system you have!

Yes, that must have been when ours went to the mains, we had a combi boiler and all new radiators put in about a year after we moved in, before then there was a hot water cylinder and boiler in the fireplace. Plumber must have sorted the tank at the same time so we didn't use it anymore

Years ago? This is still the case in the house I am in now, and my previous one.

You can’t assume all bathroom taps are fed directly from the mains. You need to check if you don’t know for sure.

I think it’s fine, you used it to brush your teeth I’m guessing

Well I just had my boiler replaced so for once I can actually give an answer!

the plumber told me because my new boiler means all the water comes from the mains now and not stored in a tank all the water from the taps in both the kitchen and bathroom is drinking water now.
i still don’t use the bathroom probably out of habit but I could.

so yes your bathroom tap is fine for drinking from.