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?

So what about cleaning your teeth in the bathroom with 'tank' water? Surely everyone does that. If the water was that bad wouldn't ingesting even a small amount result in illness? We'd all be coming down with sickness bugs all the time.

My current house (built in 2000) has water tanks in the loft. I still drink the bathroom water and have managed to survive!

I thought that most people had combi boilers now, obviously I must have been wrong

Combi boilers arent the best choice for a lot of houses especially if you use multiple taps/showers at the same time. We got a new boiler a couple of years ago but kept our tanks and hot water cylinder

Not necessarily. I have tanks in the loft that feed the upstairs taps

Years and years ago houses originally had lead pipes. When it was realised these were potentially harmful they were changed but to save money often only the kitchen pipes were changed. So people were told not to drink from bathroom taps.
Everywhere has copper pipes now so you’re quite safe.
when you return from a period away it’s a good idea to run water for a couple if minutes from taps and showers, putting them on cold.

It depends on your house. Kitchen tap water is normally straight from the mains. Some houses also main feed the bathroom in which case it is fine to drink. However some bathrooms have a storage tank feed which you shouldn't drink.

Check in your loft for a tank
If you have one turn your stop tap off. Then turn your bathroom tap on. If water comes out you are in a tank feed in your bathroom so don't drink it. If nothing comes out it is mains fed and ok to drink... Once you turn the stop tap back on... 😉

We've got a tank in the loft which feeds the upstairs cold taps. I've been brushing my teeth and drinking from them for about 20 years with no ill effects. The tank is covered though. Might be the odd spider but no chance a random pigeon or mouse could fall in.

I didn't know this -it is so interesting!

Our cold water tank (replaced in the last decade) in the loft feeds the hot water cylinder and the bath, but not the sink in the bathroom.

Another way to tell which sinks run off mains is to turn off the stopcock, drain any water in them in the kitchen sink, then try running the other cold taps - if they run for a while, with 'normal' enthusiasm they are fed off a tank. The method described above will also work, but means going into the loft.

Cross post on how to test!

What do the people who don't drink out of bathroom taps do when they brush their teeth?

We have lead pipes on our main feed. The water is potable so long a it hasn't been standing. In the morning we have to run the taps through. Obviously changing it to non lead pipes is better.

The bathroom/ tank thing is due to Legionnaire's.

Our cold water tap in the bathroom is fed completely separately from the hot water tap and the kitchen tap. I don't even know where it comes from. It has a separate stop ok all to itself. I wouldn't drink from it.

You also need to think about the age of the pipes leading to the bathroom tap, and the possibility of lead.

Brush them in the kitchen or with a glass of water taken from the kitchen or spit not swallow

Depends if bathroom water is also mains or from a tank. If mains, it's fine. If a tank, it could have a dead pigeon in it.

Probably some conspiracy thing or a film but I'm sure I heard about a dead body being in a hotel water tank

My parents are on spring water and they get dead frogs / toads in the pipes and once a dead badger in the settling tank.... Not sure it is what you were thinking.

I think for there to be a risk of Legionnaire's the water must have been standing for a long time. A friend's office which had been closed for months over lockdown had to stay closed even longer because they found Legionnaire's in the system

That's totally incorrect a lot of houses still do have water tanks. While brand new homes often have a combination boiler fitted so no need for a tank all the houses we have owned/lived in have had a water tank. Yet non where older then 90's built, the tanks where lose covered so didn't get anything really manky in them but still I would want to drink the water from them.

I was always told not to drink from upstairs tap and time this day I never do. I have a new(ish) build and I have a tank in my house inside the bathroom for hot water.

If it’s all mains these days, why do I have that? Is my water safe to drink? 🤔

I wasn’t expecting so many replies! Good to hear that it’s not just my friend who’s confused with this. I definitely don’t have a tank as my bedroom is in the loft so I’m drinking mains water from my bathroom tap. As I thought, it’s if you have a tank, or septic tank, that there may be a problem with upstairs water, and many people still have hang-ups about it even though they don’t have a tank!

We had similar when I was a child. My dad went into the loft to check the tank and there was no lid on it and several decomposed mice were in there.

Unescorted · Today 22:54

Brush them in the kitchen or with a glass of water taken from the kitchen or spit not swallow

Ah. But if you get the water from the bathroom tap in your mouth, even if you spit it out, the bacteria will be in your mouth and could make you ill.

I'm convinced bathroom tap water has a different taste?