Drinking water from the bathroom tap

[MaryPlain59]

I am without water in the kitchen for a few weeks and have been filling my kettle and the Brita water jug up from the cold bath tap. I just wanted to check that this is okay to do? I have tried Googling it but there is quite a lot of conflicting information on there and I really would like my mind set at rest that I will not be harming my family by doing this.

What age is your house and do you have a cold water tank?

There are some houses where the water from the cold tap in the bathroom comes from a tank in the attic. In some cases I have seen, this tank either has an open top or has a lid which has holes in. In some cases there is also evidence of rats or mice in the attic, for whom that water tank would be their drinking well and possibly also their toilet.

I only drink water from the bathroom tap if I know for certain there is no tank and the water is coming straight from the mains.

I'd also be checking the end of tap itself for any black mould which can easily be removed by scrubbing with bleach

In a similar situation we had to collect water from an outside tap as it came straight from the mains, not via the tank in the loft.

I would use it, and have done in the past - without checking what the situation in the attic is/was.

If it is direct from the mains - no problem. If it's from a tank then filter and boil as you are doing should be fine. I'd be hassling the builder to restore it as a matter of priority or pay for an alternative.

Thank you all very much for your replies, I really appreciate your help. The house is about 30 years old but am not sure about the tank as it is too high up to see. I am waiting to have a new kitchen put in as the reason I can't use the cold tap downstairs at present as it is hanging by a thread and am too scared to touch it at all now in case it pours out and I can't turn it off again. Thank you all again for your suggestions .

What a drag. The builder should make the downstairs one useable and reliable. It doesn't need to be in its final state until he is actually plumbing it in. It will all be over but it is horrible while it's going on.

If you're unsure just boil the water and chill before use. You can put a couple of jugs to chill in the fridge (cool to room temp first) that will take care of any nasties.

Thank you lavender, I haven't actually got a builder yet I am waiting to have the kitchen done by B&Q. It is amazing how often you use water without thinking, I certainly will be more appreciative once I am through this period as I have gone to wash chicken and fruit today and not been able to. Thank you as well Edmund I am going to use your idea of keeping jugs of cooled boiled water in the fridge, that makes perfect sense.

Well B & Q shouldn't leave you in this position. Just get a plumber in to give you a stand pipe sort of arrangement downstairs. Work out where your stop cock is. If there is a burst pipe you will be able to stop any gushing by turning it off. Poor you. Hope it is over soon.

maryplain,

You should never wash raw chicken.

Doing so can spread campylobacter bacteria onto hands, work surfaces, clothing and cooking equipment, through the splashing of water droplets. You really do not want that type of food poisoning!.

Mary, love your username btw.

Thank you lavender, it is the name of my teddy bear given to me when I was born over 50 years ago!
Attila I have heard that before but wasn't sure if it was true as I have been washing the chicken for years now with no illness so I thought maybe it was't true. Even today when I had no proper water I just couldn't bear to cook it without washing it first!

Its is true, there is no need at all to wash raw chicken. Please do not do that any longer.

Cooking it thoroughly will kill the bacteria on it. Washing the bird beforehand can spread bacteria all over your kitchen work surfaces by splashing and water droplets.

Turn the water off at the mains and run the cold tap you want to drink from - if it keeps running, you have a tank, if it stops soon it's probably mains.

No need to wash chicken because you're going to cook it at 200 degrees and that'll kill anything off.

I've heard that some pipes leading to the bathroom taps are lead so why you shouldn't drink it. Not sure if that's true

When I was a child,I used to like the taste from the bathroom tap even though I knew I shouldn't drink it. Just s few gulps when brushing my teeth. Heaven knows what gave it that special flavour! In s 30yr house I doubt it will be from a tank. Filtering and boiling will kill everything.

We have a tank in the loft but we still drink the water from the bathroom....none of us have died yet!! Agree that washing chicken is a no no. Cooking will kill any bacteria and you risk splashing chicken round your kitchen if you wash it.

Yes as has already been said, even if it is tank water, if you boil it it will be fine. Alternatively you can get special wee tablet things in outdoor type stores that will purify water - they are about a fiver for 50 and each one does a litre.

...and don't wash chicken - actually, you don't need to wash any meat.

Gosh we always drink the water from the bathroom in the evening/ during the night. It would never occur to me to go downstairs to get a drink if I was upstairs!

It also matters if you are in the North or South of England. In the North the cold comes from the rising main and always has so there is no cold tank.

In the south it has sometimes been from a cold water tank. Older houses with a cold water tank sometimes have three taps in the kitchen, hot, cold and 'drinking'.

This is also why mixer taps are fairly new in the UK.

Oh and don't wash chicken, there is no need, it risks spreading salmonella around the kitchen.

It also matters if you are in the North or South of England. In the North the cold comes from the rising main and always has so there is no cold tank.

Sorry, but that is utter bollocks - and also surprisingly not everyone lives in England...

I'm in Scotland and have a tank. Houses with combi boilers won't have a cold water tank but as we still have our old boiler we have the feeder tanks in the loft still. I still drink the pigeon water anyway

Thank you all for all your helpful advice, I really appreciate your help with this and will also now take on board what has been said about washing chicken.