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Original poster

Hardly any water coming out of cold water tap

16 replies

RP1979 · 01/05/2019 09:54

Done one load of washing earlier, went down to make a cuppa and noted the cold-water (mixer tap) is hardly coming out. Then put in second load of washing but the washing machine could not get any water (just made a funny humming noise so I panicked and turned it off).

I tested all the taps around the house and the others work fine. We only moved into this house 6 months ago and I am really hoping its not something that is going to cost a fortune! Any ideas?

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 01/05/2019 13:01

how old is the house?

have you got a garden tap?

have you got a water tank in the loft?

rememberatime · 01/05/2019 13:16

I would try turning the main stopcock water tap up by one turn only. It might just be a pressure problem. It could be that the washing machine and kitchen taps are further away and struggle to get the required pressure when other taps are being used (toilets filling etc).

Also the hot water tank might be filling after your wash load and that is draining the pressure.

Knittedfairies · 01/05/2019 13:22

Ring the company who supplies the water to check if there any problems with the system; they might be repairing a leak somewhere.

Knittedfairies · 01/05/2019 13:23

Sorry ignore me. I somehow missed the other taps are fine

Original poster
RP1979 · 01/05/2019 13:24

Thanks
House is 15yrs old, yes garden tap(just checked that and its also now just trickling out). Looks like garden tap also has a pipe under the kitchen sink (many pipes under sink!)
Water tank is on top floor.
Just so strange as it was working then boom 30mins later not?

OP posts:
happyhillock · 01/05/2019 13:26

Phone your water company.

PigletJohn · 01/05/2019 13:35

yes, it's quite likely that the loft tank is supplying your hot taps and your cold bathroom taps, so they will continue until it runs dry (be frugal). Your house is modern so it's unlikely the supply is being drained by a neighbour filling his swimming pool (but if there is a fire, the fire brigade might be pumping water from the main). More likely there is a supply problem, so call your local water company or look on their website. They may already be working on it.

You can drink water from the loft tank but I recommend boiling it first. As you have a modern house it is unlikely to be dirty but there might be a drowned spider or something in it, especially if it does not have a close-fitting plastic lid. The water from the hot taps has been pasteurised in the cylinder so is actually safer.

PigletJohn · 01/05/2019 13:37

p.s.

It's also possible you have a burst pipe and it's leaking. Have you got a water meter? Is it spinning? Are there signs of water near the meter or in your garden?

DontMakeMeShushYou · 01/05/2019 13:49

If it's only a couple of taps, it might well be the individual valves, especially if they are reasonably modern. The pipe leading up to each tap should have a valve on it - you'll see a screw head on it. If you have them fitted, you can turn taps on and off individually by turning the screw (go slowly, as it's only a quarter turn). Photo is of the valve on our bathroom pipes. Vertical is on, horizontal is off. Hope that makes sense. Useful to know if you have a leaky tap too.

And please excuse the muck behind my bathroom basin. I'm clearly a sloven!

Hardly any water coming out of cold water tap
Original poster
RP1979 · 01/05/2019 14:20

Oh dear I hope its not a burst pipe! So tried water again now and is stronger again...washing machine also started to fill up.
But I did go listen upstairs by water tank and could hear a shhhhhhhh noise? Now worried. Do you think that means its filling up or leaking out! Confused
Checked the water provider site and no errors on their website.
Could it be they just had a problem and now fixed?
Thank you to everyone for all the responses

OP posts:
Original poster
RP1979 · 01/05/2019 14:22

Forgot to add I went to check water meter its in front drive way, quite deep in and I could not see if the numbers were moving as dark. Sorry this is what happens when my OH is away I am not good with this stuff

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 01/05/2019 14:30

"But I did go listen upstairs by water tank and could hear a shhhhhhhh noise? Now worried. Do you think that means its filling up or leaking out!"

If it is filling up, it will stop when it's full. Might take ten minutes or more. It will start again if you run a hot tap.

If it is overflowing, it will never stop.

If it doesn't stop, lift the lid and take some photos showing the water level, relative to the top of the tank, and the filling valve.

Because the tank is much higher than your downstairs taps and washing machine, they usually get priority if water supply is poor.

PigletJohn · 01/05/2019 14:32

and you can email the water co. State the times the water supply failed and restarted. If it is maintenance related they will know.

If any rusty water came out of your kitchen cold tap, it is usually caused by maintenance on old iron watermains.

MarieG10 · 01/05/2019 20:30

When mine went it was one tap and DH said a washer but was actually a little figment inside the tap which he replaced from the local hardware store with a spanner

PigletJohn · 02/05/2019 00:37

in this case, the kitchen tap. garden tap and washing machine supply all went bad at the same time, so I think a supply problem, not (three) faulty taps.

Original poster
RP1979 · 02/05/2019 09:06

Thank you everyone the water came back late afternoon so must have been work on the pipes somewhere!?
At least I learned what to check in future if something similar happens again!
So thanks

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