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Posted By Jon-P
We have a small canteen/kitchen area within a very large warehouse building but I am unsure if I can put a sign up on the cold tap stating its drinking water.
How would I confirm if it’s safe to class the cold tap as drinking water?
Thank you for your help.
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Posted By b12
Probabaly stating the obvious here - Is it from the mains or from a tank? Someone once told me that pipes from mains supplies had a different stop valve (due to the pressure) but have never had this confirmed by a plumber! Get a plumber to confirm if it is from the mains then it should be fine (as long as the pipe to the area is ok) otherwise your looking at testing which may be expensive.
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Posted By Ron Hunter
Contact your Local Authority Environmental Health Services, who may offer to test the water for you.
Whereas the majority of our water comes from the "mains" there is a fair use of boreholes in some areas.
If the water is coming from a storage tank it shouldn't be used for drinking. You should be able to hear a header tank filling up as you run the tap if it is tank fed.
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Posted By holmezy
Jon
as an ex plumber.....
Stored water, ie that from a tank shouldn't be used for drinking, (unless boiled first), due the sediment, dead pigeons, rust etc that accumulates in lots of tanks.
One way that works 90% of the time of distinguishing a stored water supply from a mains supply is to try and put your thumb over the tap to try and stop the water flow. If you can, then its highly likely that its stored water, if you can't then you generally get wet trousers and shirt but the likelehood is that its mains fed.
Failing that, turn off the water supply at the main stop cock and see wiihich taps still run.
Holmezy
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Posted By DaGuru
Lets not get our fingers stuck in taps now ;)
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Posted By John Donaldson
Holmezy
With all due respect potable water can be supplied from tanks provided all of the controls are in place. Des also makes this point
Before I retired we had 16 floor residential towers for students. The mains supply pressure would simply not reach the top of the towers.
Therefore storage tanks were used which conformed to all statutory requirements.
You will find this is common practice for many high rise buildings.
John
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Posted By holmezy
OK, point conceeded! Under controlled conditions you can drink stored water. The thumb over tap thingy is usually a good indicator!
game and first set to you!
New balls please.
Holmzey
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Posted By andymak
also while getting the plumbing checked consider the following:
The age of the plumbing,
is it copper or lead?
Are there many dead legs on the pipe (bits no longer used), if so how long are these?
How often is the tap used?
Does it run adjacent to hot water or heating pipes?
When run is the cold water temperature below 20 degrees?
For that matter it may also be worth checking teh delivery temp of the hot as well!
All of the above is to manage any legionella risk that may be present especially if the tap is not used that often.
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