Potable water

[Bogart]

Having decided to revamp the kitchen this will result in the new sink being in a totally different area of the kitchen. Luckily there is waste and H&C in the vicinity. Unfortunately the cold supply is fed from the storage tank wheres the current setup is mains fed. I could run a mains supply to the new position but am I being overly cautious not wanting to use tank water to a kitchen sink. The tank is plastic and around 250 litres. To my mind the tank looks too big why 250 litres. A full bath is not that much. I think one would have to work really hard to empty it. Looks nowadays as if lots are GRP. So my question is should I run piping, awkward but
possible, get a new smaller tank or stick with what I have? Simple?

 

[ballvalve]

Have a look in the tank if it,s clean you could use it. I would run cold mains to the new sink,tank to the rest as is.

 

[Aire]

Id personally run a new mains feed but If the tank has a bylaw 30 kit fitted you'll be fine, pressure will be poor though.

 

[Bogart]

It has a kit fitted and I was thinking of connecting up the tap to see the pressure from the tank.
The mains pressure can be variable as we are fed from water towers and we do seem to have more than our fair share of leaks around here.

 

[townfanjon]

IMO , mains feed only , I wouldn’t want mine or a customers tap fed from a tank.

 

[firemant]

I am not actually a plumber, but an RGI. I did not think any tank stored water is for drinking. Either way you MUST have at least one mains cold tap (?).

If going to the effort of revamping a kitchen, why not do it properly?

 

[Aire]

I am not actually a plumber, but an RGI. I did not think any tank stored water is for drinking. Either way you MUST have at least one mains cold tap (?).

If going to the effort of revamping a kitchen, why not do it properly?

I believe it depends how the water is stored, so an open tank in the loft is a definite no go. It does need a correctly installed bylaw 30 kit so the water can't become contaminated. I'm pretty sure if its linked to the hot water cylinder then it's not classed as potable either. Agree though, always best to run a mains feed and do it properly.

 

[Last Plumber]

It has a kit fitted and I was thinking of connecting up the tap to see the pressure from the tank.
The mains pressure can be variable as we are fed from water towers and we do seem to have more than our fair share of leaks around here.

I think it best to use the mains in a kitchen.
If you know how high the tank is above the outlet, you can work out the pressure. Flow available will depend on pipe size, distance, route and the tap.

 

[firemant]

I believe it depends how the water is stored, so an open tank in the loft is a definite no go. It does need a correctly installed bylaw 30 kit so the water can't become contaminated. I'm pretty sure if its linked to the hot water cylinder then it's not classed as potable either. Agree though, always best to run a mains feed and do it properly.

Yes. After posting, I did find a reference from DEFRA suggesting that you can have only a tap from. A bylawed CWS. But all it takes is a careless operative to screw it up by not replacing the lid properly.

I certainly would not be happy not having a mains tap. We are in the 21st century, FGS

 

[Bogart]

Okay convinced mains it is.

 

[Stigster]

You can supply drinking water from a storage cistern provide you take account of a few things. In the UK water regulations, Clause R27.2 It states that wherever practicable drinking water should be supplied direct from the mains. However you can use a cistern if

a. The interior of the cistern is kept clean.
b. The quantity of water stored is restricted to a minimum essential capacity so that throughput of water is maximised.
c. The water is kept below 20C
d. It has all the relevant parts from the byelaw 30 kit
e. The cistern is regularly inspected and cleaned internally

Depending upon where you live and given that the cistern must be insulated it can be difficult in summer to keep the water below 20 degrees whilst also preventing freezing in winter.

Ultimately as others have stated, it is much more preferable to have the drinking water off the mains but it can be done when there is no other alternative.

 

[townfanjon]

You can supply drinking water from a storage cistern provide you take account of a few things. In the UK water regulations, Clause R27.2 It states that wherever practicable drinking water should be supplied direct from the mains. However you can use a cistern if

a. The interior of the cistern is kept clean.
b. The quantity of water stored is restricted to a minimum essential capacity so that throughput of water is maximised.
c. The water is kept below 20C
d. It has all the relevant parts from the byelaw 30 kit
e. The cistern is regularly inspected and cleaned internally

Depending upon where you live and given that the cistern must be insulated it can be difficult in summer to keep the water below 20 degrees whilst also preventing freezing in winter.

Ultimately as others have stated, it is much more preferable to have the drinking water off the mains but it can be done when there is no other alternative.

We all know what temperature a roofspace gets to in summer , defo wouldnt be drinking out of tank fed supply

 

[centralheatking]

I have on several occasions in Bath years ago been called to top floor flats which had tank fed cold water supplied only to both hot and cold. Usually the complaint by the tenant was the water tasted odd when they brushed their teeth in the morning.
Solution was to remove the dead rotting pidgeon blown up to the size of a football
disinfect etc etc and put proper tank cover on . No tank fed drinking water for me my
customers or my holiday let people. centralheatking

 

[Ben-gee]

If there is a tank fed cold in that position now, I would be trying to trace it back to a point where you can cut it and connect it to the mains that way there is no disturbance in the kitchen.
Obviously this may be more trouble than running a new pipe but often it is easier.

 

[1Steven]

I presume the tank is mains fed, disconnect the tank and connect mains to cwds. Save cleaning tank out every year.

 

[OffshoreGas]

I presume the tank is mains fed, disconnect the tank and connect mains to cwds. Save cleaning tank out every year.

Possibly acting as a header tank for the DHW too?

 

[Ben-gee]

I presume the tank is mains fed, disconnect the tank and connect mains to cwds. Save cleaning tank out every year.

Don’t do this!

Well I suppose you could if the tank is only feeding that cold water position, which I’m willing to bet large sums of money is not the case.

 

[king of pipes]

Run a new mains supply no way would I or my customers be drinking from a stored CW tank . Kop