Cold tap - Fed from hot water header

[Masterblaster]

Hi - I discovered recently that the cold feed to the shower / sink in my on suite plus the toilet are fed directly from the header tank that also feeds the hot water tank. This sounds wrong to me expecting that it should be fed directly from the cold mains.

The rest of the house the cold water is fed from the cold mains input. The on suite was added about 10 years ago, and tracing the pipework I cannot see how this could have been a Mistake as the feed it taken from close to the tank.

Is there any rationale for this that I may not have considered or do I need to contact a an expert in to correct the issue, which I bam happy to do but was a little curious.

Any ideas ?

Masterblaster

 

[Mike Jackson]

Thankfully your en suite was plumbed by someone that knew what they were doing. It has been plumbed this way to give balanced supplies to the shower.

 

[missplumb]

and possibly for a monobloc type mixer tap on the basin for the same reasons as above. If there is an electric shower and single basin taps then these should be fed from the mains.

 

[snowhead]

Millions of properties are done this way.

 

[Masterblaster]

Hi All

Many thanks for clear and reassuring replies. My primary concern was the water quality out if the cold water tap of the sink based upon water being stored in the tank in the roof for potentially days and weeks. The tank is only covered by a sheet of expanded Polystyrene so will need to do something about this just to make it completly sealed but thanks once again.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

When you were a kid, I was in the 70's and you drank from the cold water basin bathroom tap you were drinking from the loft (in my mums house),

If you knew that you'd never have done it!!

 

[AWheating]

The tank should meet certain standards to prevent bacteria, this includes a sealed lid, lagging to avoid its water getting to warm, a certain position of the pipework as we'll as a few other things.

It may be an idea to get it looked at by a professional to make sure it's as safe as can be, especially if it's feeding a shower as these have the highest potential to harm your health.

 

[WHPES]

If you'd seen the dead mice, rats, bats and pigeons, not to metion bluebottles I've fished out of cisterns you would ensure very quickly that the tank is cleaned out and fitted with a proper lid and byelaw kit. I've removed a rotting mouse head from a cold water basin tap inlet, and feathers from a shower pump filter. This can be very dangerous for health and potentially lead to Legionnaires disease. Once had a customer very ill from drinking water from a contaminated cistern where a mouse had fallen in and rotted.