Does this water tank look dangerous?

[Ruby12]

We are tenants. A neighbour came to report an overflow pipe pouring out onto people. I was trying to stop it when I found the water tanks. The water tank has no lid and is covered in mould. I've turned the water off and have just turned it on to use the tap near the water inlet once or twice a day and have avoided using anything out of this tank. The letting agent has now left us without running water since Saturday and they have not made any booking to send a plumber yet. Is this as dangerous as I think? Due to a rare health condition, food poisoning or similar can easily be fatal to me and my children.

 

[John.g]

If there are two tanks, is this one the bigger or smaller?.

 

[Ruby12]

Yes, this is the bigger one. Thank you for trying to help.

 

[John.g]

If you have a vented hot water cylinder and a pin holed heating coil then possible that water from the upper feed & expansion tank could backflow through the CWST outlet and contaminate the CWST, unlikely, you should hear water trickling into the F&E tank and water slowly filling the CWST. Is the mains cold water clear/clean?.
Try and look into the F&E tank and see if clean as well, again unlikely but possibility that the vent into this tank is pitching occasionally and slight overflow might be gaining access to the CWST through the the common teed in overflows?.

 

[Ruby12]

The water appears okay in the kitchen, that is next to the water meter. The water in the upper floors doesn't look as clean. I've always been worried about the hot water. I think we'll have to keep the water off then until the letting agent can be bothered to send someone out to fix it. I don't want to risk it. Thank you.

 

[Ricky]

Looking at the tank it is fairly typical of the state of most tanks I come across while doing Legionella risk assessments
Your Landlord may have done a Legionella risk assessment on your property which may or should have recommendations, you could ask to see it.
How safe it is would depend on what the tank supplies, if it is only hot water and the hot water temperature in the cylinder is high enough to kill off anything harmful, it is probably safe to use, without seeing the entire system I cannot be definitive. its not ideal and should be sorted. Ie cleaned, fitted lid and lagged.
It was probably fitted before the bylaw 30 tanks were bought in, which included lids lagging fly screens etc, you will always get some build up of scale depending where you live which does need to be cleaned off

If you want to read up more on Legionella hopefully these links will work.

Managing legionella in hot and cold water systems

Provides links to sources of information and guidance on health and safety in the health and social care services sector.

www.hse.gov.uk

Legionnaires' disease - Legionella and landlords' responsibilities

The law is clear that if you are a landlord and rent out your property (or even a room within your own home) then you have legal responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of your tenant by keeping the property safe and free from health hazards.

www.hse.gov.uk

Legionnaires' disease - Technical guidance - https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg274.htm on this page look for part 2 of hsg274 as a pdf, download it
it shows various examples of tanks and recommendation action page 25 onwards

good luck

 

[Ruby12]

Thank you for the reply. It also supplies the cold water too. It is the mould that floats on the water when it is full too that is gross. I am certain my landlady won't have done a legionnaires check. She doesn't care about dangerous faults until environmental health make her.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Tbh doesn’t look too bad just needs a clean I suspect the stuff you see isn’t mold it’s more lime/ calcium deposits

Also you shouldn’t be drinking that water as it’s not for that

 

[Ruby12]

You can't see them in those photos but they are black in the middle with lighter edges that float on the water. They are water mould. They were obvious when the tank was full. We used to use the water in the bathroom to wash our faces, hands, brush our teeth and shower. I don't think it is safe anymore. I agree It needs a good clean out.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Get the council out under health and safety and get them to order your ll to do / upgrade the tank to a bylaw 30 one

 

[Ruby12]

Get the council out under health and safety and get them to order your ll to do / upgrade the tank to a bylaw 30 one

Thank you, I tried today. An environmental health officer is coming in a month to inspect it. I might have to contact my local MP to get it sped up.

 

[Devisham]

It's not WRAS approved and needs replacing. Lazy plumbing has also run a vent pipe to it instead of to drain via tundish. If they have had a legionella risk assessment done this should have been flagged up to the duty holder to action as a priority 1 or a recommendation to convert the system to mains.

 

[Ruby12]

Thank you for this advice. You have all been very helpful. I feel very lucky to have found this forum.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

It's not WRAS approved and needs replacing. Lazy plumbing has also run a vent pipe to it instead of to drain via tundish. If they have had a legionella risk assessment done this should have been flagged up to the duty holder to action as a priority 1 or a recommendation to convert the system to mains.

It’s a vent via a hot gravity hot water cylinder

 

[Devisham]

It’s a vent via a hot gravity hot water cylinder

Yes I'm aware of what it is. It's a legionella risk having a HWSV vent pipe going in to a CWSV.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yes I'm aware of what it is. It's a legionella risk having a HWSV vent pipe going in to a CWSV.

No more than it naturally warming up actually it’s less as if it did ever vent it would be 60dc plus water going into the tank and eventually it would be upto the same temp as the cylinder so would kill any legionella / bacteria

 

[Devisham]

No more than it naturally warming up actually it’s less as if it did ever vent it would be 60dc plus water going into the tank and eventually it would be upto the same temp as the cylinder so would kill any legionella / bacteria

If the CWSV is correctly sized and insulated it shouldn't naturally warm up and should be turned over sufficiently within a 12 hour period. Recommended guidance via HSG274 is that the vent should be run to drain via tundish on a vented non-circulatory system, if it's a vented circulatory system there should also be safety valves. Add the potential scalding risk on top of it all and it's a no brainer.

 

[John.g]

It's not WRAS approved and needs replacing. Lazy plumbing has also run a vent pipe to it instead of to drain via tundish. If they have had a legionella risk assessment done this should have been flagged up to the duty holder to action as a priority 1 or a recommendation to convert the system to mains.

Is this the vent from the HW cylinder itself that shouldn't be brought back in over the CWST?.