Which water supply where?

[omits]

I am fitting a new bathroom and would like advice on:

1. The mixer shower requires even pressure inputs so do I need 2 x 22mm hot and cold or would 22mm hot and 15mm cold (from loft tank) do?

3. Currently all cold is mains. Which taps should have cold from tank?

4. The basin has a combo tap - should this be tank supplied (not mains)? But then it's not drinking water!

5. Should the loo be mains (or tank cold to reduce condensation on the cistern)?

 

[kay-jay]

1) a balanced supply means if you have a combi or unvented you will be fine, if your hot water is gravity fed then your cold should be from a tank also, or a pressure reducer fitted to mains.

2) ??

3)there is no requirement to have cold taps tank fed. kitchen sink has to be mains fed, that is all.

4) it can be, refer to 3

5) again there is no requirement but you may find it helps with the condensation. imho it is the cheaper pot that suffers from this though.

KJ

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

im struggling with question 2 as well :angry:

for question 1 you could pump the supplies from the cold and hot tanks via a proper shower pup to get great flows

 

[Kimou]

I think Q2 is by reducing thepipe size for stronger main pressure will it become less so and equal the bigger pipe size from lower pressured CWSC. I think?

 

[omits]

3 was a reference to the bathroom. I need to run another pipe from the loft tank through the ceiling and down to the shower mixer. I will make this 22mm as the hot. This does mean that I will have to put a stopcock in the loft and put a note on the one in the airing cupboard that this will not turn off the shower.

Given that the hand shower on the bath mixes the hot and cold the bath should also be internally H&C supplied. Therefore I may as well do the sink with same and as the toilet is next on the wall run it 15mm to that as well. I am using plastic pipe (speedfix) so will have to stub off all the mains in the bathroom. I assume it's safe to drink tankwater?

No pumping as this is a DIY project and from the look of recent work e.g. boiler I will not have others doing it so no electric!

System is indirect and vented.

 

[kay-jay]

depends on your definition of drinking! its suitable for brushing your teeth if thats what you mean. but its not suitable for general consumption hence the requirement to have the kitchen sink mains fed.

make sure you have a tight fitting lid because if them pigeons start using it as a paddling pool you really don't want to be brushing your teeth in it either!

 

[Kimou]

If your tank complies with the WRAS 1999, then it should be wholesome water within. Anyone can verify that? I'm sure that's the case.

 

[kay-jay]

i thought its not considered wholesome based on potential bacteria growth due to storage temperature. we all know how hot it gets up in the loft

 

[Kimou]

The cisterns should be made of a material compliant to water regs. Under the regs "a storage cistern supplying cold-water outlets or feeding a hot-water storage systemshould be capable of supplying wholesome water and therefore various protection measures are included in the design of the cistern to ensure the water supply does not become contaminated."
"Cisterns must therefore be blah blah blah..."

If I hadn't known this then I'd have assumed the same as you. Because it's open to atmosphere and the warning pipe can admit bacteria. Also the secondary vent would make it prone to being a cat 2 risk.

 

[kay-jay]

definition of cat 2 is wholesome water which has undergone aesthetic change due to temperature.
surely water stored at ambient temps in a cistern in a loft would therefore not be considered wholesome??

it seems that the regs condradict themselves a bit here. funny one aint it?

KJ

 

[eco_mark]

definition of cat 2 is wholesome water which has undergone aesthetic change due to temperature.

It also includes 'stale' water and colouration changes I believe.

surely water stored at ambient temps in a cistern in a loft would therefore not be considered wholesome??

But the cistern should be insulated, which means it shouldn't be getting warmer than mains water (well, that's the theory ....). Which is why if the water isn't used for a number of days it has magically turned into cat2, but while it is in the cistern it is definitely 'wholesome' so long as all the other parts of the regs are adhered to (tight fighting lid, screened vents etc).

 

[Kimou]

Yeah, Kay-Jay, it seems muddled. I think it would be classed as 'potable' in the cistern. There was a change some time back when the preferred term for drinking water was superceded by the wording- 'wholesome'. The definition is to do with a contamination free supply. Once it has left the supply pipework it is no longer 'wholesome' if it is not used straight away. Otherwise the water you drink would nt be wholesome cz it's in your glass or whatever. The word 'potable' is a universal definition whereas the term 'wholesome' is industrial related [read-specific] so there is no confusion over the quality of standard provided.
Too much money being paid to people with too little else to do, methinks.

 

[kay-jay]

Yeah, Kay-Jay, it seems muddled. I think it would be classed as 'potable' in the cistern. There was a change some time back when the preferred term for drinking water was superceded by the wording- 'wholesome'. The definition is to do with a contamination free supply. Once it has left the supply pipework it is no longer 'wholesome' if it is not used straight away. Otherwise the water you drink would nt be wholesome cz it's in your glass or whatever. The word 'potable' is a universal definition whereas the term 'wholesome' is industrial related [read-specific] so there is no confusion over the quality of standard provided.
Too much money being paid to people with too little else to do, methinks.

you're not wrong mate! wish i could get me a job on one of these pointless 'think tanks' its money for old rope