Is the water that comes out of your bathroom taps the same that comes out of the kitchen.?

Question

Recently been having this debate with my boyfriend who thinks its different. What are the facts on this. Is there any difference

Answer 1

totally the same............ where else would it come from besides water pipes and hot water tank? your boyfriend is ignorant

Answer 2

In older houses the The cold water tap downstairs came directly from the mains coming into the house. The cold water upstairs came from the mains after first being stored in a cold water tank in the loft. This meant that due to the dirt and insects and even mice etc in the loft the upstairs cold water should not be used for cooking, drinking etc because of the possible contamination.
The downstairs was therefore the drinking water.
In more modern houses all cold water upstairs and down comes directly from the mains. Even the toilet flush comes from the mains. This means that you can drink the water etc from the upstairs tap.
You can test what yours is by flushing the toilet while the downstairs tap is turned on. Turn off the tap and listen or watch to see if the water into the toilet flush box increases in flow. Or, does the flow decrease when the tap is turned on. You can usually hear the change in noise level. If you have no tank in the loft then all cold water is on mains for sure. A previous answer mentions a Faucet, this American for a TAP
Phew.

Answer 3

All your water comes from the same tank, but I think the debate regarding drinking water that comes from a bathroom started years ago when the pipes were lined with a different material or made from a metal that could contaminate the water, so it was advisable not to drink water from bathroom taps although I'm fairly certain that this wouldn't be the case in Houses built more recently.

Answer 4

Older houses in England have only fresh water to the kitchen. Other taps like in the bathroom and the laundry are fed from the storage tank in the loft. Of course the storage tank is fed from fresh water, but what you get from the tank can be contaminated by organisms, rust etc in the tank. The storage tank is the same one used to pressurise the hot water.So you should only drink from the kitchen tap, and then only from the cold tap. Newer homes in England, and all houses in Scotland since way back have fresh water to all taps in the house. If you're not sure which system you have, always drink from the kitchen tap only.

Answer 5

Yes, it is the same water. But if you have a tank in the loft, it may have been sitting up there for a while before being used for the bathroom taps/flushing the toilet. The kitchen water always comes straight from the main supply.

Answer 6

If you are in UK, Then there may well be a difference. Many houses have a tank in the loft, and this generally feeds the bathroom taps, toilet, hot water. The kitchen (as a drinking water source) is on the 'rising main', directly fed. The reason for this is to prevent the possiblity of contamination of drinking water through storage(if you have a tank in your loft go look at it..inside).
The reason ...as i am told.... for the tank in the loft dates back to Napoleon, they thought he might invade and poisin the water supply, hence tank in loft to supply water.
The best way to work out the fact for yourself is to turn off the stopcock to your house, if the kitchen tap runs (give it a minute or so) then your kitchen is tank fed.if it stops after a minute, then its mains fed.

Answer 7

I think that the answer is - it depends on your particular installation! (Ignore those answers that confidently tell you what you have - they can't know for sure).

A decent plumber (get a recommendation) can tell you. One way for you to check would be to compare water pressure in the bathroom with the kitchen. If the cold pressure in the bathroom is comparable with the kitchen, then it is probably mains pressure - and drinkable.
Alternatively, if you turn off the main supply at the 'stop ****' then all cold water taps that are on mains will stop working. Any tap that still works, is fed from a storage tank.

I hope this helps.

John

Answer 8

It's the same water. In some countries such as Gibraltar the water used to flush the loo is different to that coming out of the taps but in the UK we don't have the facilities to do this so all the water (kitchen, bathroom, toilets, central heating) is all expensive treated drinking water.

Answer 9

I have read many conflicting answers, and both could be correct.
In the UK the cold water in the kitchen sink is direct off the mains, but the hot is from stored water in the attic. In the bathroom both hot & cold are from the stored water in the attic.
The downside to this UK system is that insects, mice. birds etc could be floating in the tank for months, so it would not be advisable to drink directly off any tap in the bathroom.

Answer 10

No it isn't. The water from your kitchen tap comes from the mains. The water in your bathroom comes from a tank in the loft (usually) - therefore it's not fit to drink.

Answer 11

not always. Our bathroom water comes from a tank and our kitchen cold water comes from the mains. Therefore, you must be careful drinking from bathroom taps