Is it safe to drink water from the bathroom tap?

Question

My boyfriend thinks that the water from the bathroom tap is from a seperate tank and is not safe to drink. I would like to know if he is correct

Answer 1

In some houses that it true. The kitchen tap water comes straight from the mains, the bathroom water often goes into a header tank in the loft where it sits for an extended period of time. All sorts of pollutants could get into the water so it is generally more of a risk to drink than kitchen water. That said I have often drunk it at a push and I'm still alive :)

Answer 2

These days all cold water taps are fed from the mains and have been for many years, though there may be some antique systems which still use a loft tank. To be sure, turn off your stop tap in the kitchen and try the bathroom tap. If it doesn't run, it's mains water the same as the kitchen tap and perfectly drinkable

Answer 3

In recently built houses there is supposed to be a tap in the kitchen sink that draws directly off mains. But the bath taps normally come off a tank. Modern tanks have proper covers to prevent bugs and bird droppings, and dead beasties getting in, but its better to use the sink tap since the tank water is more likely to be unreliable. Some healthful natural water minerals in the mains may get sedimented in the tank or otherwise - some people have processes built in that remove natural minerals, to avoid sediment build-up on pipes.

I was once in a rented house, built c 1900, and started feeling sick in my stomach after drinking the sink tap water, since both the sink and bath taps came from a tank. I had to boil all the water and I still felt ill, and started using bottled water.
After asking several times, the landlord investigated. It was an open-topped lead lined tank, which is pretty bad. Also there was a dead rat in it. He fixed it, and looked a bit sheepish for a month or so!

So its better prefer to use kitchen sink cold water tap, as it is in newish houses normally fed directly from mains.
Check your tank and make sure it has a lid, and is of modern design. Worth replacing if not, and you have spare money for the job - a tricky job which definitely needs a plumber to fix.

Answer 4

Water from the bathroom tap comes from the mains but is stored in the tank in the loft until u use it. However it is quite safe to drink.

Answer 5

Rebecca, god, some of those answers.
Go into the loft and see if you have a water tank.[older houses]. If yes, this water supplies the flushing toilet and the basin in the bathroom, it is taken to the tank from the mains, but it is stored and could get contaminated through the air in the loft. Most houses now do not have a tank in the loft, so all tap water is from the mains and safe to drink. pheww.

Answer 6

Your boyfriend should take your hand and show you the seperate tank in the basement. There isn't one.

It depends on how you clean your house. If you clean your bathroom more often than your kitchen, chances are your water in the bathroom will be cleaner.

The water is the same - the things it touches when it comes out is what makes it dirty.

Answer 7

He is right, you have a clever boy friend. If it is connected to the attic tank here may be a few dead beasties in there. The cold tap in the kitchen is the one direct to the mains and safe to use.

Answer 8

Most houses have water all from the same tank, unless you are lucky enough to install a second one or live in a huge mansion wth several 'houses'.

Bathroom water won't kill you but it is less clean than kitchen tap water (which is usually the cleanest, hence why it is located in a kitchen as opposed to a bathroom).

Answer 9

All the water is from the same source. Water coming out of your bathroom sink is the same and the water from your kitchen sink.

Answer 10

I don't know where this superstition has come from, my mate fits bathrooms and he still keeps getting asked if he can change the water supply in the bathroom so they can drink from it.

It is (I assure you) all the same.