What makes cold water come out of the tap?

Question

I'm fairly certain that the hot water that comes out of the tap/shower/other plumbing is heated through gas, but what causes the water to come out cold? How is the water cooled before it comes out of the tap?

Wouldn't the temperature of the water lines depend on the season? Like they'd be hotter in summer and colder in winter...how is that maintained at a constant temperature then?

Answer 1

Good question!
Ours comes out warm, I mean really warm. We don't even have to turn on the hot water for a shower!

This is because our water lines in the neighborhood are not dug deep enough. We live in NC, and this is an older neighborhood. Apparently they are not dug deep because way back when, it really never stayed below 32 degrees in this area for a long period of time. Up North, they are dug deeper to prevent pipe bursts.

It depends on how deep the lines are and how old the neighborhood is. Newer developments are dug deeper.
The deeper it is dug, the cooler the ground is.

Answer 2

The water lines are ran below the surface and the temp is at 55 degs. So the water picks up that temp as it travels miles and miles of underground pipe.

So when you turn on the cold water tap, you get the 55 deg water.