Why Britain Uses Separate Hot and Cold Taps

[stevenbotwin]

in Russia you don't have this problem. all the tap water is not safe to drink.

[ginger_housecat]

"I'm visiting my parents" - cuts to windows update in progress.
Me: Yes, that sounds very familliar.

[DeadManProp]

As a plumber, I can tell you that the main reason for that, in 2021, is "old habits die hard". Even with old storage tanks, there are ways to prevent backwash and there exist regulations concerning that.

[Kparris]

US: Wow, Brits are so fancy
UK: Literally bathing in dead rat water

[zitronenfalte]

"Jaaaack! Where is Tom?"
"in the bathroom, Martha! He's talking to that internet thing again!"

[bobcousins]

That explains why my taps are labelled "COLD" and "RAT" then..

[AGIMA]

Same memories for me. In fact in my mind it was "only ever drink from the cold water tap IN THE KITCHEN, as the others come from the loft, not the mains.". So strong was this, that even now, living in Australia where we have mixer taps all over the house, I do not like drinking from ANY tap other than the cold water tap in the kitchen.

[williamwilson]

I remember having this explained to me when I lived in England back in the 80s. But the craziest Brit thing I experienced was buying a blender, taking it home, and then finding no plug attached when I went to plug it in.

[etforde]

Letting the water run for a bit before drinking is a good tip no matter where you are.

[AlecSteele]

In one of my childhood homes, after renting it for 5 years we prepared to leave and I went up into the attic with our electrician and saw inside the water storage tank, several bats in a few states of decomposition: from skeletons to only half rotten! I have the same habits as you after seeing that :)

[ronk]

When I was young (in the 1960s), I always drank water from the bathroom sink faucet because it was colder, and seemed to taste better. When I got older, I realized why. The water main entered the home directly below in the basement. The kitchen faucet was on the other side of the house, so the water got warmer as it traveled through more pipes. It just wasn't as refreshing.

[atomotron]

The main issue with the water is that it is (or was) stored in a tank. I remember back when we had wells, elder people pulled out buckets of water just to spill it on the ground somewhere, simply to create a water "flow" out of the well, otherwise the water will get "dead". The well simply needs certain amount of consumption in order to stay clean. It is the same with water tank: works well when you have higher water consumption and gets really bad when it is too low.

[Blach]

This doesn't explain why there are always too short and you end up rubbing your hands against the sink when you wash off the soap!

[fireandcopper]

"Thanks for hydrating yourself with me, have a nice day"
-Wholesome drinking water

[trzagor]

Thanks for that information, finally. For so many years, I couldn't fathom the lack of mixer taps in the UK.

[PhysiqueGeek]

Interesting info. Here in the US I think most of us probably grew up with mixer style faucets and were always told to run the cold for a little while before drinking from it. That's if you drank tap water at all. I'm fortunate enough that my grandmother has a natural well on her property that we all get our drinking water from. Right from the mountains, best tasting water I've ever had.

[lyingcat]

When I want to learn about building codes and plumbing in another country, I always turn to my friendly neighborhood computer scientist.

[Adam-ltfx]

My parents told me never to drink the water out the bath, but tbh i think they just wanted some privacy

[MartiA]

I so miss Tom Scott videos! Nine years on and still watchable. I believe youtube pushed Tom and others to the point of no return in demanding long-form videos.

[nicolasansom]

Omg this always drove me crazy - best episode ever!