Microplastics are the least of your concern in these houses. Dual tap design implies open hot water reservoir with things living and dying in it. (it’s dual because law forbids connecting undrinkable water to drinkable water systems)
Weird. I’ve seen plenty of dual tap systems but never an open water heater. Dual tap are simpler and cheaper - that’s what they used long ago. Where are you that you see this?
I certainly remember a time when most faucets and valves were dual tap gate valves with rubber washers, because the o-rings needed for more complex faucets were expensive or not yet available
They still seem to be used a lot in countries like the UK where I guess they want to feel like steampunk engineers every time they want to get the correct temperature of water come out of their taps.
Gate valves not globe valves? Maybe they are just older than me but gate valves seem like a horrendous design for faucets as they are generally much larger than the size of the piping due to the gate and they have very poor throttling capabilities
Gate valves are a great design because they take advantage of the natural properties of rubber to make a seal. When compressed, rubber washers do well at spreading out to make a good seal. However rubber does not have the integrity to work under constant compression and with sideway movement, as an o-ring in a modern faucet.
Gate valves are a great design, because they’re relatively simple, easy to manufacture, and tolerant to rough manufacturing and irregularities.
Once you’re able to cheaply mass produce synthetic rubbers with varying properties, metal parts with higher precision and greater complexity, the possibilities function much better
In short, you shouldn’t drink hot water from open systems (popular in UK back in the day) or from boiler that doesn’t have a periodical disinfection program (hetaing to 90C once a week)
Even in NA you shouldn’t drink hot tap water. The tanks get covered in scale, there’s always the risk of legionaries.
Where are you that they suggest drinking from the hot tap is okay? It’s not inherently gonna kill you, but hot water tanks aren’t pristine either… you can sure open your mouth and swallow a little while showering, but don’t be making your tea or using it to boil water faster for food.
Thanks for the explanation. I don’t drink hot water (I filter drinking water in the fridge) I just didn’t realize hot water was undrinkable and that there were laws against hooking it up to cold water.
Even if you drain them yearly and “descale” them, it’s never gonna be pretty in there.
You can use a backflow preventer so it doesn’t go back into the city supply which lets you do what you please inside. Even irrigation systems need them, if a main break or a hydrant gets used to fight a fire. There’s the potential for there to be a drop in pressure and it pull stuff out of the ground (or hot water tank) back into the municipal supply.
Woah, that’s intense, at first I thought that was some kind of eldritch creature. The house I’m in just got a new hot water tank, I’ll ask what they’re doing about maintaining it.
Microplastics are the least of your concern in these houses. Dual tap design implies open hot water reservoir with things living and dying in it. (it’s dual because law forbids connecting undrinkable water to drinkable water systems)
Weird. I’ve seen plenty of dual tap systems but never an open water heater. Dual tap are simpler and cheaper - that’s what they used long ago. Where are you that you see this?
I certainly remember a time when most faucets and valves were dual tap gate valves with rubber washers, because the o-rings needed for more complex faucets were expensive or not yet available
They still seem to be used a lot in countries like the UK where I guess they want to feel like steampunk engineers every time they want to get the correct temperature of water come out of their taps.
Gate valves not globe valves? Maybe they are just older than me but gate valves seem like a horrendous design for faucets as they are generally much larger than the size of the piping due to the gate and they have very poor throttling capabilities
Gate valves are a great design because they take advantage of the natural properties of rubber to make a seal. When compressed, rubber washers do well at spreading out to make a good seal. However rubber does not have the integrity to work under constant compression and with sideway movement, as an o-ring in a modern faucet.
Gate valves are a great design, because they’re relatively simple, easy to manufacture, and tolerant to rough manufacturing and irregularities.
Once you’re able to cheaply mass produce synthetic rubbers with varying properties, metal parts with higher precision and greater complexity, the possibilities function much better
Relevant Tom Scott
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA
We have mixed taps in the US because our water heaters are set high enough to kill Legionnaires bacteria.
Same where I live - gas boiler in my parents house is programmed to heat water to 90C once a week. That solves the problem
Every time I read about Brits and their Don’t Mix Waters it reminds me of Koreans and their Fan Death.
Today I learned… Jesus
Are you implying that hot water is undrinkable? Sorry, I don’t understand but it sounds really interesting.
In short, you shouldn’t drink hot water from open systems (popular in UK back in the day) or from boiler that doesn’t have a periodical disinfection program (hetaing to 90C once a week)
Even in NA you shouldn’t drink hot tap water. The tanks get covered in scale, there’s always the risk of legionaries.
Where are you that they suggest drinking from the hot tap is okay? It’s not inherently gonna kill you, but hot water tanks aren’t pristine either… you can sure open your mouth and swallow a little while showering, but don’t be making your tea or using it to boil water faster for food.
Thanks for the explanation. I don’t drink hot water (I filter drinking water in the fridge) I just didn’t realize hot water was undrinkable and that there were laws against hooking it up to cold water.
Even if you drain them yearly and “descale” them, it’s never gonna be pretty in there.
You can use a backflow preventer so it doesn’t go back into the city supply which lets you do what you please inside. Even irrigation systems need them, if a main break or a hydrant gets used to fight a fire. There’s the potential for there to be a drop in pressure and it pull stuff out of the ground (or hot water tank) back into the municipal supply.
Free calcium and iron supplements! /s
Woah, that’s intense, at first I thought that was some kind of eldritch creature. The house I’m in just got a new hot water tank, I’ll ask what they’re doing about maintaining it.