Why Britain Uses Separate Hot and Cold Taps

tomscott.com - @tomscott - Why don't we use mixer taps? I've talked about the British plug before, and how it's a wonderful design: British plumbing, on the other hand, still leaves a lot to be desired.

[@stevenbotwin]

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

[@rixille]

So you are forced to buy bottled water and drink out of plastic containers? Yikes..

[@stevenbotwin]

rixille yes, I am paying extra money for a drinking water, living in a city with over a million population. The company, which I have “chosen”, is delivering it in reusable polycarbonate bottles. Good water from underground lake, talking about nature that belongs to nation) Some people buying purified tap water, some of us having systems of filtration in houses, some other people living in condos with it’s own water source (well). The thing is, water starts good, but plumbing is so bad you just can’t drink the final product from your tap.

[@rixille]

@@cemonder6665 That's good. At least it isn't plastic. There is plenty of evidence that plastic water bottles contain estrogen mimicking chemicals that can cause a hormonal imbalance in males.

[@m.harris9512]

That sucks

[@marin4311]

In Russia you don't drink the water, the water drinks you.

[@bobcousins4810]

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

[@fancypelusa2863]

Funny!

[@AKuTepion]

Oh, how nice to have a tap which spills out soup.

[@claywebb8199]

No it’s BAT, part of the letter has rubbed away 😬

[@larapalma3744]

You've running rats???!!!! Sooo jealous!

[@joeydepalmer4457]

better than them labelled "Tom" and "Jerry". I still like the 2 taps labelled "Coke" and "Whiskey"

[@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.

[@KaneBannanas]

But a Reduced Pressure Zone device would probably need to be used to comply with the regulations which would be expensive to maintain and less practical than having two separate taps

[@peterjames424]

Exactly the reason; to keep mains water separate from possible contamination. Regs were relaxed years ago. Similarly, do you remember when all toilets had to have syphon flushes and a way had to be made to run the overflow. The good 'ol days - not!

[@eyeonit469]

Old habits die hard is so very true because pipes and tanks used to be lead. Pressure reducer valves are building code requirements where I live

[@toomanyhobbies2011]

Regulations, not solutions.

[@Kelvallontan]

I agree. As afellow plumber as well, there are solutions. Here in France, a disconnector (lets say 2 check valves + purges in a single item) has become mandatory right after the water meter. You technically can't pollute the main anymore.

[@005AGIMA]

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.

[@JudgeDeadMJ]

@Chase Williams why are you drinking from the bath tap

[@mikeycraig8970]

@@JudgeDeadMJ Cleaning teeth, duh....

[@grilledflatbread4692]

@Chase Williams In the united states lead regulations were different for bathroom and kitchen so the bathroom water did indeed have more lead on it. It keeps being amended through the years, Obama admin finally made bathroom lead standards more strict

[@raibeart1955]

@@JudgeDeadMJ He’s not he is drinking out the loo!😊

[@stupitdog9686]

I know what you mean - we must be of a similar age - I solve this problem by only drinking from a clean bottle, preferably a BEER bottle - now!!

[@ginger_housecat]

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

[@90lancaster]

Is that because you are updating your own system and know it will take ages so you leave it - or is it because they wanted you to update their PC for them ?

[@ginger_housecat]

90 Lancaster that’s because they don’t know how to do it themselves and because I “work with computers “ I get to do theirs.

[@StrangerHappened]

@@ginger_housecat And sometimes they call anybody who can do anything with a computer "programmer".

[@dantheman2907]

I assumed the "installing updates" was a reference to the new bathroom. Perhaps it was both.

[@jamesburton1050]

For Windows 8 no less!! At least it's not Vista! Yuck!!!

[@zitronenfalte]

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

[@deeraz]

Martha?! Why did you say that name?? What does it mean!?!

[@no1fanofthepals]

@@deeraz its a name

[@zitronenfalte]

@@deeraz I'm batman.

[@u_s_e_rname]

666th like

[@hooper6769]

@dom nic awesome

[@Kparris7]

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

[@Urbicide]

Better call Dr. Fauci. We've found the source of the virus!

[@property_rr1781]

@Achronic Deth ? You must be confused

[@jannikheidemann3805]

@@Urbicide Dr. Faucet

[@toomuchiridium]

dead rat water >>

[@toxicuavmedia]

@@jannikheidemann3805 This one got me xD

[@ronk9830]

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.

[@teh-maxh]

I'm not sure that really make sense. The water would have travelled through miles of pipes to get from the treatment plant to your home; why would a hundred feet or so of extra piping be what made it go bad?

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@teh-maxh Because all those underground miles are chilled - the further you go above ground, in the house, it gets warmer.

[@JETZcorp]

​@@teh-maxh Same reason it takes a while for the hot water to turn hot. The pipes running under your house get to room temperature, which is warmer than cold mains water and cooler than hot heater water. Surely you could get the kitchen sink water colder by running it a bit to clear that length of pipe, but that happens faster closer to the source.

[@Bl3ach06]

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!

[@sumisumi-by8xv]

So true,

[@uplink-on-yt]

The only logical thing I could come up with is this: you're supposed to use the drain plug, fill the sink with mixed water, then wash your hands with that. Possibly sharing the same fill with several other people before you drain the sink.

[@Bl3ach06]

Quite possible but I have never seen any brits doing that apart from when they wash their face in the morning.

[@TudorH56]

I feel this is generally just an oversight looking at design over function. I get frustrated by this when I find taps that run too near the back edge of the sink. However I've used plenty of taps that are deep enough into the sink that it leads me to believe it's someone looking at the style more when they buy and not pairing it with the sink they've purchased correctly.

[@robertknight4672]

Some U.S. mixer taps from the 1950s are ridiculously short and they actually protruded from the rear wall of the sink.

[@etforde]

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

[@Parabueto]

Certainly a good idea with showers in hotels. Legionaire's is really not fun. I used to work in a lab testing shower water for it and yes, there are some suprisingly nice and expensive hotels that have perpetual issues because they can't be bothered to fix the plumbing.

[@iainmackenzieUK]

Not so in some countries...

[@hhhfff7953]

That's just common sense.

[@sethc6663]

@@iainmackenzieUK I was thinking the same thing. You could run the water for a week from a tap in Bali and it would still be unsafe to drink.

[@antonhelsgaun]

Don't have time for that

[@williamwilson6499]

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.

[@TaraConti]

No plug? So how did it work? Do you have to purchase it separately?

[@mitchell522]

@@TaraConti in old appliances you had to attach your own plug and know how to wire one not common practice anymore

[@andrewjones-productions]

I grew up in the UK, so am very familiar with wiring plugs. I have lived in Japan for the past 30 years and a couple of years ago, the plug on my iron wasn't working. I can remember the shock of people around me when I calmly just snipped it off, revealed the two wires inside and put a new plug on. Japanese plugs are two pronged affairs with no earth and either wire can go to either prong. It doesn't matter how you plug it into the socket so it is a foolproof system and hardly a difficult job. The Japanese are far too quick to throw things away before trying to even see if they can fix it. The iron is still working normally now and there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't.

[@kildareire]

Tom has a video for that. 👍👍

[@robinhodson9890]

@@andrewjones-productions In most small mains appliances, the live and neutral are transposable, and a lot of them don't have an earth connection either.

[@deepaparakkal4241]

You don't have this problem in India, when I was a kid, I was taught, "Never drink any kind of Tap Water."

[@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 :)

[@mw1508]

So... did you cook them?

[@cornovii3012]

Has not being able to use your shop drove you to watching 6 year old vids Alec :D

[@System-ru5yt]

so that's where coronavirus came from...

[@Mrcaffinebean]

Alec Steele don’t worry, your safe in America now where your water in MT likely come from a nice well or a spring.

[@LostRizzie]

My house is from 1850 and it has a boiler most people in Britain now don’t use the water storage tanks

[@lyingcat9022]

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

[@NeptunesOrca]

Who naturally has a degree in linguistics instead of any of those other things

[@moonjail8502]

@@NeptunesOrca Funny as it sounds, linguistics is a *huge* part of computer science. Most CS students (at least in the US) have to take formal language/grammar classes, just the same as linguistics students, because that all has implications for how code is designed, interpreted and run. When they say "programming language," after all, they do mean *language* in the truest sense.

[@howardbaxter2514]

J Dailey also, computer science majors are required to have a focus in their degree as well. That focus can be in linguistics, mathematics, physics, electronic systems, etc. Side note: I’m not a CSCE Major, but I was looking into it when I was initially choosing my engineering major and before I switched from Electronic Systems Engineering Technology to Mechatronics.

[@Netugi]

@@moonjail8502 funny that, the university I go to doesn't have it as a required course. In fact, it was just added as an upper-level elective last semester, because a number of students voiced their interest in more theoretical topics.

[@gameswoodmore5950]

@@moonjail8502 But formal languages are nothing like natural languages!

[@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.

[@willwunsche6940]

Similar experience for me also from US Great Lakes the water tastes amazing here I hate water bottles

[@WilliamHollinger2019]

@@willwunsche6940 water bottle gross hate them i use glass waterbottle you can find them at DG for $5 I do not remember the price.

[@nickkaarslev290]

@@WilliamHollinger2019 just crank the tap and get pure fresh water.. guess we arent all as fortunate

[@reservoirfrogs2177]

@@WilliamHollinger2019 not everyone has 5 bucks for a glass of water

[@LionWithTheLamb]

@@reservoirfrogs2177 It's those reusable water bottles made from glass. Glass bottles with a sealable lid are becoming difficult to source.

[@Viigan]

1:24 "You have cold, safe, or as the regulation calls it, wholesome drinking water, and you have, well, almost certain..." I fully expected him to say "death".

[@Adam-lt4fx]

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

[@SteinErikDahle]

And old couple I once knew used to make coffee by tapping water from the radiator... They needed hot water to make coffee, and the radiator-water was hot, so why not? ... I never drank any coffee when visiting them....

[@TheWolf6200]

if you make coffee and the water boils (as we do in italy), all of the bacteria (or most of them) are killed, so it's safe to use the tap water. sorry if i made some mistake, i'm still learning english

[@pineapplepenumbra]

Your English is better than that of some natives' :-)

[@Born2EditHD]

Hello myself😂

[@harrisonbanks2122]

This is safe if the water is boiled and used fairly soon the longer it's left the more chance of legionalla bacteria to form giving risk if it's inhaled + if there are chemicals present heating can make them more aggressive

[@kevinp8108]

Where's the third separate tap that beer comes out of?

[@lepathewarrior4445]

>has murican flag >talks about beer LUL

[@Mumbamumba]

Actually, in the US there are a lot of micro breweries that are brewing fantastic craft beers.

[@iamsector5525]

I think he might have mixed his beer with water

[@nedryyy]

@ I Am SeCToR i think you might have mixed up hes with his

[@dmytroxdh8122]

Kevin P In the late 80's a study was conducted showing that Britons prefer store-bought drinking water. For this reason the cold water tap was completely removed leaving only the hot water tap and the beer tap (sometimes other alcoholic beverages depending on location). Due to poor media coverage of the 1987 water debates, Americans are often ill-informed and believe that the beer tap was removed instead of the cold water tap.

[@peterbensley9704]

This doesn't explain why every kitchen (where you'd normally be getting a drink) I grew up with had a mixer tap, and every bathroom (where you mostly wash your hands) had separate taps. It just seemed completely perverse.

[@mweskamppp]

Depends on the piping. When there was a local heater under the sink that heated a split of the cold water stream, it should be safe.

[@ArkvaleColoniser]

​@@35mm21 Showers aren't meant to be drank from. Ablution water water doesn't need to be drinkable Just because something has water doesn't mean you're meant to drink from it. For example, depending on your suburb in Australia, toilets are filled with clean drinking water. But you wouldn't drink the clean drinking water out of the cistern of a toilet.

[@ArkvaleColoniser]

@@35mm21 Touch'e However, you wet your toothbrush which goes in your mouth

[@grahamtheplumber]

My father told me about a hotel he worked at in the 60s, the tank in the loft had a dead pigeon wedged in the main cold feed from the storage tank. Never use wood or carpet as a replacement for a tank lid as mould loves to grow on this, and drop into the water.

[@fireandcopper]

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

[@tito_zz9217]

@Mark Omega Ok and

[@identity_undetermined]

@Mark Omega 655th like

[@fantomp1773]

lmao

[@EikottXD]

Eddie Hall needs to read this.

[@jemimahrajakumar7770]

Underrated comment

[@lindybeige]

You have missed out part of the story. The man who invented the valve that prevented hot water from contaminating the cold was British, and European plumbing systems were constructed after this invention.

[@navalbombardment211]

LINDY I N D Y

[@DivergencesofHistory]

why are all the youtubers im subscribed to always in each others comment section it feels like seeing your teacher in public

[@dylan-fr3bh]

Hi Lindy

[@loerber]

But actually, it’s more complicated than that…

[@Tom-qk4vn]

and the invented water too!British

[@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.

[@nicolasansom2681]

Omg this always drove me crazy - best episode ever!

[@blackpsicosi1]

"If it always worked, why we need to change it?" After 4 years in England I understood that is their universal motto (for everything, seriously).

[@Tasorius]

Like some of their sewage "systems"...

[@Station9.75]

What’s wrong with the sewerage system?

[@Tasorius]

@@Station9.75 I watched something a a river that was built over and is used as apart of a sewage system... Someone actually has to go down there from time to time and break massive bits of sewage, or it would get stuck and eventually stop...

[@rockthecasbah32]

Yep we say, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'

[@leedsman54]

@@Tasorius we had proper sewerage systems when many countries were crapping into buckets.

[@MissTomi]

How do you wash your hands when the only temperatures are cold as fuck and hot as shit

[@MrHws5mp]

+Wario64I You mix them in the bowl to get a reasonable temperature and wash with that. You also use less water that way than using a constantly running tap.

[@TadRaunch]

+Wario64I You gotta use the cold water to cool your hands after scalding them

[@lukedodd2993]

+Wario64I Well, you don't. You wash you're hands in the warm-up stage of the hot water, it's not instantly boiling hot water.

[@TRPGpilot]

+NotInHD its 2016. No need to. The British system of separate taps is old and backward.

[@albinoman13bt]

+NotInHD Yeah, but we dont have to wash our hands in festering rat water. That's a big bonus right there. Plus, warm water is nice. So, what do British build their futuristic houses out of then? Stones?

[@wilabanodeniro9780]

My mate pissed in the water talk in the attic at a house party. They must have rubbed piss in their face so many times without realising

[@sturm1379]

XD

[@RealUlrichLeland]

golden shower legit

[@trzagor2769]

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

[@42Solomon]

Don't lie Tom, you just wanted an excuse to say, "Don't cross the streams!"

[@kennarajora6532]

@@Foebane72 it's from ghostbusters.

[@oscarpeters5309]

@@Foebane72 what

[@EikottXD]

@@Foebane72 say what now?

[@stephenwalsh4481]

Say what again i double dare ya!

[@macman975]

@@stephenwalsh4481 'What' ain't no country I've ever heard off.

[@RuntyWilson]

"I'm visiting my folks this weekend..." *Windows Updating* -that seems familiar. :D

[@KetoMelange]

+Ben Lewis Every. Single. Time.

[@RishabhDaga14]

My nth viewing of this video and only now did I notice it.

[@cliproulette]

I literally searched the comments for one like this, I laughed.

[@MariaAgnesQuinn]

Story of my life

[@impalaSS65]

Do you mean you initially installed windows with the ridiculous grandma-setting that lets windows install and update without you giving the active nod?

[@NateSean]

We have separate taps in some American houses, too. It's more common than you might think.

[@giorgiobarchiesi5003]

Italy: I also turn the mixer to cold and let the water flow for a few seconds before drinking. I feel more comfortable and safe, especially because the warm water comes from a central heating heat-exchanger/reservoir.

[@energymc22]

I once lived in a house where the mixer tap in the kitchen actually had two separate channels within the chrome "dispenser". It was horrible to use as the two streams would exit side by side with no actual mixing so washing one's hands was a wierd feeling of freezing and boiling in what looked like a single stream. This was obviously someone's way of providing a mixer tap without violating the relevant regulations

[@blipboop5594]

Had a kitchen tap in a flat that was like this. It wasn't that old, I think it was just a shitty tap

[@oligould8575]

my parents bath used to have a massive fancy old brass mixer tap that did the same thing... it was an actual mixer tap but the streams barely mixed... such an odd feeling on my toes

[@SinginShooter]

5 Gum moment?

[@Janos23]

Same and this was in a (admitedly kind of shitty) rental flat I was in ~6-7 years ago. So not that long ago. I always assumed it was just a low quality tap.

[@asdf3568]

That's what this one in the video has too

[@Liteg0]

Well I've had a mixer tap all my life and I also run cold water for a few seconds before I drink from it.

[@velianlodestone1249]

Seeing your water systems infrastructure I would never drink from the tap in the entirety of the USA.

[@AzuktheJungler]

I live in a rural area, so our tap water is drawn from groundwater, filtered inside our house, and then kept in our own water heater. It's not shared with even another household, so I feel pretty safe. I drink tap water all the time.

[@gundamfan2020]

Litego you legend

[@Liteg0]

gundam fan I know right.

[@DarrenNoFun]

Where i am in Canada, I usually run the tap for a couple of seconds before drinking it as well... Mostly because in my old house the sink was on the other side of the house from where the water enters, so it sits, tastes funny and gets warm. Even in my apartment i do that, because it's a shitty apartment and the cold water has to travel from the basement to the 2nd floor, so if i want cold water, i have to run it for like 5-10 seconds. better than the hot water. We have Hot Water "On Demand" so it heats the water as we use it, and we won't see even warm water come out of our tap after 30 seconds of running it full blast.

[@scottlewisparsons9551]

Also, if you look at the tap design. The outlet from the tap is always above the top of the basin so water from the basin cannot enter the supply system.

[@L3go_Man87]

And yet again I learned something from this channel 😊

[@dege13]

I love the Windows Updates install after you mention visiting your parents... I can relate.

[@glengraham7080]

Yep 😂

[@yindee372]

“Manuel, there are two dead pigeons in the water tank...”

[@naseerahvj]

This comment just made my day!

[@iainrichards6872]

Yindee8191 00 Oh not pigs! PIGEONS! Like your english... 😂

[@mrbill517]

Faulty Towers?

[@georgiamcdermott5140]

@@mrbill517 Fawlty Towers.

[@danielmcguire6687]

I love Fawlty towers

[@rostamostmann9657]

Here after new PewDiePie video about why sinks must be cancelled.

[@koransumant6270]

literally popped up in my recommended after i watched him go on for a minutes about british taps XD

[@1OSMVision]

This channel has taught me so much

[@PopFox]

One hand is melting off, the other is frozen. GG Britain. GG!

[@servus6267]

Jep... Thats so true

[@Blueeeeeee]

This needs more upvotes.

[@Sypaka]

You won't feel the difference after a while anyway.

[@QuinoaIsPeople]

@@adamfra64 I hope you speak polish better than english, because that is not understandable.

[@bigvanvader8365]

PopFox or you could just slightly fill the sink? Plugs are an amazing new invention!

[@stillhuntre55]

Here in Canada we've had mixer taps since I was young in the 70's... and I was always told to make sure you're running fully cold water for drinking, and to let the water run a few seconds before filling your glass. I was taught the boiler might leech metals etc into the water. We never had separate taps though. Odd.

[@albeit1]

I was told the same thing. Two is a quorum so it must be true. The other 7 billion have it wrong! 😉

[@MrPLC999]

In the US, there's still a lot of people who will drink water straight from the cold tap in the kitchen, but they will not drink from the bathroom tap. They believe, with no basis whatsoever, that bathroom water is somehow tainted or polluted even though all the supply pipes are connected to the same source. These people also tend to vote Democrat.

[@moredots]

*On a Tom Scott video about British drinking water taps* "Haha time to own the libs."

[@EffortlessEthan]

@@MrPLC999 old houses can have lead pipes in the bathroom, and some of them leach a lot of lead into the water

[@garglfluz]

My 1950s house I grew up in in Canada had separate taps in the basement bathroom

[@RonBaker456]

Most people in America also still have 2 valves on most sinks. Blender valves are mainly used for rest areas and showers.

[@michellesovereign4564]

Never thought I'd care but you make these things so intriguing

[@patrickmcleod111]

"Cold water is wholesome". You see, the cold water tap dispenses a rich, hearty chicken broth. Hence the "wholesome" moniker!

[@JoshSweetvale]

Rat broth

[@guardrailhitter]

@@JoshSweetvale furry discord rat broth

[@Darklor_WCF]

@@guardrailhitter Belle Delphine bath water?

[@guardrailhitter]

@@Darklor_WCF as far as im aware it aint furry water sooo atleast that goes away

[@raynarks]

What are you going on about.

[@komineko1413]

"Don't cross the streams." I feel like Tom was waiting for the Ghostbusters theme to kick in.

[@commandingnationsintl7792]

Hey! I caught that reference too. Nice one.

[@macman975]

I thought i'd have a quick look in the comments before i wrote the Ghostbusters reference.

[@technophant]

This

[@BenGristUK]

This was totally my experience as a Brit, glad to have closure after all this time!

[@Owl90]

That's very interesting and makes a lot of sense. Thank you for sharing!

[@ybra]

So when you wash your hands you get to choose between ice cold and scolding hot?

[@afaulconbridge]

Yes. Or (in winter when the hot tap hasn't been run for a while) you get ice cold and then scalding hot from the same tap.

[@ybra]

***** Wait what? I wouldn't feel clean if I didn't wash under running water.

[@difflocktwo]

***** Disgust.

[@vintagestuffguy1998]

***** I think that's what most people are brought up to do.

[@Koushakur]

TheVintageStuffGuy1998 Well it's unheard of to me so don't count on that. It will completely depend on which country/countries you're looking in too I'd bet.

[@TheGecko26]

it is amazing how many arguments can be started over the tap-water in london

[@lithiumkid]

*england. london is just one city.

[@bulman07]

London tap water genuinely makes me gag

[@thefoodgallery8344]

GamerGecko26 Birmingham has the best drinking water by far. Crisp and clean from Wales

[@victorstoulm3356]

UK

[@IxiaClover]

not really, isnt the mersey river one of the most polluted, idk if its been cleaned up nowadays

[@TheKaiBear]

Thank you Tom!! This bugged the hell out of my when I visited certain parts of New Zealand, but at least it makes sense now.

[@karend.9218]

Fascinating. Thanks for clearing that up.

[@lukero5502]

Switching between nearly freezing water to almost boiling water to try and make an acceptable temperature is something I cannot wait to get rid of.

[@paulhugo1623]

You could put a plug in and wash your hands in the already mixed water.... ?

[@jcse16]

I am a pest controller, I have removed pigeons, squirrels and rats in various states of decay from cold water tanks, it ain't pretty!

[@ApplyWithCaution]

... try fixing the roof!

[@Qrtuop]

You just need better tanks like the rest of the planet then hahha

[@426shelby426]

I have done it from drinking water well and the people drank that water and never died from it I could even see scull at the bottom of the well

[@iainmackenzieUK]

Thats how some of us get our only source of protein.

[@IronShocker77]

We once found a decomposed bat on our water tank, together with a LOT of mud and rust from the old street pipes. The water tank lid was cracked. But the water tanks are only used for the bathrooms, so we didnt drank that nasty water at least. We brushed our teeth with it tho =P Here where i live in Brazil the houses usually have no boilers or central heating, the water is heated electrically in the shower/tap heads. Water tanks are mainly used to help in cases of water shortages or to add pressure to the water (the water slowly accumulates on the water tank then is released with more pressure due to gravity) It´s cool to see how different the world is in some aspects and yet how similar it is in others =)

[@philippayne6655]

The UK mains tap water is one of the safest waters to drink around the world. You can drink some water from potable storage tanks but it has to be subject to bylaw 30 which has a sealed tank lid, a breather valve, a tank jacket and an overflow fly screen.

[@robertnewell5057]

Precisely. This vid is nonsense. Mixer taps completely common for many years, in any case.

[@mikekienker5368]

I'd heard from friends about the separate taps but could never understand why in this day and age, they don't mix the two. Thank you for the explanation! Makes sense now.

[@robertnewell5057]

They do. This is incorrect info.

[@valiant971]

I moved from New York to London 20 years ago and love almost everything about Britain. I am glad to know that I'm not the only person who has noticed this. A single tap through which you can completely manage the temperature seems a no brainer. The other thing I don't get is carpeted bathrooms. Other than those two things, Britain rocks.

[@valiant971]

I don't mind a little rug next to teh bath that I can throw away when it gets too nasty, but fitted carpet around a toilet bowl is just gross. You can't super clean it like with a tile floor.

[@fabioj.w.6185]

@@nessymonster everything is wrong with it

[@spencerwilton5831]

valiant971 nobody has carpeted bathrooms since the brief trend for doing so in the 1970's. If you have been staying in places with carpeted bathrooms you should really look to increase your accommodation budget!

[@jcwoods2311]

@@nessymonster Bathrooms Ronnie. The post stated bathrooms, not bedrooms. Get some readers and see clearly!

[@concernedfather1233]

i haven't seen any carpeted bathrooms save for some hotels. it's just unhygienic.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Wouldn't it be more logical to make sure no rats decay in the tank?

[@Anvilshock]

Nah, too much effort.

[@mandowarrior123]

Stagnant water that is not refrigerated... they don't even have tops for reasons... no way to make it safe.

[@PhilJonesIII]

In Britain, they need the rent.

[@Stoney3K]

@@mandowarrior123 Which makes me wonder which genius thought that water was safe for showering and bathing in. If it's contaminated, it should not be put in a place where the human body can be exposed to it. Great for flushing the loo, not for much else. Those cold water tanks could easily be converted to rainwater collectors with the boiler inlet diverted to take water from the main.

[@mandowarrior123]

@@Stoney3K rainwater is a lot worse, tap water is chlorinated, which keeps it safe for a while. Also, radiators can use the system safely ofc.

[@MartiA1973]

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.

[@magsbarr3679]

Brilliant clear description.

[@MulleDK19]

British people think they're ready for the zombie apocalypse with their double taps.

[@lereff1382]

wooow... wooooooooooooooow..

[@assasin8913]

It hurts to know i dont have the worst/best pun.

[@jordan3012000]

haha

[@jonhjohnson156]

I don't get this

[@colinantink9094]

We are!

[@ryzyooritzz]

The way it works in sweden is that hot water in the tap is heated via your boiler or whatever via a heat exchanger. The "dirty" water is just used for radiators. So yeah, we shower in drinking water.

[@bigwhiteyeti]

+HillMeister's HQ This is the way it works in all modern houses in the UK. The house I grew up in was built in the 1930s/1940s and had a hot water tank like Scott describes in the video. The house I live in now was built around 2010 and uses a boiler to heat water on-demand, so it's all safe to drink. No water in the house sits around in a tank, except for the central heating system which AFAIK is not connected to the taps.

[@pcno2832]

+bigwhiteyeti Many American houses have a tank for hot water storage, but I've never seen an open one. Most are street pressure, so the chance of cross contamination would be small.

[@guttfunk]

The hot water isn't considered drinking quality mind you, as it passes through a heat exchanger. Still fine to drink unless it's a poorly maintained system

[@astronot1997]

We too use the same application in Turkey too. It disturbs me when someone drinks water from the glass in a tab, in many American movies. We would never drink water in toilet, because it is bathroom not the kitchen. We buy or fill our drinking water and use the tap water just for tea and cooking. The tap water is scientificly drinkable BTW. But it doesn't taste good you know. When it's combined with bathroom water and the glass in the bathroom, no thanks.

[@guttfunk]

Bahadır Onur Güdürü yes, it is a bit of a luxury to be living in northern europe in that way - lots of rain but also lots of clean drinking water

[@daphneraven6745]

I have always wondered about this. Thank you for that explanation; it makes so much more sense now. In Canada, really old buildings have had this too. Most places have the mixer tap, but there were a few real old buildings that were re-purposed, but never re-outfitted with newer technology. And they do date back to war-era construction, so it might be that that particular water purification technology was universal at least through the colonies at that time.

[@KMCA779]

I'm living in one. They updated parts of the building. Electrical was updated with breakers, kitchen pipes and taps are modern but the bathroom still has what looks like lead pipes... needless to say, I don't drink from those taps.

[@TheAtkey]

I think my highschool had them in the bathrooms in the oldest part of the main building(built around 1905) but I could be remembering wrong,l I tried to stay out of those bathrooms as much as I could. They have sense been remodeled and modernized I know because I was there when I took astronomy in college(night class)we used the planitarium at my old HS was impressed with the remodel job that was done. I've seen them a few times in other old buildings here in the US particularly in the east and midwest.

[@dr.eldontyrell-rosen926]

Fascinating and your explanation was short and well done.

[@danielellis2874]

I was told that the upstairs bathroom water was just not safe to drink, I still to this day don't feel comfortable drinking water from hotel bathrooms for that reason

[@danielellis2874]

Chris urquhart cos in a hotel room at 4am there's nothing else to do but that??

[@jasonantigua6825]

Daniel Ellis Or in your case,your boyfriend

[@danh5637]

I was told at school to only drink out of a cold water tap. I think this was a universal British meme at least back in the 1980s when I was a kid.

[@michaelmartin9022]

The cold water from my parents upstairs tap is lovely.

[@bakedbean37]

@@michaelmartin9022 Congratulations! I understand that cold dead rat soup is really quite an acquired taste :-)

[@MickeyKnox]

Who on earth drinks hot or even lukewarm water?

[@DrTartus]

KIDS FROM AFRICA!!!!!!!!

[@MickeyKnox]

REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? PLEASE SAY IT AGAIN. COULDN'T UNDERSTAND YOU

[@GideonGleeful95]

Well, if you put it in the Kettle it won't take as long to heat up.

[@moileung]

Purple Turtle fast forward say 50 years from now, say you are 70 yearls old old, you will probably like drinking warm rather than cold.

[@beyondbeyond1965]

Most people in China (PRC)

[@mashudagurasu]

Same, I run the kitchen tap for a bit to make sure it's safe but I also use that time to give what I'm drinking from a bit of a clean, also it's obvious why you said never cross the streams but surprisingly you did it with a straight face.

[@colinellicott9737]

Thx for that explanation. Been wondering about it for six decades ; )

[@iJordiii]

This system is so inconvenient. Here in the Netherlands every water is drinkable, hot OR cold. Our tap water is even cleaner then the water out of bottles. My question is not WHY Britain uses this system; but why do countries still have tap water which isn't clean or healthy enough to drink?

[@joshuarosen6242]

We had plumbing long before most (possibly any) countries and almost all the houses that were built with plumbing are still lived in. My house is 110 years old, which is nothing by English standards. My house's plumbing reflects the situation that pertained 110 years ago.

[@simonhill1590]

clown! all uk water is potable. In NL with your lack of freshwater lakes your water is probably desalinated.

[@lyebahrehman6617]

Is this basically saying THAT I'VE BEEN SHOWERING IN DEAD RAT WATER?!!

[@user-ff1ws1sf2u]

almost certainly yes

[@sandponics]

It's good for the complexion.

[@crookeddesk]

You can have some soup AND shower at the same time! win-win!

[@lyebahrehman6617]

@@crookeddesk no. why would i....

[@lyebahrehman6617]

@@sandponics no wonder my skin's glowing

[@strobi0001]

I would give an advice to earlier Brits from Eastern Europe. Make this storage closed and run the mains through.

[@petermenzies1714]

One house I worked on had a damaged skylight and because the cover was left off the water tank by a plumber a couple of decomposed crows & dead rats amongst other debris in the cold water storage tank. I’ve never forgotten this so always ensure I drink any water from cold mains fed tank & make tea from mains water.

[@jamesgrimwood1285]

The fun part is that "don't drink the hot water" is still a valid thing to remember. There are plenty of old houses with old water tanks in their lofts that are still used (because this is the UK, we don't knock things down, we just keep living in them). The last house I lived in still had a water tank to store hot water. It was rubbish, especially when running a bath and the hot water ran out.

[@blindio466]

+James Grimwood its always been in my head you dont drink hot water, just a fact like the sun is hot, its interesting to learn its got a reason behind it :)

[@pcno2832]

+James Grimwood One other reason not to drink the hot water is that the metals from the pipes and the solder holding them together as well as any chemicals leaching from plastic piping or rubber seals, will leach out faster in hot water and might collect in the tank or heat exchanger. Though, with either hot or cold water, running it for a few minutes will often reduce the levels of these contaminants.

[@mikemac803]

I hate that, worse when you take a shower and the hot runs out

[@EmptyGlass99]

+James Grimwood When I moved in to a new house a few years ago (in London where it's hard water) the water tank was so furred up with calcium that I'd be lucky to get one sink of hot water let alone a bath or shower. I had that ripped out ASAP and a combi boiler installed. Now I have hot water on demand and a huge storage space where the tank was.

[@justclosing]

+mike mac When the cold water runs out..that's worse.

[@StaffanThomen]

Here in Finland, where as far as I know (some 30 years) there's always been just mixer taps, I was still told as a child not to drink the hot water. The reason given was that the hot water pipes could be made with lead somehow (soldering perhaps?) and thus could poison you over time.

[@skellious]

both hot and cold were made with lead at one time. we still occasionally find parts of our water system in britain have lead piping.

[@Dojan5]

Yeah, I was brought up being told the same thing here in Sweden, so I do the same thing as Tom does; I always run the cold water for a few seconds before I use it for cooking or drinking.

[@DogsBAwesome]

Skellious My house has lead on the mains supply so I always waste a gallon or so before using it for potable water. Apparently though the inside of the lead pipe gets a coat of the minerals in the water that stops the lead getting into the water.

[@StaffanThomen]

Skellious I'm probably misremembering, a guy in the comments below said it indeed is because of heavy metal poisioning, but from copper, not lead.

[@Dojan5]

Staffan Thomén I've heard both copper and lead. The piping for the hot water was copper, but lead was there too.

[@daveprice5911]

omg. so I was born in the UK but moved to Germany when I was 5, my boyfriend always wondered why I wash my hands with 100% cold water and not warm and now I can finally explain why I grew up doing it

[@iandoorbar2114]

I also run the cold tap for a few seconds before taking a drink. I never knew why until now. We learn more growing up than we know at the time. Thanks Tom.

[@bigpod]

i do to but for a far more practical reason water from mixxer tap will not be as cold as possible if its not run for few seconds(if setting already wasnt full cold)

[@duroncrush]

I was taught to never drink from the hot tap and to let the cold run for a while because the copper pipes in the old house I grew up in used leaded solder

[@thomase13]

I'm in Canada and the government tested our university's water. It's found to have too high lead content to be safely drinkable without incurring brain damage. So we've also been told to run the cold water (5-10 seconds) and never use hot for drinking!

[@BurtyHaxx]

in really old times the pipes themselves was made out of lead, but they are safe to drink because the oxidized layer formed prevents it from putting lead into the water. only if you make a new cut or scrape will it potentially have enough trace to cause harm. if you need work doing to a house that still has lead pipe though, they would have to re plumb your whole house

[@harrisonbanks2122]

That is really bad copper and lead are metals and react electricaly with each other this is cathode and anodes the information is easily available and can help create the lead byproduct that Is poisonous through plumboslency look this word up plumbo is like the Latin for lead (might not be Latin!)

[@harrisonbanks2122]

In bs there is still as reasonable practical meaning if the person ain't got the money you remove what you can at a cost they Can afford eg if nessisary removing the assessable joints cleaning the pipe ends of lead and replacing the joint maybe in some cases removing an replacing short lengths of the pipe a heavy brass fitting can be used to joint lead in to copper but not the other way so you can replace part of a system I'm not I'm not an expert plumber and don't have much knowledge about lead as it's not so much of an issue but it would be good to check up on anything lead pipe work you may be Doing or quoting with it obviously present with iphe or other body that has some authority in the industry Wat your saying maybe the case but what if that pipe goes to the street main are you digging up the customers floor garden driveway at your cost let alone the water main may still be lead meaning replacing it was pointless!

[@BurtyHaxx]

im not too informed about the whole process of lead pipes, its just some basics they told us in college when i did my course. not sure if you're from england but thats what they told us because of health and safety regulations state they have to be removed. i think all the public sector of pipes are already converted or was never lead to begin with (public sector meaning pipes up to the house) in referance to what you was saying about plumboslency, if you read the wiki page it says "Plumbosolvency of water can be countered by achieving a pH of 7.5 by increasing the pH with lime or sodium hydroxide (lye), or by providing a protective coating to the inside of lead pipes by the addition of phosphate at the water treatment works" this is what i said prior about the protective layer.

[@sergarlantyrell7847]

I just run the cold tap for a couple of seconds to make sure the water that comes out is nice and cold to drink, so I don't drink luke-warm water.

[@armadillito]

Yeah, that also shows that it is fresh from the mains though as the water that gets warm has been sitting in the tap. Cold water is so much nicer too.

[@AJRWilde]

make sure you filter it before drinking, chlorine and chloramine destroys your gut

[@makorek]

we Poles are not poor and we buy bottled water because why would we drink tap water which tastes bad and is from river? meanwhile brits drink sewer water from thames

[@lukyluky1337]

@@makorek thats sad because water sources in middle Europe (or at least in Slovakia) are one of the purest in the world. Generally you dont drink tap watter from river but from the original source / lake where drinking watter is stocked. When I used to live in Ireland, people there got sick from local watter sometimes but that's not the thing in V4 countries. In fact, the tap watter is healthier and of better quality than the bottled one.

[@ST-vt4nu]

@@lukyluky1337 water in Slovakia is straight up green in some places😅

[@MM-jf1me]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[@SuperBartet]

In the last 40 years I not lived in a house with separate taps, or header tank. My last house I had for 7 years had one when I moved in, within a month it was out, and mixer taps fitted.

[@davidhow9568]

In the houses you’re talking about even the cold taps in most bathrooms are fed from the loft storage tank . Only the cold tap in the kitchen is truly fresh.

[@mickelodiansurname9578]

I would not call the water supply system of London 'Fresh'...

[@vrajeala666]

I came here for this

[@ps200306]

@@vrajeala666 Me too.

[@Poetjanstie]

Used to be the case in our 1960s built house, at least the upstairs bathroom cold taps. But now no more; all from the rising main. So we don’t drink rat water any more 😊

[@jackroberts6648]

Spengler: There's something very important I forgot to tell you. Venkman: What? Spengler: Don't cross the streams. Venkman: Why? Spengler: It would be bad. Venkman: I'm fuzzy on the whole good/bad thing. What do you mean, "bad"? Spengler: Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light. Stantz: Total protonic reversal! Venkman: Right. That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.

[@jackroberts6648]

Don't cross the streams.

[@seanmcgh2487]

I was waiting for that reference

[@mickelodiansurname9578]

Same here in Ireland... still have the boiler and tank setup in this house and it was built in 2007

[@peterjf7723]

I remember a friend's parents had a big old Victorian house, his father had put signs by all the taps in the house saying that the water wasn't safe to drink. They had deliveries of big bottles of drinking water every week. The reason the tap water was not safe was that the old plumbing used lead pipes.

[@ethervagabond]

God dang, just straight up made the plumbing pipes out of lead. I know we haven't always known how dangerous lead was, but surely even two and three hundred years ago they had SOME idea that it could be poisonous? ...no?

[@kirylbah]

Lead pipes means it is not safe to wash either. Lead is really danger 😢

[@nickryan3417]

Lead pipes were quite safe at one point. Where I used to live the water is incredibly hard and chalk in the water formed extensive layers between the lead and the water. Enough that there was no lead whatsoever in the water coming from the pipes. Then the local water company softened the water and this caused the existing chalk layers to break down and expose the lead pipes an introduce lead into the water. Very obvious after the fact, but I can see why nobody would have predicted it beforehand. It only affected the much older properties that still had lead pipes within them.

[@Nadz203]

yep still never drink from the Hot water tap and i've had a modern combi boiler for nearly 10 years now :D

[@Humble_Grumble]

Me too

[@legna20v]

why would anyone drink hot water ever?

[@legna20v]

if you are sick .... why are you drinking tap water?

[@FatMistit]

Tap water isn't as unhealthy as you might think. Well, depending on which country you live in.

[@1jitter1]

If the tap water quality in Great Britain is as good as the Dutch tap water, its quality is the same as or better than bottled water. Only in places where the tap water reeks of chlorine (e.g. on the Costa del Sol) would I recommend you buy water in a supermarket.

[@Oscar-mi7yi]

The main thing we were told as kids was don't drink cold water from the bathroom tap. Obviously no-one drinks from the hot tap.

[@liftlash98]

+sixtopian better to use a kettle

[@kiwischeisse]

very cool, thanks for that. was always wondering, could never understand. Now, that makes sense.

[@currentcolt3655]

I live in the us, and up around where i live we have wells that directly feed into the faucets and the water heater instead of having a water tank, because of that we never had to worry about back flow

[@ruddbot179]

Meanwhile in Australia: “What if we do both?”

[@aussieginger1960]

Depends on the age of the building I find. For example I live in 100yo cottage so plumbing and elec was installed decades after it was built so seperate taps etc. My parents built a new home when they retired they have mixers.

[@noob_duck1454]

my kitchen has a mixer tap and the bathrooms and utility room all have separate taps (i don’t have enough room by my kitchen sink to have separate taps)

[@ShinyWasTakenTwice]

@@noob_duck1454 Exact same in my house

[@starfire0007]

It's OK because you're on the underside of the earth.

[@fibergran9]

they like to separate from everything, that's why

[@wordreet]

Huehuehue Haahhahahahahahaha! Excellent!

[@ARMusicOfficial2004]

That’s Italy mate XD

[@OGSinisterPotato]

Didn't America declare separate independence?

[@andywest6062]

No, we just have some common sense.

[@xesior]

Its one of the last forms of segregation they can legally enjoy. That... and the divider bar at the check out of a supermarket.

[@Siddharth2460]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing. I live in Denmark and it has mixer taps everywhere. I am sure that's why people who can afford have a filtration system in their homes.

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Thanks, there the answer to a question I've had since I went to school at Swansea in 1988.

[@petermirtitsch1235]

Not long after moving into my current house, years ago, we had black feathers coming through the bathroom taps, due to the decomposing crow in the water tank.

[@dan339dan]

And then you have us Chinese who boils water before drinking.

[@CommittingSudoku]

Yeah, my family immigrated to Canada when I was younger and everyone at school when I was a kid always thought I was weird for not wanting to drink tapwater.

[@moileung]

its about the water source yo. i was born in the philippines and always boil water before drinking. you dont boil, you will have diarhea for sure. then here in canada, i drink straight from the tap. as in. i was like "you sure this is safe" and yeah, i drink straight from the tap and never had diarrhea. its all about the water source yo. its the source.

[@dan339dan]

***** Not always, we now do it just for cultural reasons since the better side of the world does better water treatments, though in the past, doing so saves people's lives.

[@klaxoncow]

In fairness, the Brits learnt that trick from the Chinese long ago. I mean, though the British are famed for their love of tea, the drink is, of course, a Chinese invention. And we all thank you kindly for all those lovely cups of tea we've had ever since. :D

[@SirGrassy]

Commie..

[@HedelTorres]

Thanks for sharing.. Never thought about that..

[@guillaumep.7206]

"Don't cross the stream" :D Love the reference

[@stonent]

Even their taps are on the wrong side of the road.

[@mydogsed]

Really

[@stonent]

The great leader has been amused! Free grain of rice for everyone!

[@AnX555]

A whole grain? Thank you! Our magnificent leader!

[@BlazertronGames]

Well technically, since (I believe) modern Americans are from British decent, you're the wrong ones

[@theunknownblock5942]

BlazertronGames not all Americans came from Britain. the country actually has a pretty diverse mix of people. there are people here that come from Africa, Europe, and Asia. we're still a trash country but at least we drive on the *right* side of the road. (bu-dun-tss)

[@MrBowsmith]

Hi Tom. In many, if not most mixer taps, the water is kept separate up to the outlet nozzle.

[@szita2000]

The only thing the British engineers forgot when coming up with this explanation is the 5 bar of pressure that you have on your water main. If you can get anything "backwashed" there you deserve it.

[@philpullan8595]

Technically up to 10 bar is possibly... and the protection aspects are in place for when things aren't in a normal situation. We have one way valves on outside taps etc to stop back flow in that situation as it's contamination source could be very dirty (possibly) they do seem overkill but having them in place doesnt really affect day to day living. We'll also never know when having them actually saved us from illness either 😂

[@BurkeSchneider]

In the US we have an alternative version of these there is one tap, and two separate knobs.