Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.

As previous : Just back from holiday in Italy. We stayed on a campsite which I was highly impressed with. It was full of Germans but the bright side of that was the quality and efficiency of everything - we suspect it may have been German owned.

We stayed in a chalet and it had a gas supply and the hot water for the shower and taps was supplied from a combi. Loved the constancy of the temperature and instant hot water and the fact you could fill the kettle with hot water which speeds up coffee making. I know combis are debated a lot and we are keen to swop to them at home and this experience just reinforced that.

Came back to our crappy electric shower and water tank and the first thing I noticed was when I went to brush my teeth the water was stinking. I have long feared what bugs lurk in the water tank. Sent hubby to look in the tank for dead things but he couldn't see any. We ran the water full blast for an hour and it improved but the next morning it was manky again.

Is there any miracle thing I could put in to dissolve the murk at the bottom and make it like sparkly new instead of something that could preserve oak for 10000 years?

Reply to
Suz
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I understood that it was the usual (now mandatory?) practice to feed the bathroom sink cold tap from the rising main, for this reason.

Chris

Reply to
Chris J Dixon

Well if it isn't, it should be.

Reply to
Suz

"Suz" wrote | As previous : Just back from holiday in Italy. ... the quality and | efficiency of everything - we suspect it may have been German owned.

Just a slight possibility of German ownership there I would surmise :-)

| Came back to our crappy electric shower and water tank and the first | thing I noticed was when I went to brush my teeth the water was | stinking. I have long feared what bugs lurk in the water tank. | Sent hubby to look in the tank for dead things but he couldn't | see any. We ran the water full blast for an hour and it | improved but the next morning it was manky again. | Is there any miracle thing I could put in to dissolve the murk | at the bottom and make it like sparkly new instead of something | that could preserve oak for 10000 years?

A traditional (Italian)(!) remedy for manky wells was to shove in a few shovelfuls of lime (exactly what type of lime I don't know, sorry). Apparently this kills all bugs going. The downside is that it also makes the beautifully soft well-water hard as nails.

I think you probably are faced with emptying the tank (tie up ballcock or turn off at mains, and run off cold water), baling out the sediment, and then scrubbing with Milton. If the tank doesn't have a proper lid then you can get "water bylaw" kits from the plumbers merchants with lids and stuff.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Is this tap fed from the rising main or from the tank?

Was niff chlorine?

Turn of the water, get a hose pipe join it to a length of rigid tube (15mm copper and a hose pipe tap connector works well), shape the end of the pipe something like:

+----------------- | \ \ \ +--------------

Run the hose down into the bath or loo, and stick the other end cooper pipe end in the tank. Start a siphon(*1) running then hoover the bottom of the tank running the champered bit of pipe on the tank bottom, the small oping lets water flow to flush the detritus down the siphon and stops the suction sticking the pipe to the tank base... Go gently so as not to stire it up and you should have hoovered all the base before the tank is empty. Finally wipe out with clean cloths and refill, there you are nice clean tank.

Now make sure that the tank is well lagged and has close fitting lid with no holes for stuff to get in or fall through. The tank should now stay clean, if it doesn't the muck is in your water supply and your drinking that no matter the source, tank or rising main.(*2)

*1: This is the hard bit, you can't (well I couldn't) suck 1/2" hosepipe hard enough to get the siphon to run. So put copper and 6' of hose into tank to fill it with water, hard kinked the hose underwater to stop any back flow then pulled the hose out of the tank releasing the kink below tank level. *2: Birminghams water may be nice and soft from the Elan Valley but it's filthy, presumably iron from 100 miles of 24" cast iron main...
Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Or go main water system with combi or heat bank. Storage tanks are spurned upon because of what you experienced. The Americans think we are mad using them.

Reply to
IMM

If the mains are dirty install an in-line filter on the mains pipe.

Reply to
IMM

Have you seen American water heaters and electrical installations?

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Reply to
Andy Hall

Yes.

Off topic. Please focus.

Mmmm, never heard of Wayne Rooney, doesn't like the English flag or sport, now can't focus. Interesting...

Reply to
IMM

You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Some do. Some use gas. Some even use oil.

Sheila

Reply to
S Viemeister

Then they must be the mad ones. Electricity prices when I lived there were much higher than here, making electric heating was even less economic than it is here.

Americans do seem a bit backward when it comes to appliances, like those awful top loading washing machines with the clothes-shredding paddle.

We couldn't even buy an electric kettle - "Haven't you got a stove?" they all said.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

I suspect gas isn't as freely available as here - it's a much larger country to pipe up.

All down to the common 110 volts and the maximum current you can take from an outlet - IIRC means about 1 KW element as opposed to our 3. Would take forever to boil.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

In article , Dave Plowman (News) writes

Don't they have some sort of split, like a centre tapped 110-0-110 volt system in America now, so higher voltages can be used if required?...

Reply to
tony sayer

Yes, but there is rarely many 220V sockets available. Their appliances often use hot water from the tap to avoid needing heating elements.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Yes, but it didn't used to be common to have accessible sockets for this, as you'd need for a kettle. Dunno about now - perhaps the US is heading towards the 21st century electricity wise...

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I had gas, but only for the cooker hob. The bill about was $6 per month, $5 of which was standing charge! The airconditioner on the other hand added about $50 per month to the electricity bill in the summer! In fact, I'd say electricity prices were about 3 times what I pay in England (and that was before the California power crisis).

Well I did get one from Canada in the end - it worked just fine.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

"Andy Hall" wrote | "IMM" wrote: | >Or go main water system with combi or heat bank. Storage tanks are | >spurned upon because of what you experienced. The Americans think | >we are mad using them. | Have you seen American water heaters and electrical installations?

I don't want to sound like IMM, but "having read a book on American plumbing" it doesn't sound as though they have anything to be proud of in that department either.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Generally only for cookers, washers and tumble dryers.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Reply to
Andy Hall

Most is by gas with direct acting burners under unvented cylinders. On-demand water heaters, as Americans call instant water heating, is regarded as very eco.

Reply to
IMM

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