Cistern tank confusion.

[Niksan]

Hi, I have two cistern tanks in my loft, a largish one and a slightly smaller one, both sat right next to each other, now I'm wanting to drain the smaller one because it's formed some scum on the water surface and I want to give it a clean.

I'm sure when I replaced the ballcocks on both cisterns a few years back, I just had to turn the taps on in the bathroom / flush toilet to empty it (after I had turned the main water inlet off) however I tried doing this over the weekend, but the water in the smaller cistern tank never budged, infact it almost looks like no water has come from that tank for a while, look at the FAQ's it suggest this tank has something to do with the boiler/heating iirc, so, would this be the case and to empty it what would be the best way ?

and on a side note, where would be the best place to pick up a cover for a cistern tank, there sems to be a rip in the smaller tank one, probably why it's started forming scum on the water surface.

apprication in advance for any pointers.

Regards,

Nik

[manatbandq]

Why bother? You're not going to drink it. As you surmise, it's the cenmtral heating header tank.

If, however, your heating system has neven been serviced then it may be a good opportunity to drain, flush and add some inhibitor and clean the tank at the same time.

MBQ

[Niksan]

Ah, that would explain it, well, I want to get it cleaned as I will be removing some of the heating units to decorate some rooms and obviously I don't want the scum that's currently in the tank working its way into the piping, draining is no problem, is the preferred method for flushing still the hosepipe reverse flush? as it would mean me fitting some extra bits to the piping in the garage to beable to connect a hose, that, and I have a phobia of pipes :)

Many thanks for the quick reply.

[John Stumbles]

Turn off isolator or whatever to the float valve (obviously) and bail or syphon out as much as possible. If you have a wet&dry vac that's ideal to clean out most of the muck otherwise you'll just have to do what you can with mops, sponges, j-cloths or whatever.

If you can't find a correct-sized lid for the tank cut up an estate agent's sign to fit!

[roybennet]

You obviously have a lot of spare time on your hands and not a lot of activity planned to fill it.