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Ermalina

wrote:

Technically you shouldnt drink hot water, for health reasons, nice
cozy warm tank excellent place to grow bacteria

Except, the temperature is generally too high for bacteria to
reproduce rapidly (your body gives you a fever of 105*F to fight
infection), the water is under pressure, and is usually full of
chlorine or chloramine.

I don't doubt that there are a few hardy strains of bacteria that
could thrive in such conditions (some particularly nasty
microorganisms can live in natural hot springs, for example), but it
seems pretty unlikely that they could survive the trip through public
water processing plants.

If you have a well, then all bets are off.

Look up info on the legionella pneumophila bacterium -- the bug that
causes Legionnaire's disease. I keep my water heater at = 140 deg. F to
discourage growth. The bacterium can colonize dead legs of the water
system and pose probs especially in "aerosols" such as showers. It's not
just folks with wells who should be concerned.