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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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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? |
#2
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
Suz wrote:
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. 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 -- Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh. |
#3
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message ... Suz wrote: 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. I understood that it was the usual (now mandatory?) practice to feed the bathroom sink cold tap from the rising main, for this reason. Well if it isn't, it should be. |
#4
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"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 |
#5
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Owain" wrote in message ... "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. 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. |
#6
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 00:30:44 +0100, "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? ..andy To email, substitute .nospam with .gl |
#7
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Andy Hall" wrote in message news On Fri, 25 Jun 2004 00:30:44 +0100, "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 Yes. and electrical installations? Off topic. Please focus. Mmmm, never heard of Wayne Rooney, doesn't like the English flag or sport, now can't focus. Interesting... |
#8
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"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 |
#9
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
In article , Andy Hall
writes Have you seen American water heaters and electrical installations? I have. My parent's bungalow in Florida has hot water supplied by a massive cylinder in the garage. At a guess, it's ~6ft tall and ~3ft dia, powered by a single 220v immersion element; not sure of the wattage. Needless to say, the cylinder is unlagged and when starting from cold, takes hours to produce any hot water. They now leave it switched on all the time. The wiring to the element was also, um, "interesting". -- A. Top posters. Q. What's the most annoying thing on Usenet? |
#10
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
In article , Mike Tomlinson
writes In article , Andy Hall writes Have you seen American water heaters and electrical installations? I have. My parent's bungalow in Florida has hot water supplied by a massive cylinder in the garage. At a guess, it's ~6ft tall and ~3ft dia, powered by a single 220v immersion element; not sure of the wattage. Needless to say, the cylinder is unlagged Unlagged..no wonder global warming is becoming a problem.... and when starting from cold, takes hours to produce any hot water. They now leave it switched on all the time. The wiring to the element was also, um, "interesting". -- Tony Sayer |
#11
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
In article ,
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. You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity. -- *The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese * Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#12
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity. Some do. Some use gas. Some even use oil. Sheila |
#13
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"S Viemeister" wrote in message ... "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote: You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity. Some do. Some use gas. Some even use oil. 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. |
#14
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , 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. You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity. 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 |
#15
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
In article ,
Bob wrote: You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity. 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. I suspect gas isn't as freely available as here - it's a much larger country to pipe up. 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. 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. -- *Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them * Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#16
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Bob" wrote in message ... Dave Plowman (News) wrote: In article , 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. You're right for once. The Americans do think we're mad using combis - they heat their water by electricity. 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. They have condensing forced air units. J&S do not, only an after market conversion unit for a conventional flue. We couldn't even buy an electric kettle - "Haven't you got a stove?" they all said. Bob |
#17
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:32:52 +0100, Suz wrote:
the first thing I noticed was when I went to brush my teeth the water was stinking. Is this tap fed from the rising main or from the tank? We ran the water full blast for an hour and it improved but the next morning it was manky again. Was niff chlorine? 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? 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... -- Cheers Dave. pam is missing e-mail |
#18
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message ll.com... On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:32:52 +0100, Suz wrote: the first thing I noticed was when I went to brush my teeth the water was stinking. Is this tap fed from the rising main or from the tank? We ran the water full blast for an hour and it improved but the next morning it was manky again. Was niff chlorine? 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? 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... If the mains are dirty install an in-line filter on the mains pipe. |
#19
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message ll.com... On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:32:52 +0100, Suz wrote: the first thing I noticed was when I went to brush my teeth the water was stinking. Is this tap fed from the rising main or from the tank? Water tank We ran the water full blast for an hour and it improved but the next morning it was manky again. Was niff chlorine? no just .. well... yuk. Hard to describe. 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? 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... -- Cheers Dave. pam is missing e-mail Thanks for that Dave |
#20
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Ciao bella. Back home to water tank problem.
In article ,
Suz wrote: 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 the tank covered properly? Modern types come with a lid. However, as in the kitchen, drinking water should be off the mains direct, and teeth cleaning water comes into this category. It might be pretty easy to swap the basin cold feed from the tank to a fresh one in a bathroom, since the cold feed to the tank is often routed through there. -- *A bicycle can't stand alone because it's two tyred.* Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
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