Is it something in the water?

January 25, 2011 2:12 PM

Why shouldn't I drink the water from the taps in my new dorm room? I just moved into a residence hall in London, and the residence hall info packet instructed us to drink water from the kitchen taps only, not the taps for the sinks in our bedrooms. What's the deal?

I've been drinking the water for three weeks and so far, so good, but what, if anything, am I risking here? The residence hall is in Camden, on Camden Road. My first thought was some sort of problem with the material the water pipes are made of, but the building was built in the 70s and the kitchen water is fine (it's just down the hall) so I figure the pipes in the building and below are probably safe. This water is also apparently fine for brushing my teeth and stuff, so why not drinking?

I've also seen instructions not to drink water from the taps in the public restrooms at the British Library- is this maybe some kind of British regulatory requirement, that water in bathrooms can't be advertised as drinking water or something? I've never seen a similar instruction in the US, FWIW.

I realize this is sort of a silly question, but I'm sitting here drinking the sink water and kind of wondering if I'm somehow doing something harmful. The other people I know in the hall mostly drink the sink water, but they also said they know they aren't supposed to.

posted by MadamM to health & fitness (23 answers total)

The water in the bedroom washbasins is probably from a cold water tank in the roof space and so is not completely fresh. Whilst it probably wouldn't kill you (although the odd pigeon or mouse might have drowned in the tank), it'll probably taste stale.

Kitchen cold water taps must comply with building regulations and be connected to the incoming water main so the water in the kitchen is always fresh.
posted by essexjan at 2:15 PM on January 25, 2011 [4 favorites]

It could also be because of the pipes. Metal contamination from old pipes could be problematic in drinking water (copper or lead). They might have replaced some of the piping, but not all of it.
posted by Gneisskate at 2:19 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

My office building has old lead piping. The water fountains have been fitted with filters, but the bathroom taps all have warning signs on them.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:20 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, and I'm in the US.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:21 PM on January 25, 2011

Perhaps you should inquire with someone who actually could answer this question, namely someone employed by your school in building maintenance or student services.
posted by odinsdream at 2:24 PM on January 25, 2011

I talked to the plumber of my UK college and he told me exactly what essexjan said. He said he wouldn't drink the non-drinking water because a rat might have died in one of the tanks. He also pointed out that you could tell how a tap was supplied by seeing how easy it was to stop the flow with your finger (not possible for a mains-supplied tap).

Remember to always run water taps until they turn cold—that means you are getting fresh water from the mains instead of water that has been stagnating at room temperature.
posted by grouse at 2:24 PM on January 25, 2011

The water may be reclaimed or otherwise non-potable.
posted by zamboni at 2:25 PM on January 25, 2011

Here is a similar question from a year ago.
posted by phunniemee at 2:26 PM on January 25, 2011

Evidence.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:26 PM on January 25, 2011

Essexjan's answer is the most likely. Cold water tanks are very common in UK construction, but kitchen taps are always directly mains-connected.

As a kid growing up in the UK I was taught to only drink from the kitchen tap -- for exactly that hypothetical dead-pigeon-in-the-tank reason.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:37 PM on January 25, 2011

Ew. So I might be washing my face and brushing my teeth with dead rat water? If the water is that open to the elements, what's the point of having the taps at all?

The building wasn't built any earlier than 1970- were people still using lead pipes at that point?

grouse: I tried stopping the flow with my finger and couldn't do it. I should maybe mention that there's a separate hot and cold tap (I don't know if that provides any evidence about how the taps are supplied).

MrMoonPie: The notice not to drink the water was actually buried in a packet of information about when the laundry room is open, where to throw away trash and send mail, etc. Not like the bright red sign in your office!

It looks like it's common in the UK to have these attic tanks, so I guess I should figure out another way to get drinking water in my room. Bummer. I'll also ask at the residence hall management office next time I'm there.
posted by MadamM at 2:41 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

While living in Europe, a dead bird ended up in my apartment's water tank. It was gross. Even grosser was my roommates and I discovered when we went up to see what was stinking the water up: All of the water tanks were filthy, inside and out, and had all manner of moss and whatnot. Don't drink the tap water. You have no way of knowing what has been in the tank or what is currently in the tank.
posted by The World Famous at 2:54 PM on January 25, 2011 [2 favorites]

Common enough in the UK:
Two dead pigeons in tank -- take out!
posted by dhartung at 3:12 PM on January 25, 2011

When I was in school, the water out of the taps/showers was softened, and they didn't take a lot of care as to maintaining consistent levels of water softener. Some weeks, it tasted extremely off, and other weeks it was normal. They never officially warned us away from drinking it, but it certainly wasn't terribly tasty for brushing your teeth on those weeks when they had added new softener to the process.
posted by jferg at 3:20 PM on January 25, 2011

Are you in Ifor Evans Hall? Although Essexjan is completely correct about the general rationale for not drinking water except from the kitchen, there won't be an actual tank on the roof of your building, and no pigeon will be able to die there. FWIW I've drunk from UK bathroom taps my entire life without getting Weil's disease, plombism, or anything worse.
posted by roofus at 3:31 PM on January 25, 2011

From the link via phunniemee:

Depends. In the UK, in some houses bathroom water comes (or used to come) from a tank in the roof; okay for brushing the teeth in but not for drinking. Hence I still have a fear of drinking bathroom water in case of dead owls having floated in it.

Surprisingly more pleasant to envision than rats, or even pigeons.
posted by lhall at 3:44 PM on January 25, 2011

Grouse: Not all areas have water that runs cold all year round. Here in Texas, water from the cold tap is pretty tepid, no matter how long it has been running. If you wait for it to run cold, you might be here a few months.
posted by Addlepated at 3:55 PM on January 25, 2011

I grew up in Texas, but there in the summer I remember the water cooling down somewhat after running it for a while. No, it wouldn't become ice-cold.
posted by grouse at 4:01 PM on January 25, 2011

There might be rules about cleaning out pipework in residential places for prevention of legionella, I don't know for sure. I've been in places - not halls of residence - where all the drinking water pipes had to be superchlorinated occasionally, which is a pain to do. It's not impossible that you could get round such rules (if they do indeed exist in the UK) by just telling everyone that they're not allowed to drink water except from the kitchen tap, which has the whole mains pressure thing and is ok.

All London water is horrible anyway, a dead pigeon or two probably won't make that much difference (and yes, I've drunk dead pigeon water, and cleaned the pigeon out of the water tank, and that was somewhere with a distinctly rural setup and nothing like a normal domestic cold water tank in an attic thankyouverymuch. It still tasted better than London water.)

If you're concerned, buy a 2 litre bottle of water, drink it, refill from the kitchen tap as necessary.
posted by Lebannen at 4:16 PM on January 25, 2011

I am in Ifor, roofus!

And thanks for the help, everyone!
posted by MadamM at 4:18 PM on January 25, 2011

Another possibility: the bathrooms are served by a well that isn't certified for consumption. I've been to many places where the well has gone funny and they just bring in bottled water for consumption.
posted by gjc at 5:14 PM on January 25, 2011

The pipes won't be lead (long out of use by 1970 when those buildings went up).

The sink water is from a tank. Sealed or not, it won't be retreated in storage for consumption. Get a Brita jug.
posted by genghis at 5:27 PM on January 25, 2011

[few comments removed - this is not the thread where we all complain about England.]
posted by jessamyn at 2:03 PM on January 30, 2011