PDA

View Full Version : Lead pipes, dead pidgeons & the myth of the hot water tap.


Tim
January 20th 04, 01:34 PM
This sounds off topic at first, then a bit spammy, then gets back on
topic

First, let me direct you to the other bane of my life. Tea. I've
been working in a tea shop for several months. Go looky at the newly
designed site @ http://www.theteajunction.co.uk. I can promise good
quality tea and super service!

I also lurk in the tea groups, asking people's opinions and trying
occasionally to direct a bit of business The Tea Junctions way (just
like I did above) it's wrong, but they're one of the few specialist
shops left in this world and I like to do my bit!

Now, lets get back on topic. The below link is to the drink.tea FAQ,
and is specifically pointed on their section entitled "Why use cold
tap water? Wouldn't hot tap water boil faster?"
URL:
http://pages.ripco.net/~c4ha2na9/tea/faq.html#2.2.1.

Now I already thought that hot water was bad for you, and couldn't
remember why! My teacher once told me that hot water was bad to drink
because it came from a cold water storage tank in the roof. The water
was then heated (lightly warmed at my school) and spat out in some tap
below. Why was this bad? I asked. I could understand that school
water supplies were probably used less in the art block I was in &
were more likely to stagnate in the tank above, but running the tap
would cure this?

Then he explained his pidgeon theory. One day he'd found a feather in
the sink. A pidgeon feather than could only have come from the tank
upstairs. His theory was that roosting pidgeons could have tried to
drink from the tank and had drowned in it. Therefore making his
theory gruesome enough for a schoolboy to pay attention to.

I should point out that I have always been a gullable person, and it
was several years before I realised that sheep did not have two legs
shorter than the other so they could climb mountains more easily
(thanks to my parents for that one).

When I asked about adjusting water temperatures to put in my
aquarium, someone suggested using hot tap water or boiled kettles to
bring up the temperature. The above doesn't sound good, and now I'm
ready to base my theory on poor water quality!

Hot tap water is usually heated to the point where the benificial
chemicals that "slime" old lead pipes to make them usuable (this is
apparently common practice in water treatment - the cost of replacing
poisoness lead piping is too high compared to the method of slimeing)
breaks down. As stated in the tea faq, this can be bad for human
consumption. The boiling/heating will remove air from the water and
reduce the amount of clorine.

Will this affect the fish in any way? or am I barking up the wrong
pipe?

ps, the tea junction also does coffee...

Geezer From Freezer
January 20th 04, 03:20 PM
I was told yonks ago by my uncle not to put hot water from the tap into a kettle
so I always use cold water and boil it up - habit now.

But for my fish I use both hot and cold (mainly cold) to fill my tank

Donald Kerns
January 20th 04, 04:19 PM
Tim wrote:

> Will this affect the fish in any way? or am I barking up the wrong
> pipe?
>

It's one of those big "IT DEPENDS" things.

*I* have no problem mixing because my hot and cold come from exactly the
same source and I have a tankless water heater. (Yup, I can take a nice
hot shower for WEEKS if I want to).

Each individual should evaluate the situation that they're in for
themselves...

For a risk-adverse, no-brainer, rule-of-thumb, I'd say "Don't do it" but
that leaves enough room for valid debate to make the "rule"
worthless...

-D
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law

Dark Phoenix
January 22nd 04, 01:06 AM
"Donald Kerns" > wrote in message
...
> *I* have no problem mixing because my hot and cold come from exactly the
> same source and I have a tankless water heater. (Yup, I can take a nice
> hot shower for WEEKS if I want to).

And that *tankless* heater may be the key. Heating the water causes certain
minerals to go out of solution (mainly magnesium and calcium). Depending on
what's in your water to start with, these minerals can be desirable. (this
is the c*** on the bottom of your water heater that clogs the lower heating
element eventually) You might test your cold water and know what you've got,
but by using hot, you've altered it's chemistry.....


--
Laurie, Dark Phoenix

"Every dog has it's day, but nights are reserved for cats." -

Donald Kerns
January 22nd 04, 05:44 AM
Dark Phoenix wrote:

> You might test your cold water and know what you've got,
> but by using hot, you've altered it's chemistry.....

165,000 BTU's worth of propane. 80+% efficient.
5 gallons a minute raised from 58 deg F to 140.

Oh baby, I want to take another shower just thinking about it...

Better hope I'm changing that chemistry some...

-D
P.S. The story of the installation of that heater can be found here...
"http://groups.google.com/groups?q=takagi+kerns&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=9kg7qb02s0s%40enews1.newsguy.com&rnum=1"
--
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving
that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof." -Galbraith's Law

George Thompson
January 26th 04, 09:24 AM
Donald Kerns > wrote in message >...
> Dark Phoenix wrote:
>
> > You might test your cold water and know what you've got,
> > but by using hot, you've altered it's chemistry.....
>
> 165,000 BTU's worth of propane. 80+% efficient.
> 5 gallons a minute raised from 58 deg F to 140.
>
> Oh baby, I want to take another shower just thinking about it...
>
> Better hope I'm changing that chemistry some...
>
> -D
> P.S. The story of the installation of that heater can be found here...
> "http://groups.google.com/groups?q=takagi+kerns&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=9kg7qb02s0s%40enews1.newsguy.com&rnum=1"

That's a good rant. I'd post the story of The free laptop, but that
would probably crash most of the news servers. In total, it's gone
back about 15 times... good thing it was free.