Evolution of English plumbing

See how the English went from one-tab-sinks over two-tab-sinks back to one-tap-sinks, but this time hot and cold water combined!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• England
• two
• taps
• hot
• water
• cold
• plumbing
• stupid

[sharrynuk]

Good video, but you didn't mention the cause of such weird plumbing. It's the inferior pressure and old plumbing. Almost every American home was built in the last 50 years or so, while most British homes are over 100 years old, and hot water systems are retrofits of indoor plumbing systems that barely worked in the first place.

[masohn]

@sharrynuk That brings up the question why other countries with old houses like Germany and France don't have that problem?

[ZoraHurston]

My point exactly :) And it never ceases to amaze me that most English people view their two taps as highly absurd but do nothing to improve their pitiful plumbing situation. As if saying "Yeah, we're so backward, aren't we?" solved everything.

Your video made me a little nostalgic about my dorm room and kitchen from when I lived in England - they looked so similar :)

[wyliemick]

@lemonrind As for mixer taps. Most modern houses in England do have mixer taps fitted as standard, but the water is still not mixed in the body of the tap. There are two channels within the tap. One for hot water, one cold.

[wyliemick]

@lemonrind Most houses now have a combi boiler so the hot water storage is no longer a problem, but why spend a fortune to change all the bath, sinks and plumbing .in a house when there is no need. New combi boilers have a hot water temperature setting, so if the water in the hot tap is too hot, just turn the temperature down. It’s as easy as that

[wyliemick]

@lemonrind It all comes down to health and safety. The older type of water heaters used store the hot water in a tank. And as everyone knows, bacteria love warm places. So the hot water tank is a very good place for it to grow. And as I said, that is way you can’t mix the hot and cold water.

[lemonrind]

@wyliemick I've heard this explanation many times, but it doesn't answer the main question: How come every other country in the world gets by just fine with regular taps that mix the water under the sink? I think the British just like being obtuse. :)

[wyliemick]

UK regulations do not allow mixing mains (drinking) water with heated water in the body of the tap. They must be kept apart.This avoids drawing warm, potentially harmful (bacteria sustaining) water into the drinking water if the mains is turned off or loses pressure.

[andziazet]

Damn, washing dishes in my kitchen is a torture! I HATE this!

[wank0r]

im from the UK and we have normal mixed taps in our house :-D maybe im special

[tomothy61]

And yes, when I visit somewhere with separate taps, I find that very annoying!

[tomothy61]

@masohn Germany, France, the USA and many other countries never used gravity-fed hot water. Their tanks were always fed by mains-pressure water. Such a system, although invented in the UK, was actually banned here until 1986, when it was allowed but with more safety devices than you usually see on the continent.

@sharrynook: There are many UK homes over 100 years but they're not the majority. According to the Govt., in 1999,35% of the housing stock was pre-WWii. That will be less now of course.