this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2025
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Today I Learned (TIL)
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Growing up in the US I learned this exact thing was why there were two taps in the UK instead of a shared tap. That and Legionnaires growing in the hot tanks.
Yeah that's not been true for about 50 years.
We replaced all our lead, and it's a legal requirement to if you find a lead pipe in a system, replace it no matter what (even in listed buildings) or disable the outputs entirely (the latter is more common in VERY OLD buildings, with people then adding a new system somewhere else, sometimes with exposed pipework rather than having to potentially damage walls.)
We also just don't do hot water tanks any more usually, instead doing on-demand boilers.
Does mean that the hot runs cold for about a minute, but it balances out
The hot runs cold for a minute with a tank too. It takes awhile for it to reach the tap.