Water supply / quality - any experts in?
Discussion
Hi guys
It's a long story so please bear with me! (TLDR at the bottom!)
My wife and I moved into our house about 5 years ago. House and entire estate has been here since the 70's. No issues to report.
Fast forward to about 2 years ago and we started to notice a film on the water when making drinks if you didn't run the tap for a while. This has steadily got worse, but normally I'm not the type to worry about stuff like this and have seen it before at other people's houses.
Anyway, during the last year or so (we had our first baby in the meantime, 3 yrs ago), the whole family has had regular bouts of stomach bugs and our little one has had them frequently, about every 4-6 weeks he would be sent home from nursery for failing the '3 loose nappies' test in one day and banned from returning for 48 hours. As we've just completed potty training with him, its starting to be a little more noticeable when the poor tyke gets these bouts of course as its no longer contained.
We went away for a week (in the uk) in the summer and all 3 of us miraculously seemed to all recover from the 'bug' we had all had for about 5 days previously, within a few days of getting on holiday.
Sure enough, when we returned the regular bouts started up again. About 4 weeks ago we started filtering the tap water we give to the boy and he has not had a bout since. We even went back to tap water for two days and sure enough the loose toilet trips came back for him! We spent last week away again in The U.K. and he's been fine on the tap water. The wife and I have also been drinking the filtered water for the last few weeks, and we have both not had a return of any issue either.
Naturally we are sticking to the filtered water for the time being!!
The question I have though is where do I start?! Should I contact the water company? Will they even care? One assumes the rest of the estate isn't all experiencing the same thing! Although I don't know that. I assume it's some kind of local to my house issue! Neither my wife and I have experienced such problems before.
Is there an independent body to talk to? Or should I find a private way of getting my water tested and go from there?
TL:DR :- tap water giving the family the s
ts, want to know who I should talk to in order to fix it! 
It's a long story so please bear with me! (TLDR at the bottom!)
My wife and I moved into our house about 5 years ago. House and entire estate has been here since the 70's. No issues to report.
Fast forward to about 2 years ago and we started to notice a film on the water when making drinks if you didn't run the tap for a while. This has steadily got worse, but normally I'm not the type to worry about stuff like this and have seen it before at other people's houses.
Anyway, during the last year or so (we had our first baby in the meantime, 3 yrs ago), the whole family has had regular bouts of stomach bugs and our little one has had them frequently, about every 4-6 weeks he would be sent home from nursery for failing the '3 loose nappies' test in one day and banned from returning for 48 hours. As we've just completed potty training with him, its starting to be a little more noticeable when the poor tyke gets these bouts of course as its no longer contained.
We went away for a week (in the uk) in the summer and all 3 of us miraculously seemed to all recover from the 'bug' we had all had for about 5 days previously, within a few days of getting on holiday.
Sure enough, when we returned the regular bouts started up again. About 4 weeks ago we started filtering the tap water we give to the boy and he has not had a bout since. We even went back to tap water for two days and sure enough the loose toilet trips came back for him! We spent last week away again in The U.K. and he's been fine on the tap water. The wife and I have also been drinking the filtered water for the last few weeks, and we have both not had a return of any issue either.
Naturally we are sticking to the filtered water for the time being!!
The question I have though is where do I start?! Should I contact the water company? Will they even care? One assumes the rest of the estate isn't all experiencing the same thing! Although I don't know that. I assume it's some kind of local to my house issue! Neither my wife and I have experienced such problems before.
Is there an independent body to talk to? Or should I find a private way of getting my water tested and go from there?
TL:DR :- tap water giving the family the s
ts, want to know who I should talk to in order to fix it! Highly unlikely to be the cause, but worth checking. Are your taps fed directly from the mains or supplied from a storage cistern in the attic? If the latter, check there isn't anything dead in there!
Years ago I found a dead bird in a customer's cistern, she had been having stomach upsets for months and was most likely the cause!
I'd try giving whoever supplies your water a call.
Years ago I found a dead bird in a customer's cistern, she had been having stomach upsets for months and was most likely the cause!
I'd try giving whoever supplies your water a call.
When you turn your incoming mains supply tap ( stopcock) off, does water still flow from your kitchen tap ?
If it does, your kitchen tap is incorrectly fed from a water tank and you need some remedial plumbing works.
If it does NOT flow when the stopcock is turned off, call your local water authority and report the problem.
Hint : Don't bother with trying to turn off an internal stop tap.... Go outside and use the one in the drive/street.
If it does, your kitchen tap is incorrectly fed from a water tank and you need some remedial plumbing works.
If it does NOT flow when the stopcock is turned off, call your local water authority and report the problem.
Hint : Don't bother with trying to turn off an internal stop tap.... Go outside and use the one in the drive/street.
Thanks for the prompt replies folks!
We don't have a water tank, of that I'm certain as there is not one in the loft/ any cupboards. I boarded the whole lot out recently so got intimate with the space! It's not hidden in a cupboard anywhere either.
As far as the Kitchen tap stopping. I've had the water off (in house stop tap behind the downstairs loo) off before and the kitchen tap stopped immediately, no supply.
I'll get on to Severn Trent first thing Monday and see if they can send someone to test it.
We don't have a water tank, of that I'm certain as there is not one in the loft/ any cupboards. I boarded the whole lot out recently so got intimate with the space! It's not hidden in a cupboard anywhere either.
As far as the Kitchen tap stopping. I've had the water off (in house stop tap behind the downstairs loo) off before and the kitchen tap stopped immediately, no supply.
I'll get on to Severn Trent first thing Monday and see if they can send someone to test it.
OP
Out of interest, do you have a garden hose attached to an outside tap? If so, is there a check valve ( non return valve) between the hose and the 'live' feed out to the garden ?
Also, does/can your shower head sit in the water in the bath ?
These can both draw back dirty water into your system if not correctly installed or used.
Out of interest, do you have a garden hose attached to an outside tap? If so, is there a check valve ( non return valve) between the hose and the 'live' feed out to the garden ?
Also, does/can your shower head sit in the water in the bath ?
These can both draw back dirty water into your system if not correctly installed or used.
viscountdallara said:
OP
Out of interest, do you have a garden hose attached to an outside tap? If so, is there a check valve ( non return valve) between the hose and the 'live' feed out to the garden ?
Also, does/can your shower head sit in the water in the bath ?
These can both draw back dirty water into your system if not correctly installed or used.
That's an interesting point! It's a no on the shower but I do have an outside tap, which has a simple isolator fitted so I can turn it off during winter and prevent pipes freezing. I never leave a hose connected though, that lives in the shed when not in use Out of interest, do you have a garden hose attached to an outside tap? If so, is there a check valve ( non return valve) between the hose and the 'live' feed out to the garden ?
Also, does/can your shower head sit in the water in the bath ?
These can both draw back dirty water into your system if not correctly installed or used.
Kenty said:
Are your neighbours getting the same problems?
I don't think so. It's night a 'right' neighbourhood so we don't see a lot of each other. Most people are retired and are either tucked up in the house and those that are working like us are out early and returning late. I did meet one or two at a community bonfire last week, suggested we had been a little ill and we're getting better now we had switched water and nobody said they had experienced similar. These people lives 9 or 10 doors along the close from us
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