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Submission: On June 08 via manual from US — Scanned from DE
Effective URL: https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2404,00.html
Submission: On June 08 via manual from US — Scanned from DE
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Skip to main content * Sign in * Register Go to: Guardian Unlimited homeUK newsWorld newsComment is free blogSport blogArts & entertainment blogPodcastsIn picturesVideo----------------------Archive searchArts and entertainmentBooksBusinessEducationGuardian.co.ukEnvironmentFilmFootballJobsKatine appealLife and styleMediaGuardian.co.ukMoneyMusicThe ObserverPoliticsScienceShoppingSocietyGuardian.co.ukSportTalkTechnologyTravelBeen there----------------------AudioEmail servicesSpecial reportsThe GuardianThe northernerThe wrap----------------------Advertising guideCompare finance productsCrosswordFeedbackGarden centreGNM press officeGraduateGuardian BookshopGuardianEcostoreGuardianFilmsHeadline serviceHelp / contactsInformationLiving our valuesNewsroomNotes & QueriesReader OffersSoulmates datingStyle guideSyndication servicesTravel offersTV listingsWeatherWeb guidesWorking for us----------------------Guardian AbroadGuardian WeeklyMoney ObserverPublicLearnGuardian back issuesObserver back issuesGuardian Professional * News * Sport * Comment * Culture * Business * Money * Life & style * Travel * Environment * TV * Video * Data * Mobile * Offers * Jobs * News * Guardian Home Recent queries Send a query Crossword Lucky dip Any answers? About Notes and Queries Sudoku Categories Nooks and crannies Yesteryear Semantic enigmas The body beautiful Red tape, white lies Speculative science This sceptred isle Root of all evil Ethical conundrums This sporting life Stage and screen Birds and the bees THIS SCEPTRED ISLE Why do British houses have separate cold water storage tanks? On the continent there are no separate tanks, the water coming straight off the mains and avoiding the problem of burst tanks and flooding. * THE COLD water storage tank provides room for expansion of the hot water in the cylinder below it. More modern cylinders have an air cushion at the top which compresses to make room for the hot water as it expands. Presumably continental plumbers have been quicker to adopt this new system. Seb Wills, Cambridge (saw27@cam.ac.uk) * My parents have had no problem with the old-fashioned cold water tank system in their house in England for 53 years. In just five years in our house here in Germany, we have had the plumber in six times to fix the high-tech pressure compensation thing in a big ugly red metal ballon affair on the cellar wall. We also have to let air out of the radiators at least once a week in winter, because it still doesn't work properly. Germans travelling in England are often a bit sniffy about bathroom tubs and baisins having two separate taps for hot and cold water, instead of the wonderful mixing units common here. The plumbers should certainly prefer the German system when reviewing what it costs to have them serviced and replaced over just a few years. Many aspects of British household technology are simply much better than their continental counterparts - especially the much safer electrical installations and fittings. But don't let the Brussels regulators in on this; let sleeping ball-cocks lie. Paul Worthington, Reutlingen, Germany * Seb Wills is confusing the hot water expansion tank (usually quite small), which keeps your central heating topped-up, with the larger water tank that is used to provide a head of water to refill the hot water tank as it empties. This tank is often also used to feed cold water to other taps which has the advantage of providing cold water at the same pressure as the hot - essential for showers etc. However at least one tap in the house is usually connected directly to the mains. M J Robinson, Rainham * We haven't had one of these absurd systems of interconnecting tanks at different levels in the house since we installed a (British) combination boiler which heats water as we use it. It works perfectly well and means we don't pay to keep a tank of water, which is never quite big enough, hot all the time. We can run bath after bath as we want and I recommend the system. The continentals are right to wonder at our antiquated methods, but they would understand if they witnessed the entrenched conservatism of your average British plumber. Ian Pennell, Worcester * The purpose of the tank is to prevent the possibility of water from the house (possibly contaminated) flowing back into the main. A supply pipe with a ballcock allows mains water to fall through the air into the top of the tank when the tank level drops - but there is no way it can get back into the supply pipe from the tank. It's essentially a foolproof one-way valve. It also allows a lowish constant flow rate (available through a thin and therefore cheap mains pipe) to be converted into a higher but intermittent flow rate for the house. Phil Cohen, Sydney, Australia Add your answer Privacy policy | Terms & conditions | Advertising guide | A-Z index | Inside guardian.co.uk | About this site Join our dating site today guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011