Top tips

On 23/08/2012 14:39, Richard Tobin wrote:
In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

A third 'tap' producing instant boiling
water would be useful, though. But dangerous. ;-)

We have these at work, but it's not quite boiling enough to make
a good cup of tea.

We have them too, but I find them to hot to produce a good cup of coffee.
--
Phil Cook

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Davey wrote:
It is now fairly common in kitchens where there is a whole-house water
softener. Hot, cold, and un-softened for drinking.

Sounds untidy to me. You'd mostly use hot water - apart from for cooking
or drinking - so is it really worth having softened cold at the sink?

I would have thought that an unsoftened supply for the WC would be more
useful since that uses most of the water. There's nothing wrong with
drinking softened water though I suppose people used to hard might think it
tastes 'soapy'.

--
Max Demian

In article ,
Max Demian wrote:
Sounds untidy to me. You'd mostly use hot water - apart from for cooking
or drinking - so is it really worth having softened cold at the sink?

I would have thought that an unsoftened supply for the WC would be more
useful since that uses most of the water.

But needs lots of cleaning in a hard water area.

There's nothing wrong with drinking softened water though I suppose
people used to hard might think it tastes 'soapy'.

Given it's been lying some time, I'd rather have fresh.

--
*It was all so different before everything changed.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:26:35 +0100
"Max Demian" wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Davey wrote:
It is now fairly common in kitchens where there is a whole-house
water softener. Hot, cold, and un-softened for drinking.

Sounds untidy to me. You'd mostly use hot water - apart from for
cooking or drinking - so is it really worth having softened cold at
the sink?

I would have thought that an unsoftened supply for the WC would be
more useful since that uses most of the water. There's nothing wrong
with drinking softened water though I suppose people used to hard
might think it tastes 'soapy'.


One of the main reasons for softening water is to reduce the effects of
lime scale in the pipes, so bypassing the WC pipes would still allow
build-up in them. Not to mention the build-up in the cistern.
Many people do not like the taste of softened water. I have heard that
it is recommended that unsoftened is better for the body, but I have no
references.
--
Davey.

"Davey" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:26:35 +0100
"Max Demian" wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Davey wrote:
It is now fairly common in kitchens where there is a whole-house
water softener. Hot, cold, and un-softened for drinking.

Sounds untidy to me. You'd mostly use hot water - apart from for
cooking or drinking - so is it really worth having softened cold at
the sink?

I would have thought that an unsoftened supply for the WC would be
more useful since that uses most of the water. There's nothing wrong
with drinking softened water though I suppose people used to hard
might think it tastes 'soapy'.

One of the main reasons for softening water is to reduce the effects of
lime scale in the pipes, so bypassing the WC pipes would still allow
build-up in them. Not to mention the build-up in the cistern.

Lime scale mainly builds up in the hot water system. (Calcium bicarbonate -
carbonate if you remember your school chemistry.) Hydrochloric acid based
bog cleaners are available to remove the scale from the lavatory bowl, and,
in my experience, those blocks in plastic cages you clip inside the rim
prevent limescale build up (as well as fragrancing the bathroom every time
you flush).

--
Max Demian

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Max Demian wrote:
Sounds untidy to me. You'd mostly use hot water - apart from for
cooking
or drinking - so is it really worth having softened cold at the sink?

I would have thought that an unsoftened supply for the WC would be more
useful since that uses most of the water.

But needs lots of cleaning in a hard water area.

Lime scale mainly builds up in the hot water system. (Calcium bicarbonate -
carbonate if you remember your school chemistry.) Hydrochloric acid based
bog cleaners are available to remove the scale from the lavatory bowl, and,
in my experience, those blocks in plastic cages you clip inside the rim
prevent limescale build up (as well as fragrancing the bathroom every time
you flush).

There's nothing wrong with drinking softened water though I suppose
people used to hard might think it tastes 'soapy'.

Given it's been lying some time, I'd rather have fresh.

The water softeners I have seen soften it on the way through.

--
Max Demian

In article ,
Max Demian wrote:
Lime scale mainly builds up in the hot water system. (Calcium
bicarbonate - carbonate if you remember your school chemistry.)
Hydrochloric acid based bog cleaners are available to remove the scale
from the lavatory bowl, and, in my experience, those blocks in plastic
cages you clip inside the rim prevent limescale build up (as well as
fragrancing the bathroom every time you flush).

Not in this part of London. Toilet needs a proper de-scale regularly.

--
*Pride is what we have. Vanity is what others have.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 23/08/2012 09:57, in article , "Richard
Tobin" wrote:

There's a flat in a Glasgow tenement that's been preserved as a
museum.
...
Now I think about it, I don't recall a bathroom, so it may be one of
those with a shared toilet that you described. Obviously Glasgow had
a higher proportion of working-class tenements than Edinburgh.

It does have a bathroom.

--
Bill Findlay
with blueyonder.co.uk;
use surname & forename;

On Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:18:47 +0100
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
Max Demian wrote:
Lime scale mainly builds up in the hot water system. (Calcium
bicarbonate - carbonate if you remember your school chemistry.)
Hydrochloric acid based bog cleaners are available to remove the
scale from the lavatory bowl, and, in my experience, those blocks
in plastic cages you clip inside the rim prevent limescale build up
(as well as fragrancing the bathroom every time you flush).

Not in this part of London. Toilet needs a proper de-scale regularly.


And East Anglia regards London as a soft-water area.

My area in East Anglia: "Your water is Very Hard at 172 mg/l as
calcium."
Epping, which is nearer to London, has only 140 mg/l Ca/l or 350
mg/l CaCo3. Described as 'hard'.
But then, the Victoria/Parliament area of London is reported as 270
CaCo3, but only 'Hard.' Now that's confusing.
--
Davey.

In message , Bill Findlay
writes
On 23/08/2012 09:57, in article , "Richard
Tobin" wrote:

There's a flat in a Glasgow tenement that's been preserved as a
museum.
...
Now I think about it, I don't recall a bathroom, so it may be one of
those with a shared toilet that you described. Obviously Glasgow had
a higher proportion of working-class tenements than Edinburgh.

It does have a bathroom.

My maternal grandparents lived in a tenement in Clydebank, opposite John
Browns shipyard.

The communal toilet was outside, just past the communal wash-house.

The bathroom was a tin bath in the same room as the bed, and everything
else.
--
Ian