Water Systems

Mains fed systems:

This is a high pressure system, as all cold water is fed directly from the main domestic supply, this means that by turning off the main cold water stop tap will stop the cold water taps running. This water is used in a way that can control the hot water through its pressure, pushing hot water out from the taps. This means that turning off the same mains will stop the hot water as well. You may still have a vessel where the hot water is stored but with no cold water pressure to push hot water through, it wont reach the taps and will sit in the hot water cylinder.
A South Bank Plumber knows about this system. Many homes have a mixture of both stored (below) and mains fed water. The cold water mains will feed the kitchen and then from storage tanks to the bathroom, whilst all the hot water will be from a stored supply.


An important advantage is that turning off your mains stop tap will immediately turn off all hot and cold water in your home.

One disadvantage is that lots of water can leak out as you try to find your mains stop tap. So find it and let others in the home where it is.

Stored:

This is a lower pressure type of system. It uses the cold water mains feed to your home to fill a large storage tank high up in your home usually in the loft. South Bank Plumbers know this system. The tap water comes from the storage tank, so turning off the mains cold water doesn’t instantly stop water coming out of your taps.

Actually if the tanks are large it may take 20-30 minutes for it to empty and for the taps to stop. During an emergency situation it can be a very long 30 minutes, so if your home uses stored water you need to find out where the valves are that will turn this water off immediately.