We’ve all been there – stumbling to the bathroom in the middle of the night to quench our thirst with some cold water from the bathroom tap.
It may taste delicious under these circumstances, but should you drink it regularly?
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It’s a subject that has generated a lot of controversy on social media, with many people claiming that they would never dare drink the toilet water, while others insist that it tastes better.
Well, it turns out you’d better head to the kitchen to get a drink.
According to Scottish Water, which has conducted some studies in partnership with WaterSafe, both the environment in which you drink tap water and the age of your home are important.
Older homes often have different plumbing systems, which means the water coming out of the bathroom tap may be less fresh than the water in the kitchen.
Although technically all homes in the UK receive drinking water, if you’re unlucky, toilet water can cause stomach upset and other health problems.
The pros in Victorian Plumbing explained that there are two problems when it comes to drinking toilet water.
Firstly, until the 1970s, houses were generally built with lead pipes in the UK, and although this practice was slowly abandoned after it was revealed that lead water pipes could result in lead poisoning, some older homes may still have them.
The other issue is that your kitchen water will come from the mains – a network of pipes that runs throughout the UK and supplies water to all our homes.
Some houses have a water tank in the attic that normally “does not exceed 25 liters, to ensure that the mains water is continuously filtered”.
How often water is renewed depends on how much water your home uses, which can make it unsafe to drink for a few reasons.
“The first is that it’s simply not a good idea to drink water that’s been stagnant for a while,” the professionals said.
“In general, water from the water tank is more susceptible to contamination. Therefore, the water from the tank only goes to access points made for domestic use – such as the bathroom.
“When water sits stagnant for a while, it has a chance to collect any limescale buildup or debris from the water tank and carry it into the bathroom faucet.”
The second reason is that if your home also has old lead pipes, water that has sat in them for a while can absorb the dangerous lead.
“Over time, this poisonous metal ends up dissolving in the water supply, potentially causing a range of grizzly bear symptoms.”
Some people couldn’t believe they shouldn’t drink toilet water on social media site X, formerly Twitter.
One said: “Why didn’t anyone tell me that toilet water is literally bad for you, it’s all I drink.”
“Wait, shouldn’t I drink toilet water?” Another wrote.
Meanwhile, others noted how they hated the taste compared to kitchen water and bottles.
“I will never drink water from the bathroom tap in my life, you make me sick,” said someone.
“The bathroom water tastes like mold,” another commented on the matter.
And another said the thought of drinking toilet water makes them “shudder”.
More things people are just realizing…
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
