why is it not a good idea to drink water from the bathroom taps?!

It used to be that the bathroom taps were supplied with water from a tank in the loft rather than the rising main. You can easily find out which water supplies your bathroom by turning the stopcock off, if this turns the water in the bathroom off it means that water is coming from the rising main and is ok to drink.

Bathroom taps are normally supplied via a holding tank rather than direct from the mains.

In holding tanks the water is never completely changed, they only refill on top of the water already there. this means that any contamination of the in the original water is never eliminated, and is prone to further contamination. These storage tanks are rarely sealed from outside sources so are open to the collection of dead flies and spiders, and possibly dead rodents, not a nice thought.

Plumber in a previous life

It depends on which area you're in, and in which country.

Generally, if it's North America or Western Europe, the tapwater's fine to drink if the tap comes straight from the cold mains. The only thing to be wary of is if you have lead pipes (will need a filter), live in an area with hard water (but that's just on taste grounds) or drinking from the warm water tap.

If you drink from the warm water tap, you might be drinking directly from an immersion heater or cistern instead of the cold mains, so don't do that. We found a dead bat in our cistern tank once, so it's a good job we weren't drinking from the warm water tap!

From a germ point of view i wouldnt .. people who use the toilet then come in and use the taps to wash their hands.... so you dont know what you may be drinking from....

Also the cold water most likely comes from a cold water tank where the water has been sitting for a while and anything could be lingering in there... al sorts of germs..... Bottled water would be best!

It maybe help. http://yourselect.info/27738/bottle-water

http://yourselect.info/27738/bottle-water

because water in the bathroom usually comes from a tank in the loft so is not fresh for drinking because you dont know how long its been sat there, unless you have a combi boiler, in which case there is no difference.

You could drink the water from the toilet if completely sterilised and clean. Nothing wrong with the tap or water supply to the bathroom. I do.

It's contaminated... with... Rabies.

:D

Unless your bathroom tap is filthy then it should be fine. I drink out of the water hose alot.

It comes from the same source as all the other cold taps!