Cultures vary across the world, some of them being incredibly eerie. We bring you one among them, the two taps in the UK! Yes, people in the UK have two taps for basins in Kitchen, Bathrooms, Showers etc. It’s time to dig into the reasons behind such weird tradition!
What are these two taps for?
One tap is for “HOT water” and other for the “COLD”. You cannot wash your hands or take a shower with only one of them. The hot water faucet is boiling water, and the other one will freeze you. Hence, the water gets mixed when you open the valve resulting in the least wastage of water.
Notion behind the two taps
The United Kingdom has houses that are quite old (19th Century and early 20th Century, before the modern valves, came to market) which is why they have the old plumbing system. This system provided cold water directly from the networks. So, later when the need of hot water aroused, people had to install a separate outlet for hot water.
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Law and restriction for use of one tap
Isn’t it surprising to hear that there is a law on the number of taps to be used in households? But it’s true. The UK has a law that prohibits mixing the cold and hot water from the boiler. Since there is no central heating system in the country, so people have a gas column in each house.
Previously, a special cylinder was required for the boiler. The water could go stale, and the cylinder could rust, making the water unhygienic for drinking. Seemingly, this didn’t stop people from mixing hot and cold water which led to the emergence of the law that prohibits this.
Current Scenario
The introduction of the “Mixer” taps have changed the convention in Britain. Now, most modern days properties have taken necessary steps to enable “Mixer taps” to be installed, but the tradition persists!
So, later when the need of hot water aroused, people had to install a separate outlet for hot water.
Make sure to know how much is the cost of new boiler installation.
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