Do you boil water from hot tap to make drinks

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jonasw19

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If not why not?
Hot water comes from same tank as cold water.
Our morning kettle takes an age to boil from cold as it has to provide for a cafetiere and a teapot.
Jon
 
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yes why not the hot tank only holds 10 L and we use less gas that way as the tank is only on until the water is hot then we switch off

We are used to drinking from the tank anyway
 
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If we're going out for the day from home, I use the EHU to heat the water before we and then, as you suggest, use that hot water to fill the kettle. Much faster to boil than using cold water.
 
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We have always drunk from the tank, and find it tastes fine, may give it a try tomorrow

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Hot tap in the kitchen is at the end of a long copper pipe from the CH boiler because we don't have a hot water tank. Firing up the CH boiler to fill the kettle (is yours electric?) would be very inefficient. The copper pipe remains full of unused hot water, that loses heat.

Better to measure the precise amount* of water from the cold tap (or jug filter) for a cuppa and boil that on the gas hob using a (whistling) kettle. I'm guessing this method uses less gas.

*400 ml in my example
 
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If you fill your tank from a site hosepipe your water is contaminated straight away so don’t matter hot or cold
 
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Bottled water from Aldi and Lidl is so cheap, at around 10p a litre, that I always use it for hot and cold drinks when travelling. Tap water is OK for washing up and showers.
 
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We use either but it makes no difference as we rarely use the boiler, for washing up as I just put the kettle on the hob, the only time the boiler gets used is for showers and/or getting a strip wash.

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Funny how we are all different init!
Since our caravan days, we have always used "Known to be Safe" tap water in the UK, if not bottled then spring water for drinking/boiling kettle etc, as the 4 ltr tap water container is replenished everyday fresh, and the bottled spring water has a sell by date, even though its taken thousands of years to seep through limestone rock.:giggle:

I do clean out the 100 Ltr van fresh water tank in the at the start of the season, as I have seen the green algae build up in our empty food safe 4 ltr fresh water container when left empty over a few months with lid on.:eek:

I was thinking of buying one of those water filtration bags that Hikers use, or 20ltr jerry can thingies (Lifesaver make em) so you can scoop up water from lochs, rivers, or anywhere, they are fully food safe, as they have filters to take the water down to a mere micron etc, but they are bloomin expensive, even though they do 2500 gallons per filter. Its the Scotsman in me I guess.:giggle:

Its not so much the purity, as we are mostly boiling it, its the taste, if that makes sense, just like we wont use plastic glasses in the van either, nothing worse than a single malt whisky out of a plastic glass.:sick:

We all have our own methods, tastes, & opinions, I guess we always will, but I am still here to tell the story at least.
Cheers all.
LES
 
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I washup on the cooker,with a large chrome washup bowl and stack pots into sink to drain,the gas hob heats the water and i use the marigolds ,cos it can get nice and hot 🤗
boiler is used for shower only 🚿
 
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I think that scientifically there is no problem with this. However the human palette is very sensitive. If the water from the hot water tank is freshly heated we might get way with it.

Wouldn't normally do it though.
 
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Gosh NO! don't know what's lurking inside our tank, and how drinkable the supply that filled it was..shower and was up yes...but that too is not often...☺️
We filter water into a 5 litre container via a Backpackers pump from a suitable source...normally home , then fill up kettle and coffee maker from there...
On some Camperstops I've seen others....yes others, different type of van users, wash their cassette with the drinking supply....have to be careful with water contamination...😇👍🇪🇦

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TinaL said:
and the bottled spring water has a sell by date, even though its taken thousands of years to seep through limestone rock.
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That's because the plastics from the bottle leech into the water.
TinaL said:
Its not so much the purity, as we are mostly boiling it, its the taste, if that makes sense,
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I have a Filtapac Econoflow filter in line with the kitchen tap replace the filter in it each year for 6 quid, gets rid of any nasty tastes.
The nasty tastes are normally due to minerals in the water reacting with the plastic pipes so the taste is affected by the minerals in the water where you fill up.
 
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Lizbiebrowne said:
If we're going out for the day from home, I use the EHU to heat the water before we and then, as you suggest, use that hot water to fill the kettle. Much faster to boil than using cold water.
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Before we leave home, whether going out for the day or for longer, we fill a flask (or two) with boiling water from the kettle at home. No waiting for the kettle to boil. When traveling, we always fill the flasks in the morning before we set off, whether on gas or EHU, letting the water boil while we are eating breakfast. We usually carry a few litres of (fresh wherever possible) water in a container for filling the kettle, but would use it from the tank via the cold tap if we don't have any, which would be very rare. It's just a case of being organised and I have a very competent organiser who frequently 'offers advice' lol
 
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jumar said:
On some Camperstops I've seen others....yes others, different type of van users, wash their cassette with the drinking supply....have to be careful with water contamination.
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Johny foreigner good at that, French & Spanish are the worst & some of the Dutch. I can never understand why they have to ram the spout of the cassette completely over the tap.
 
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No but I honestly don’t know why.
I think it’s probably for the same reason I don’t drink from the bathroom taps at home because I feel it tastes different.

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As our MoHo is our home the water tank is re-filled every few days.
We don’t drink the tank water, habit left over from camping, but I do sometimes use the hot tap water to kick-start the veg cooking.
 
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I fitted a microbial filter system to the cold tap to the wash basin. Always use that for water for cooking and drinking as well as cleaning our teeth.

I clean the whole system once a year using food grade citric acid (cheap from Amazon) and replace the microbial filter.

And, most importantly, I NEVER trust a campsite's or Aire's hose. I always take it off and use my own or use watering cans. Also spray and wipe the tap before use.
 
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TinaL said:
Funny how we are all different init!
Since our caravan days, we have always used "Known to be Safe" tap water in the UK, if not bottled then spring water for drinking/boiling kettle etc, as the 4 ltr tap water container is replenished everyday fresh, and the bottled spring water has a sell by date, even though its taken thousands of years to seep through limestone rock.:giggle:

I do clean out the 100 Ltr van fresh water tank in the at the start of the season, as I have seen the green algae build up in our empty food safe 4 ltr fresh water container when left empty over a few months with lid on.:eek:

I was thinking of buying one of those water filtration bags that Hikers use, or 20ltr jerry can thingies (Lifesaver make em) so you can scoop up water from lochs, rivers, or anywhere, they are fully food safe, as they have filters to take the water down to a mere micron etc, but they are bloomin expensive, even though they do 2500 gallons per filter. Its the Scotsman in me I guess.:giggle:

Its not so much the purity, as we are mostly boiling it, its the taste, if that makes sense, just like we wont use plastic glasses in the van either, nothing worse than a single malt whisky out of a plastic glass.:sick:

We all have our own methods, tastes, & opinions, I guess we always will, but I am still here to tell the story at least.
Cheers all.
LES
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Disagree the thing that's worse than malt whisky in a plastic glass is no malt whisky in the glass
 
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We carry three 4 pint milk bottles which I have steriled for drinking water. There are filled straight from the tap to avoid hose contamination.
 
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The actual science is quite complicated. Most water (99.9% in the UK) contains chlorine. This is added at the water treatment plant. Chlorine decays from the moment it leaves the water treatment plant. It decays by reacting with substances in the water and results in things called Disinfection Bi Products (DBPs)

DBPs are unpleasant things that can give an off taste but be harmful in large concentrations

The rate and extent of the formation of DBPs is generally related and proportional to the following

1) The level of chlorine
2) The amount of organic matter in the water
3) The length of time in contact with the water
4) The temperature

Therefore using hot water would generally lead to an increase in 2), 3) and 4) and therefore it becomes more likely that you will get unpleasant tastes if you use previously heated water for your morning cuppa

Some people can't taste it, some people taste it even at very low concentrations

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We tried it this morning
Aaaaaand ...... didn'nt notice any difference in taste but much faster to boil.
Black coffee from a cafetiere, and black Earl Grey teabags.
I forgot to look at the hw temp in the tank but it is usually approx 50°
I will try again tomorrow
 
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If hot tap water is typically at 60 C, whereas cold water is probably between 10C and 20C , you get a 40 to 50 degree start, and it will probably need less than half the time and energy to boil the kettle, but my question is, "What's the rush?" There are so many little jobs that can be done while waiting for a kettle to boil. Or just sit and have another minute relaxing.

I don't see how you are saving much gas, since you will be heating up the water again, but since it only costs a few pence to boil a kettle this really is not going to noticeable on the budget. I must say that I like knowing that I am drinking clean bottled water when travelling.
 
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jonasw19 said:
If not why not?
Hot water comes from same tank as cold water.
Our morning kettle takes an age to boil from cold as it has to provide for a cafetiere and a teapot.
Jon
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Yes, always and at home (Combi boiler) our household water has a chlorine taste when boiled from cold tap, but tastes fine if drank cold. I have no idea why but it does? However is fine when passed through boiler.
Also boil’s quicker.
 
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Dave Scadding said:
Yes, always and at home (Combi boiler) our household water has a chlorine taste when boiled from cold tap, but tastes fine if drank cold. I have no idea why but it does? However is fine when passed through boiler.
Also boil’s quicker.
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I can't think of any logical reason why that would be the case. The combi has only heated water in a similar way to the kettle.
 
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