Concerns about boiling water taps

I read with disappointment your article on fitting boiling water taps. As a person who attended a water regulation course some 15 years ago, I have been refusing to fit these as they break both the Water and Building Regs. As they are government regulations, and as such are a statutory instrument, it is a criminal offence. If convicted of fitting one of these, the plumber will have a criminal record along with a substantial fine.

Water Regs schedule 2, no 18 Hot Water Services state appropriate vent pipes, temp control and combined pressure relief valves shall be provided to prevent the temperature of the water within a secondary hot water system from exceeding 100° C.

G3 of the Building Regs (3) A hot water system that has a hot water storage vessel shall incorporate precautions to (a) prevent the temperature of the hot water stored in the vessel at any time exceeding 100° C. If you are dispensing water at 100°C at the tap it has to be above that in the storage vessel.

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Water Regulation schedule 2 no 9 states: Any pipe supplying hot water for domestic purposes to any tap shall be so installed that, so far as is practicable, the water is not warmed above 25°C.

I have found no mention of a double check valve in the article or mention of one in Qettle’s instructions and, as it is attached to the mains, does this start raising questions about legionnaires?

I am all for promoting British made goods, but if they can’t be fitted legally what is the point?

Mr W. Wiltshire BSc Eng

Share your views and you could win £100 for writing the star letter premises, along with many older premises, are now metered and leaks go unrecorded.

As for overflow pipes, when they discharged externally people saw the problem almost immediately and carried out a repair relatively quickly, especially when pipes were situated to discharge over doorways! Nowadays, in the early stages of a float valve leak, the leak will be so small people will not even notice it and, by the time they do, it may well have been leaking for weeks.

Moving to showers, apart from a relatively small number of true environmentalists, if most people are honest when they have a shower they want a decent flow rate. As a Water Regulations Manager, over the years I have tried many showerheads that were given to me by manufactures who sought my endorsement of their product. Most of them, to be brutally blunt, were virtually incapable of getting one sufficiently wet to work up a lather. When you eventually did, it took three times as long to wash it off. It makes much more sense to provide a reasonable flow rate and encourage people to spend less time in the shower.

By far the biggest saving can be achieved by the use of grey water systems or, even simpler, rainwater harvesting systems. The problem seems to be the cost. A couple of years ago they built a new primary school at the end of my road and my neighbours and I were invited to see the drawings at the planning stage. It is a single-story building and has a huge roof area. When I questioned why, given that they had solar panels, they didn’t also have a rainwater harvesting system, the answer was that it would have been too expensive. Can you imagine how much water 623 children will flush down the toilet on any given day?!

Yes, we need to save water, but let’s do it sensibly without knee-jerk reactions. If DEFRA had listened to the water industry 20 years ago, we would not have the thousands of leaking drop and flap valves we have today.

Robert Chambers Via email

We asked Qettle to respond to Mr Wiltshire’s concerns and received the following reply:

Subject to being installed in accordance with our instructions and The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, installation of a Qettle system does not break either the Water or Building Regs.

The reason installation of a Qettle does not break the Building Regs is because the water stored inside the boiler tank does not exceed 100°C. This is clearly stated in our marketing literature and in our installation guide.

Mr Wiltshire has assumed that because Qettle is a true boiling water tap (i.e. the boiler heats the water to 100°C), it must be storing water at a higher temperature. This assumption, while understandable, is incorrect. Our unique, patented construction utilises highly advanced materials which are extremely well insulated and prevent almost any heat loss. This means we’re able to ‘only’ heat the water to 100°C and the tap will still dispense water between 99°C - 100°C.

With regards to the water regulations, double check valves and legionnaires, our boiler contains a nonreturn valve to prevent the possibility of backflow, so installation of a double check valve isn’t necessary. A non-verifiable single check valve is deemed suitable for fluid category 2, which covers heated water.

The installer may see fit to install a double check valve on the inlet to the filter/boiler as a ‘belt and braces’ solution, but we leave that decision to the individual professionals to decide.

We would therefore respectfully point out that Qettle can be installed legally. Many thousands of Qettle taps have been installed by plumbers since the brand was launched in 2018. We work closely with WRAS, and the water companies and no criminal prosecutions or convictions have ever been made as a result of installing one of our products.

Stylish glasses keep safety well in sight

New from Carhartt is a range of lightweight, tough, and highly protective safety glasses, including the new Half-Frame Ratcheting Temple design. These glasses meet the European Standard EN 166 for protective eyewear and feature polycarbonate lenses and frames, making them nearly unbreakable. Polycarbonate is 250 times more impact-resistant than glass and 10 times more resistant than standard plastic. The lenses are also thin and lightweight while blocking 100% of UV rays.

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Clipacore now sold through Nerrad Tools

Snap up a summer time deal

Testo has launched its summer special offers for flue gas analysers. For a limited time, all testo 327 and 300 flue gas analyser kits come with a free set of three adjustable water pump pliers. These pliers have a comfortable rubber grip, long handles, and strong hardened steel. Testo 327 is a robust and reliable multifunction flue gas analyser offering great value for money. It features easy menu navigation, measures O2 and CO, calculates ratios, CO2, and more. Testo 300 is a wireless and efficient analyser with smart functionality, including a large 5in HD colour touchscreen display, email/ Bluetooth customer reports, and the ability to connect up to four testo Smart Probes.

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The Clipacore tool system for users of core drills is now available to tradespeople across the UK from Nerrad Tools. Clipacore is a clip release system which allows users to change and remove core bits from drills quickly and effortlessly. Dismantling a core drill after use often requires physical strength and brute force, as torque tension locks components together. Clipacore was conceived by a heating engineer who broke his hand hammering a wrench to change a bit – a course of action likely to be familiar to anyone who regularly uses a core drill. The other issue with core drilling is waste concrete becoming wedged in the tool, another problem which the Clipacore system was designed to address.

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Tough as steel racking

Recently exhibited at the Commercial Vehicle show in Birmingham, Van Guard’s new ULTIBar Trade steel roof bar is a robust van roof bar system that offers the strength of steel while retaining features similar to the company’s aluminium bar, the ULTIBar+. It maintains an aerodynamic profile, reducing wind noise and drag for improved fuel efficiency. The Trade version also features Van Guard’s T-track system, providing useful tie-down options. With a durable Magnelis coating, high-strength structural steel, a 60kg load capacity per bar, and easy installation using fixing points, the ULTIBar Trade is designed to offer both practicality and functionality. ◼ phamnews.co.uk/623/15