What happened to stop valve and hot water?

[BobbyJoe]

Hi everyone,

Could someone please explain if this set up is normal and what changed:

• Stopcock under kitchen sink turns off cold water supply in kitchen only
• Stopcock in kitchen wall panel turns off cold water supply in kitchen only
• Red gate valve in airing cupboard next to bathroom turns off cold water supply in bathroom only
• Isolation valve on gas combi boiler turns off hot water supply in kitchen and bathroom

I am top floor flat and was the only property in a block of 6 connected to mains supply to my kitchen and bathroom, but a few months the rest of the 5 flats were disconnected from the water tanks and are now all on mains water supply for their kitchen and bathroom water supply feed.

But I was checking the stopcock in the kitchen wall panel and to my surprise once it was turned off, it stopped all of the hot water supply in my flat and the cold water in the kitchen tap. I don't understand what happened because before everyone was connected to the mains supply for their bathroom only, that particular stopcock only turned off the cold supply to the kitchen and not the hot, so what happened there?

If anyone could please provide some help or advice on this I would be so grateful thanks.

 

[Maryplumb]

Were the water tanks in the roofspace above you? Presumably one of the 5 flats is your neighbour on the top floor? So there is likely to be pipework up there even if only the top floor flats had tanks up there.
When tanks are removed it is common to connect the main to the cold pipe which previously came out of the tank. Maybe the rising main had to be enlarged. So there could have been a rearrangement resulting in the main pipe supplying your combi being taken from a different branch to what it was before and hence your kitchen panel stopcock would now be upstream of both the main to your kitchen sink as before and the main to your combi.

 

[Maryplumb]

Just read your post and replies from this morning. Even if your pipework wasn't touched the rerouting of the main in the roofspace could easily result in what you described. Not sure why it's a massive issue? You are better off than before with a stopcock for the main pipe going into the combi. Only inconvenience would be if you had to have kitchen main off for any length of time which is unlikely. You can still turn off the hot separately at the combi.

 

[BobbyJoe]

Thank you for the replies. I am on the top floor and the attic is above my flat with the disconnected galvanised tanks and pipework.
I am top floor with two flats below me.
The issue is that the cold water supply is now very harsh/dry and I don't know why. Anytime I use the cold water my skin is chapped all over and this issue never ever happened not up until everyone was connected to the mains.
Also when I try to adjust my gas combi boilers hot temperature it doesn't make much of a difference and my boiler has been serviced and is less than 4 years old.
What rerouting of pipework would they have done because there are only two pipes on the rising mains feeding into the bathrooms yet three flats.

 

[Maryplumb]

Hi again Bobby Joe
Are you in Scotland?
In a 6 in a block it was normal to have six galvanised tanks in the roofspace one for each flat and as you rightly say your flat has been converted to an all mains fed supply earlier than the rest because it was a bought flat. The reason you have so many stopcocks is because the system was converted and some of the stopcocks date from before that. Remember that some stopcocks may be upstream of others and it is not necessarily one for each function as if it had been designed from scratch.
Offhand I am not sure if there would have been one riser or two but probably two and you can see this by the Tobies outside your street door.
"Gravity system" refers to tank fed systems so your neighbour no longer has one, and the idea of cross contamination is not really relevant: if the main was contaminated it would affect everyone. I find it unlikely that your skin problems are connected to the water supply.
Without seeing the work we cannot tell you exactly what changes have been made, but from previous threads you have already called an experienced plumber to look at it so if you have further queries ask them.

If the combi hot water adjustment has changed that probably is due to the main having been left at a slightly higher flow than before the job. You can adjust it from the kitchen panel stopcock (have you put that back to exactly where it was?) or the inlet valve under the combi: phone your heating service engineer for advice.

 

[BobbyJoe]

Hi thank you so much for the reply Maryplumb as that's exactly what it may actually be and you might have just solved the great mystery.

I had a visual check done and their were 3 extra large galvanised water tanks in the attic
One main riser for each side of the blocks meaning two in total for a block of 6 flats
There is one toby on the outside boundary of the building which supplies water to all 6 flats
The stop valve in the kitchen has been put to exactly how it was in the first place.

I was testing something out and pray that someone can help me figure and the issue can be resolved but the only time I don't have any issues with my skin (itching or peeling off) is when I only use the hot water mixer tap without mixing any cold water to it. The DHW on the gas combi boiler has been set to about 40 degrees Celsius, I turn the hot water tap fully without any cold water mixing and it seems to be fine. The same with the shower I turn the temperature bar all the way round so no cold water mixes and once again it is okay. Problems only occur when the cold water mixes with the hot water which never happened before but does now.

So any ideas on why it would like this and what can be done about it? I just want it sorted out as it has been a nightmare and I didn't have this problem at all up until everyone was disconnected from the tanks and connected to the mains.


I would be so grateful for any advice thank you.

 

[Maryplumb]

Well BobbyJoe we are not dermatologists! The only thing I can think of is chlorine which is commonly added to mains water - if there is a large amount (eg early in the morning) you can often smell it at the kitchen tap. But I can't see how it would be anything to do with the work as it is added by the water authority to the supply for the whole district. If you think you have chlorine sensitivity maybe the way to test it would be a trip to the swimming pool?

 

[BobbyJoe]

Thanks for the reply and information so far. It is a complete mystery why the stopcock in the kitchen now turns off the hot water and cold in the kitchen when previously it only turned off the cold in the kitchen.
No idea why that would happen once everyone was disconnected from the water tanks and connected to the mains supply with the rising main pipe in the attic. Anyway despite the damage it is causing I guess I have to just let it be because no one can figure it out.