Low volume hot water solution

[High Peaker]

Just installed a new way of getting hot water on tap

It is a 3 litre pump pot, bought from a catering supplier, mounted on B pillar above sink.
Fill it up with hot water before you leave home, and it's good for the first night's coffee, morning wash and breakfast.
If you are in a campsite, top it up from the shower block hot tap, and it saves boiling water from cold all the time.

I store it in a cupboard for travelling though - don't want 3l of hot water down my neck if in an accident

Photo in my Garage, but can't get it to accept a new Modification for some reason (keeps telling me I have not filled in all Required fields, even though I have).

[ding-dang-dhu]

Just installed a new way of getting hot water on tap

It is a 3 litre pump pot, bought from a catering supplier, mounted on B pillar above sink.
Fill it up with hot water before you leave home, and it's good for the first night's coffee, morning wash and breakfast.
If you are in a campsite, top it up from the shower block hot tap, and it saves boiling water from cold all the time.

I store it in a cupboard for travelling though - don't want 3l of hot water down my neck if in an accident

Photo in my Garage, but can't get it to accept a new Modification for some reason (keeps telling me I have not filled in all Required fields, even though I have).

What a cracking idea! Better hope its fixed in place well. If not, the next emergency stop could provide a bit fo a hot neck.

Great idea tho.

[daschmoo]

Isn't using water from a "hot water tap" just an invitation for Legionnaire's Disease? I was always under the impression that drinking water from a hot water-tanked system was a definite no no?

[T'Onion]

we use those pump flasks at work

[High Peaker]

Isn't using water from a "hot water tap" just an invitation

You don't drink it at that temperature - that would be horrible!
You either use it at tap temp to wash in, or pump it into the kettle for boiling, which kills off bacteria.

[matty o]

You cant get Legionnaire's Disease by drinking water. you have to inhale water vapor deep into your lungs.

[scoobert]

Think you might just have started THE trend for summer 2009! Given the usual sub-Arctic conditions between May and September, seems like a fine idea. Usually use a "super solar shower" (sic) for decidedly tepid water, except at Deva, when the sun actually and predictably comes out. Shall be looking into this...

[daschmoo]

Right, having been "put right" about the Legionnaire's Disease thing I thought I'd do a bit of research as to why from being a small child I was told to never drink from the hot tap... (my mum and dad aren't/weren't cotton wool wrapping-uppers so they must have had a reason!)

With Google as my friend I have found out that the actual reason that drinking from a hot-water tap is ill-advised is because of the following (some of which may not all still be relevant if building regs etc have changed)

they are allowed to be connected to

1 lead pipes
2 stagnant water in a heated tank
3 re cycled water from the roof

Also if you have ended up with water that's come through lead pipes then even the smallest rise in temperature increases the absorption of lead contaminants into the water.... and boiling the water further will not reverse this or remove them! Obviously if you know the hot water you are tapping from has come from a sound system then it's not much of an issue.... but I'd be very reluctant to take hot water from a shower block on a campsite with a view to drinking it at any point!

Other than that the idea of the heater is fab!

[Ian Hulley]

To give you chapter and verse...according to HSG70 ... the ACOP regarding control of Legionellosis ... water should either be stored above 50c (hot) and below 20c (cold), thus eliminating the growth of bacterium which can lead to the formation of Legionella.

Legionella once in a storage system can be 'caught' by any airborne water molecules, usually from air conditioning units, and watering systems BUT it can in theory (although rarely) be caught through showers, steam and faulty warm water storage (50c is 'too hot' for a hand under the tap so people turn it down). The ensuing respiratory infection is referred to as Legionnaires Disease after an outbreak which killed several people at an American Legion meeting at a hotel (in Palm Springs ?) where the air con unit was contaminated.

In practice small, low capacity water storage vessels (like say the shower heater in T'Onion's Florida or the instantaneous 'hand wash' water heaters we see in the workplace) are considered extremely low risk, provided they are emptied completely and aren't left to stand and go stagnant. However all shower units should be disinfected annually and the shower head descaled monthly in areas where limescale is an issue.

Ian.

[High Peaker]

If you take it too far, you just shouldn't breath in when drinking coffee from a thermos (which is exactly what this is).

[matty o]

Its not that you want to worry about as the risk is very low. if fact the chances are higher that you will burn yourself.

But
How many of you go on a nice 2 week summer holiday come home and jump in the shower.

That water has been in a metal hose and a shower head for 2 weeks in the sun as its by the window, you turn it on and breath in that nice smell.

[grumpyoldgit]

The idea sounds disgusting to me and is just not camping.
One of the rituals when getting to a site is to fill up the kettle and put on a brew. The cost must be minimal.
Carting around containers of hot water seems a bit pointless
I would be very dubious about reheating hot water that has started to cool or filling my kettle from the hot tap at a shower block.
Each to his own I suppose.

[Rozzo]

i've filled me kettle from the hot tap for years and it hasn't killed me yet. saves a fortune on leccy tho