Direct water supply

A direct water supply system is one where the raising main feeds directly the cold water taps and a multi point water heater.

The mains water comes in via a rising main and directly feeds all the cold taps and a multi point water heater - so all the taps and other water feeds are at mains water pressure.

Note that in this article, we are dealing with just the hot and cold water supplies to the taps etc, we are not dealing with the central heating system.

direct water supply system

The items identified in the illustration aboveof a direct water supply are:

  1. Water company stopcock - this is used to cut off all the water to the property and is the point at which the responsibility for the water pipe changes; up to, and including, this stopcockthe water supply company is the responsible for it; from this point to the house, the house owner is responsible even if the stopcock is not on their land (it's often in the pavement).
    Make sure that you know the location of this stopcock and, periodically, make sure that it's working - if you have a disaster with water in the property, you may need to turn the water off at this stopcock quickly.
  2. Householders stopcock - normally just one stopcock within the property will cut off all the water into it and the householder is responsible for it. This stopcock isnormally located where the rising mains enters the house, often under the kitchen sink.
  3. Draincock - this allows all the pipework within the house to be drained down at the lowest point.
  4. Stopcock - this stopcock can be used to isolate the rising main from the cost water taps and WC cistern etc to allow maintenance in those areas without having to shut off all the water in the property.
  5. Gate valve which can isolate the cold water feed to the multi point water heater.
  6. Gate valve which can isolate the hot water from the multi point water heater to the taps etc.
    NOTE: Valves 5 and 6 allow for the water heater to be isolated for maintenance, repair or replacement.
  7. Multi water heater - specifically designed to work at mains water pressure.
  8. Inline valves to isolate water feeds to washing machine or dishwasher etc.
  9. WC overflow pipe - this takes any overflow from the WC cistern out of harms way and deposits it outside of the building. It needs to be positioned so that any water flow is immediately noticed as it would indicate a problem.