Why no cold water?

[Peloso]

Question for homeowners or anyone who might know: why does my cold water always run warm when the weather changes in the spring or autumn? This has been happening for sixteen years. Once the average daily temperature outside changes, my tap water never gets cold unless it's been running for hours and sometimes not even then.

Possible reasons for warm water coming out of the cold tap include an overflowing hot water heater, voodoo, or water pipes being too close to heating ducts, but none of those apply here.

 

[unloadonme]

Global warming obviously.

 

[Kahaih]

How many people live in the building? How many apartments?

How far does the water line travel through the building to get to your taps?

The seasonal bit makes me think foliage trees and or shrubs are involved.

 

[gsdx]

My guess is that it has to do with the depth of the incoming lines. Where I live in Ontario, the waterlines must be below the frost line (at least 6 feet.

Depending upon where you live, the lines may be buried much shallower, meaning that when the ground heats up in the spring, it also heats up the water inside the pipes.

 

[Peloso]

How many people live in the building? How many apartments?

How far does the water line travel through the building to get to your taps?

The seasonal bit makes me think foliage trees and or shrubs are involved.

20 units, maybe thirty people. I'm on the second floor.

My guess is that it has to do with the depth of the incoming lines. Where I live in Ontario, the waterlines must be below the frost line (at least 6 feet.

Depending upon where you live, the lines may be buried much shallower, meaning that when the ground heats up in the spring, it also heats up the water inside the pipes.

Makes sense but once the weather gets hot, the water gets cold again. It only happens in the beginning of spring and autumn.

 

[metta]

I have noticed the same thing. In the winter, the water can get too cold when I'm rinsing my teeth after brushing. In the summer, it can get luke warm on a very hot day. And I live in an area where the coldest it ever gets is in the 30's in the evening hours for a very short period of time. The water for the city is stored in reservoirs and inside a hill next to me. It goes through a $30 million water treatment plant that is also very close to me.

 

[Kahaih]

20 units, maybe thirty people. I'm on the second floor.


Makes sense but once the weather gets hot, the water gets cold again. It only happens in the beginning of spring and autumn.

Wow, that's a big building and a lot of people using the plumbing. The water use is probably consistent, then, not any noticeable changes year round.

The timing has to have something to do with the location of the sun as it travels north and then again as it passes through the same spot going south. Think Stonehenge. LOL

The bulk of the building's plumbing must be in a south wall.

 

[Kahaih]

My guess is that it has to do with the depth of the incoming lines. Where I live in Ontario, the waterlines must be below the frost line (at least 6 feet.

That was a bit of a shocker.

I had to look it up to see if 6 feet was a typo, but it's not. Wow.

 

[rareboy]

We get it but is because the water in the lines does heat up if it is still (not running) for any length of time.

 

[LeicsDom]

Global warming obviously.

Or Brexit

 

[Dargelos]

Or Brexit

Possibly, but more likely that it is caused by drag queens reading stories in libraries.

 

[Alistair]

Or Brexit

it’s the U.S.’s fault. It’s always the U.S.’s fault.