Domestic water system

A Domestic Water System usually comprises of several circuits.

• Cold water feed
• Hot water tanks
• Sewerage
• sometimes a Central Heating Circuit

Cold Water Feed

Most modern western water systems are directly fed by the pumped high pressure pipe down the street. Older houses (or houses that need gravity fed cold water, i.e. for a power shower) may also have a cold water tank. All drinking water (usually the kitchen tap) will be fed direct from the main water supply due to the risk of contamination of the cold water tank.

The supply may or may not be metered. Non metered supplies are usually billed based on the size of the house (making assumptions about the number of people living in the house).

In rural areas, where connection to public water systems is impractical, residents often pump their water from wells.

Sewerage

Sewerage is usually provided as part of someones water service and is a separate sewerage drain where waste water is transported under low pressure to water treatment plants (hopefully) before being flushed back into the water system (either river or sea).

In rural locations where connection is impractiable sewerage is often processed with the help of septic tanks and fields. Extreme caution is needed to prevent ground water from being contaminated by sewerage.