Each of us several times a day is faced with the need to wash our hands, pour water into a container. And anyway, we all often use a water tap. But how many of us, without hesitation, will immediately answer the question, which side is hot water, and where is the valve that opens the cold? Surely there are people who are faced with the problem of choosing which tap to turn, and even more than once burning their fingers under a stream of boiling water, when they hoped to lower their hands under cold water. After all, not all faucets are clearly marked in red and blue, which side is hot and cold water. And if you yourself make repairs and carry out plumbing work to connect water to the tap, then how can you not mix the sides and do everything as it should? Well, let's figure it out together.
So different mixers
In the modern world, manufacturers offer customers a wide variety of types of faucets: there are those that work in response to a touch signal, there is a handle that rises up, or the usual for each of us with two valves on the right and left hand. But all of these water taps have something that unites them in addition to the purpose - this is on which side the hot water is, and which is cold.
Do not confuse the parties!
As a rule, a valve with hot water is located on the left, and with a cold one, respectively, on the right. So, plumbing systems are arranged almost all over the world. Yes, and plumbing stores offer mostly faucets designed specifically for this arrangement of hot and cold water. There is a logical explanation for this. The fact is that the vast majority of people are right-handed. And it’s much more convenient for them to open the valve located on the right, that is, a valve with cold water. The right-handed person will open the hot water located on the left side in the second place, thus, the risk of burns is reduced. That is why, when answering the question, which side should have hot water and which side should be cold, you should understand that it is hot on the left and cold on the right.
Lever mixer
Many now prefer lever mixers. To open such a tap, simply lift the handle up. But despite the difference in opening, the water temperature in it is regulated in the same way as in a mixer with valves, more precisely, focusing on the same sides. When you turn the lever to the left, the water becomes hotter, if you turn the handle to the right side, the stream becomes cold.
As it was in the USSR
But not so simple. In Russia, you can often find faucets with a reverse arrangement of valves. That's because in the Soviet Union, the norms of SNiP adopted in 1976 acted on the placement of pipes with hot and cold water. According to article 3.27, hot water pipes must be located to the right of the cold water risers.
In modern Russia there is no regulation determining the sides of pipes. However, even in new homes, sometimes the water supply is constructed according to the Soviet system, with hot water on the right and cold water on the left. To find out how the water pipes are installed in a particular house, you need to refer to its drawings.
Signs and Symbols
To be sure which water you open, always pay attention to the signs on the valve. As a rule, cold water is indicated in blue or blue, while hot water is marked in red, and sometimes orange.
It happens that on some faucets the valves are marked not in color, but in Latin letters, with which the words in English begin: “HOT” - hot and “COLD” - on the contrary, cold. Accordingly, look for the letters “H” and “C”. Maybe, to determine which side of the hot water in the mixer, and which is cold, manufacturers will write the whole word.
Be careful and, even guided by the symbols indicating the temperature of the water, carefully check the valve with which water you turned.
Where are the two cranes from?
But going up to the sink in the UK, you will be surprised when you see instead of the usual one mixer with two valves just two taps, from which water flows at different temperatures. This is due to the fact that most of the housing stock in the United Kingdom is rather old: houses were built in the nineteenth - early twentieth century, when England did not have a central heating system, but only a water supply system. That is, the water in the apartment was extremely cold. When the British provided hot water, the taps in the houses did not alter, but simply failed another, already with hot water.
The tribute to tradition is also valid in this matter. Even in modern buildings, the British prefer to make two separate taps, because they do not wash their hands under the flowing stream, as we are familiar with, but they pick up a sink of water, before which they plug the drain with a cork. And already in it, as in a basin, carry out the necessary water procedures. This allows you to save, because then you do not need to adjust the temperature of the water, it does not pour in vain.
Nevertheless, such an interesting water supply system adopted in the UK will not cancel the general for most European countries rules for the location of hot and cold water. The tap from which the boiling water flows is on the left. And to pour cold water you need to open the right valve. Thus, in addition to the unusual separation of taps, we should not experience any inconvenience in the English water supply system. It is unlikely that the average European person, having seen two taps instead of one, will mix up which side is hot water and which is cold.
Not only faucets
But we encounter hot and cold water not only in bathrooms and in kitchens. Boilers for drinking water are now popular. In such coolers, which side is hot water and which side is cold, it is usually simple to understand - the taps are indicated in different colors, blue and red. But still it is worth noting that the vast majority of models are designed according to the European system: that is, hot water is on the left and cold water on the right.