Pointless water tank?

[VoidChoice]

Hello,

Ever since inspecting a water tank in the loft of my new house i have took a disliking to it. Firstly, i thought it might be made out of asbestos as it looks similar to stuff my dad used to use for facia boards as a roof tiler. Secondly i dont see the point of it, water from outside the house comes into the tank which fills it up via a ball/float valve, when the taps are turned on the water drains away.

I dont see the point in this, what is the reason not to have the entry an exit points of the tank connected together and do away with the tank itself?

My main cause for concern is that the tank is not sealed, it has no top whatsoever and anything which might fall in the tank might go down to the taps and the shower. I am looking for a replacement but not having much luck.

 

[oilman]

If you ever use a bath, and you've lived in a place with a combi boiler, you'll know why you have a tank in the loft. You want a lot of water, quickly. There are alternatives (such as the combi boiler or an unvented cylinder) but the condition is, you must have more money than sense. There are expensive to live with.

You can buy plastic tanks from a plumbers merchant. Why not just get a sheet of plywood, wrap it in polythene and put it on the tank? (If you take the tank out, you will have to investigate whether you need special disposal procedures as it's probably asbestos cement.

 

[kevplumb]

I dont see the point in this, what is the reason not to have the entry an exit points of the tank connected together and do away with the tank itself?
.

could be interesting 450 x 900 cylinder at mains pressure

 

[JPC]

ur hot water cylinder is not built for mains pressure (the tank feeds the hot water cylinder in ur airing cupboard), hence it relies on the more gentle gravity feed from the cistern to the cylinder.

 

[oilman]

could be interesting 450 x 900 cylinder at mains pressure

If the mains pressure is around 2 bar or less it wouldn't be a problem (as long as you didn't heat the water, making it expand) apart from being totally illegal, and the problem of being unable to run a bath at a reasonable rate.

 

[htgeng]

could be interesting 450 x 900 cylinder at mains pressure

could lay bets on which seam busts open first.