Each of us several times a day is faced with the need to wash our hands, pour water into a container. And one way or another, we all often use a faucet. But how many of us, without hesitation, will immediately answer the question, from which side is the hot water, and where is the valve that opens the cold one? Surely there are people who are faced with the problem of choosing which faucet to turn, and even more than once burning their fingers under a stream of boiling water, when they hoped to put their hands under cold water. After all, not all faucets clearly indicate in red and blue which side hot and cold water is on. And if you yourself do repairs and carry out plumbing work to connect water to the tap, then how not to confuse the parties and do everything as it should be? Well, let's figure it out together.
Such different faucets
In the modern world, manufacturers offer customers a wide variety of types of mixers: there are those that work by responding tosensory signal, there is a handle rising up or familiar to each of us with two valves on the right and left hand. But all these faucets have something that unites them in addition to the purpose - this is which side has hot water and which side is cold.
Do not confuse sides
As a rule, the valve with hot water is on the left, and with cold water, respectively, on the right. So, plumbing systems are arranged almost all over the world. Yes, and most plumbing stores offer faucets designed specifically for this arrangement of hot and cold water. There is a perfectly logical explanation for this. The fact is that the vast majority of people are right-handed. And it is much more convenient for them to open the valve located exactly on the right, that is, the valve with cold water. Hot water, located on the left side, the right-handed person will open in the second place, thus, the risk of getting burned 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 hot on the left and cold on the right.
Lever Mixer
Many now prefer lever mixers. To open such a tap, just 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 the lever is turned to the left, the water becomes hot, when the handle is turned to the right, the jet becomes cold.
As it was in the USSR
But not everything is so simple. In Russia, you can often find faucets with reverse valves. This is because in the Soviet Union, the norms of SNiP, adopted in 1976, applied to the placement of pipes with hot and cold water. According to article 3.27, hot water pipes should be located to the right of cold water risers.
In modern Russia there is no regulation that determines the sides of pipes. However, even in new houses, sometimes the water supply is designed according to the Soviet system, placing hot water on the right and cold on the left. To find out how the water supply 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 symbols on the valve. As a rule, cold water is indicated in blue or light blue, while hot water is marked in red, and sometimes orange.
It happens that on some taps the valves are marked not with color, but with Latin letters, with which the words in English "HOT" - hot and "COLD" - on the contrary, cold begin. Accordingly, look for the letters "H" and "C". Maybe, in order to determine from which side the hot water is in the mixer, and from which it is cold, the manufacturers will write the whole word.
Be careful and, even focusing on the symbols indicating the temperature of the water, carefully check which water valve you turned.
Where are the two taps from?
When you walk up to a sink in the UK, you'll be surprised whenyou will see instead of the usual one mixer with two valves, two taps at once, from which water of different temperatures flows. This is because most of the housing stock in the United Kingdom is rather old: the houses were built in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, when England did not have a central heating system, but only a water supply system. That is, the water supplied to the apartments was exceptionally cold. When the British provided hot water, the taps in the houses did not change, but simply brought another one, already with hot water.
Has force in this matter and a tribute to tradition. Even in modern buildings, the British prefer to make two separate taps, because they do not wash their hands under a flowing stream, as is customary for us, but draw a sink of water, before plugging the drain with a cork. And already in it, as in a basin, they carry out the necessary water procedures. This allows you to save money, because then you do not need to adjust the temperature of the water, it does not flow in vain.
However, such an interesting water supply system, adopted in the UK, will not cancel the general rule for the location of hot and cold water for most European countries. The faucet from which boiling water flows is on the left. And in order to pour cold water, you need to open the right valve. Thus, in addition to the unusual separation of taps, we should not have any inconvenience in the English water supply system. It is unlikely that the average European person, seeing two taps instead of one, will confuse which side is hot water and which is cold.
Not just faucets
But hot and cold water is not limited to bathrooms and kitchens. Boilers for drinking water are now popular. In such coolers, which side is hot water and which side is cold, it is usually easy to figure out - the faucets are indicated by 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 is on the right.
