Not my attic, not my water tank
You’re an accepting bunch – only Tim Carlson wondered how my toilet inlet pipe might have become full of bees. This calls for more Adventures in English Plumbing.
The thing above is a water storage tank and, until recently, most British homes had one in the attic. It stores water used to fill the bath or flush the toilet (cooking water uses the mains).
I’ve heard several reasons why this is. For places where the water pressure is low. To give a supply if the mains water is ever cut off. To prevent problems if everyone in London flushes at once. There is some discussion here.
Well, ours is very like unto this one. You’ll notice there is no lid.
Think on that. Five hundred years of dust, vermin, cobwebs and the skeletons of mad first wives wafting around. When we found out there was no lid, we took to calling it rat water.
We’re not sure if the bathroom sinks fill from the tank. Uncle B – being a far more fastidious sort of person – wisely takes fresh water up from the kitchen to brush his teeth. I’m lazy. I brush my teeth in potential rat water and try not to think about it.
You may or may not recall that we also have a colony of bees in the attic. Been there for years. We consulted with bee people and a neighbor who also had attic bees and the only option for getting rid of them is to fog the attic with poison.
Not keen on the idea of poison finding its way through the cracks in the house and into me. The best advice was to cohabit with them. Worst case, honey drips down the inglenook some years and they swarm around the chimney all summer.
Also, drown and get sucked into the toilet inlet. Have a good weekend!
July 21, 2023 — 6:55 pm
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