this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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Entirely depends on where you live.
In Germany, generally tap water is food safe, whether cold or hot.
But I also hear in Britain it's often a seperate tap, as the hot water used to come from a local storage cistern where it could be contaminated.
My German is a little rusty, but I'm almost certain that this is a recommendation from Das Umweltbundesamt (national environment agency) against using hot tap water for food preparation:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/themen/trinkwasser-das-beste-lebensmittel
The middle paragraph, translated to English:
So yes, you're right. It's not recommended to do.
Hmm, interesting.
I live in a place where hot water is either from a continuous flow heater, so basically no extra circulation; or from a small under-sink water heater where the water is kept at safe temperature and the distance to the tap is near zero.
But I guess in places with these big, central hot water storage thingies what the article says makes sense.
In America you hear slightly similar concerns about tank-type water heaters. We're a bit less paranoid about them; what the Brits call "mixer taps" are typical equipment here, but you will hear people distrust drinking from the hot water heater, especially if the tank is old and unmaintained, the anode rod is shot and the tank itself is rusting.
I'm personally okay with drinking water from a water heater I know is well-maintained, and I can think of exactly three water heaters I know is well-maintained, which doesn't include my own. I'm pretty sure the previous owners neglected it.