Page 254 - The City and Guilds Textbook: Plumbing Book 1 for the Level 3 Apprenticeship (9189), Level 2 Technical Certificate (8202) and Level 2 Diploma (6035)

The City & Guilds Textbook: Plumbing Book 1

The UK fluid categories

Fluid category means a category of fluid as described in Schedule 1 of the Water
INDUSTRY TIP Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations and/or Scottish Water Byelaws. Any water
that is not cold wholesome drinking water supplied by a water undertaker can
The information in this be classed as a potential hazard. The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations
section on fluid categories is
taken from the Water Supply 1999 list five fluid categories, as described below.
(Water Fittings) Regulations Fluid category 1
1999 document, accessible Fluid category 1 is wholesome water supplied by a water undertaker,
at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ complying with the Water Quality Regulations made under Section 67
uksi/1999/1148/contents/
made of the Water Industry Act 1991. It must be clean, cold and potable. All
water undertakers have a duty to supply water that conforms to these
regulations, which ensure wholesome water suitable for domestic use or food
KEY TERM production purposes. Whenever practicable, water for drinking water purposes
Potable: drinkable, from should be supplied direct from the water undertaker’s mains without any
the French word ‘potable’, intervening storage.
pronounced ‘poe-table’.
Fluid category 2
Fluid category 2 is water that would normally be classified as fluid category 1
but whose aesthetic quality has been impaired because of:

● a change in temperature
● a change in appearance, taste or odour owing to the presence of substances
or organisms.

These changes are aesthetic only and do not constitute a health risk. Typical
situations where this may occur in domestic properties are:

● water heated in a hot water secondary system
● mixed fluid categories 1 and 2 water discharged from combination taps or
showers
● water that has been softened by a domestic common salt regeneration
process.
Fluid category 3
Fluid category 3 is water that constitutes a slight health hazard because of the
concentration of low-toxicity substances. Fluids in this category are not suitable
for drinking or any other domestic purpose or application. The substances might
include:

● ethylene glycol (anti-freeze), copper sulphate or similar chemical additives
such as heating inhibitors, cleansers and descalers
● sodium hypochlorite and other common disinfectants.

Typical fluid category 3 situations occur in the following.
● In houses, apartments and other domestic dwellings:
● water in the primary circuits of heating systems, whether chemicals have
been administered or not
● water in washbasins, baths and shower trays
● clothes-washing and dishwashing machines

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