Hot Water Supply System

Water supply and distribution
(hot water & cold water)

 In a house, water is needed for carrying out
various activities.
 The system of drawing water from treatment
plant and making it available at all appliances
(fixtures) for use is known as domestic water
supply system.
 As per the use, water supply system carries
hot and cold water throughout the house.
 Pipes convey water from source to various
appliances.
 The flow of water to appliances is controlled
by valves and faucets (tap).
 The used water is conveyed to drain.
Based on the coming of water into the
house, water supply system is of two
types:
 Direct Water Supply system
 Indirect Water Supply system

01. Direct Water Supply System:
 In direct water supply system all appliances in a
house receives water from the rising main i.e. of
Municipal supply mains.
 Water available at all faucets is pressured potable
water.
 No cistern is required to store water first and then
making it available for use.
 Cistern (tank) is required only if hot water system is
of storage type.
 The cistern stores only hot water.
 Cold water is from rising main.
 In order to install direct water supply system, rising
main (Main pipe from where water enters house)
should have sufficient pressure so that the water
reaches fixtures without causing inconvenience in
use of fixture even at upper storeys.
 As rising main pressure is high, a pressure reducing

valve may be required to maintain required water
flow.
 This system avoids contamination of water, caused

by storing water in underground or overhead tank.
02. Indirect Water Supply System:
 Water enters house from the rising main.
 After entering, it is branched off into kitchen

sink and towards storage tank.
 Storage tank is first filled and then water is

supplied to appliances from same.
 The location of storage tank should be at

some height so that water flows down easily
under gravity without any external pressure.
 Only Kitchen sink has portable water
available. All other appliances have stored
tank water.
 Indirect water supply system is flexible

because when mains run out of water, stored
water is a benefit till mains flow return.
Direct Water Supply System v/s Indirect Water Supply System
5
Hot water supply systems
 Water supply system in a house can either be-
 direct water supply system;
 where potable water is available at all faucets (taps) directly
from rising main at mains pressure or
 indirect water supply system
 where portable water first stored in a storage tank hot or cold
and the supplied to all appliances.
 Direct and Indirect Water Supply Systems are for cold water.
For hot water, one must install hot water system, which will
provide hot water at appliances (fixtures) to carry out various
activities.
There are two types of Hot Water
System :
 01. Localized Hot Water System:
 It is a single point heater system, which heats water
locally (i.e one heater will serve one appliance/fixture).
It is installed at some height above the fixture, hence
less pipe work is needed.
 02. Centralized Hot Water System:
 It is a multiple point heater system, which heats water
for all appliances/fixtures. Here one heater will serve
hot water to all appliances of a house. It is installed at a
place from where it is convinient to supply water at all
fixtures.
 Depending upon the number of appliances to be
served with hot water in a house, hot water system is
either localized or centralized.
 For more number of appliacnes centralized hot water
system is benificial (ex: for a bunglow with 3 – 4
bathrooms one water heater will supply hot water at
all fixtures) and
 for less number of appliances, localized hot water
system is benificial (ex: for a row house with 1- 2
bathroom/s separate heater for each bathroom is
provided).
 Hot water system in a house consists of –
o water heater,
o hot water pipes and
o taps (faucets).
 Cold water is fed to water heater, where it
gets heated and it is then conveyed through
hot water pipes to the faucets and
appliances.
 However, using a centralized hot water system may need extra care, as
occurrences of the common problems such as -
o noisy pumps,
o cold spots,
o leaks or
o radiators often need bleeding;
 These problems are very common. However it is possible to get rid of these
common problems by power flushing the whole centralized system. Water
Heaters either work on electricity or are fuel powered (combustion of wood,
coal, charcoal, gas, oil) or uses renewable energy sources i.e. Solar Energy.
 “Power-flushing is the removal of iron oxide sludge (dirty water in boiler

and system) by means of a machine, connected to a central location. The
two best places to connect the machine are where the central
heating pump is fitted, or onto the feed pipes to the gas boiler.”
Based on the method of heating water,
water heaters are of two types:
01. Instantaneous Water Heater:
 Also known as tank less water heater. Instantaneous water heater
consists of –
o switch,
o small pressure vessel with heat exchanger and
o a pilot lamp (a lamp that lights up when heater is ON).
 When hot water tap is turned on, cold water passes through heat
exchanger via pipes, where it is heated and hot water flow comes
out of the tap.
 It is installed when small quantity of water is required for long

duration of time and at any time. Geysers are the instantaneous
water heaters for household water heating. It gives continuous
02. Storage Type Water
Heater:
 These are designed to store hot water. It
consists of –
 a thermally insulated vessel (tank),
 thermostats (an indicator device that blinks
when water is heated),
 one or more electric heating elements and
 hot water pipes.
 In storage type water heater, water is first collected in tank. The
water in tank is heated. It is then supplied at various appliances.
Storage type water heaters are used where a large quantity of
water is required over a short duration of time, such as bathtubs.
It does not provide hot water supply continuously as water is
first filled in the container (heater), then it is heated. Once the
hot water is emptied from tank, one has to wait for water in tank
to get heated. Solar Water Heater, boiler, Electrical hot water
tank are types of Storage type Water Heater.
 It is mandatory that in hot water system the pressures of the hot
water and the cold water should be made equal at each fixture,
especially where mixing faucets are to be used.

Hot Water Supply System

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hot Water Supply System

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Hot Water Supply System

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Water supply and distribution

(hot water & cold water)

 Indirect Water Supply system

 As rising main pressure is high, a pressure reducing

 This system avoids contamination of water, caused

 After entering, it is branched off into kitchen

 Storage tank is first filled and then water is

 The location of storage tank should be at

 Indirect water supply system is flexible

 “Power-flushing is the removal of iron oxide sludge (dirty water in boiler

 It is installed when small quantity of water is required for long

You might also like