The Johannesburg water supply is bursting at its seams. The roads are running with the testimony and old buildings (like the one I live in, pipes leaking and bursting constantly.
Is it because, to reach more and more people, they push up the pressure instead of building a properly engineered infrastructure?
Anyway that's not my story today.
A geyser in our building which had a pressure reducing valve, but it burst.
So why did it burst?
Fact No 1: This was a new high quality geyser guaranteed up to 6 Bar.
Fact No 2: It still carried on leaking after someone turned off the geyser supply.
Fact No 3: Logical deduction - The cold water was feeding back into the geyser.
Fact No 4: The external supply from the council was over 7 Bar at the time.
Therefore the geyser burst.
Question: Why did the cold supply pressure force its way back through the hot water pipes?
Answer: Because of a partially closed hot/cold water mixer in the bathroom.
