Hot Water

Overview

Hot water for the building is centrally supplied from 3 boilers and 2 storage tanks. Hot water circulates permanently in a core loop around the building in lagged pipes (to avoid excessive heat loss). When you open your hot water tap you will enable this HW to flow from this core up through the pipework to your unit and then through the pipework in your unit to your tap. Typically the tap at the laundry sink is nearest to where the hot water enters your unit. At certain times of day you will notice a difference in speed of delivery of HW. This is due to the fact that you and your neighbour(s) may share a common supply pipe from the central core loop so that if they have run HW for a few mins to draw HW up to their unit and you turn on your tap, the hottest water will be very near your unit. During quieter times you may be the first person to open a HW in your area of the building...in which case your tap will take longer to warm up. This is part of the design of the system and can't be changed unfortunately.

The supply of hot water is normally located under the original laundry sink with a black butterfly valve where the handle aligns with the pipework when fully open and perpendicular to it (90 degrees from open position) when closed. This is the point where you can turn off the hot water supply to your entire unit. Test it from time to time to ensure that the valve moves easily and can be shut off in the event of a leak. From this point onwards the pipework, meter and associated fittings are your responsibility.

Metering:

Each apartment is fitted with a hot water meter (typically located under the laundry sink) which links back to a central control unit. Gas for these 3 boilers is metered so each unit is charged for the percentage of hot water it uses. Your gas bill will show how much of the gas bill relates to the supply of hot water.

Billing: If you have a problem with your gas bill, contact your supplier.

Hot Water Supply Issues

If you spot a problem with your HW supply, it is important to understand the source of the problem and whether it relates to the centralised system (Common Property) or a problem in your unit (Owner Responsibility). Here are some handy hints that can help

I have no hot water in my shower etc:

• Is there hot water at any tap in your unit even after running the HW for a few mins?

  • If there is NO hot water at any outlet even after running the water for some time it is likely that there is a problem with the centralised system. You should contact stratamanager@venetianpyrmont.com to notify our agent who can arrange to send a plumber out to investigate.

  • If there is HW at any tap it means that the central system is supplying your unit but maybe not your shower, kitchen sink etc. This is likely to be a fault with your tap/shower valve etc. You should arrange your own plumber

The hot water takes a very long time to warm up, especially during quiet periods but eventually gets hot enough for a shower.

• This is likely to be a problem with the circulation of HW within the core loop in the basement and a pump may have failed. You should contact stratamanager@venetianpyrmont.com to arrange for a plumber to investigate

The hot water takes a very long time to warm up at any time and never gets hot enough for a shower but the water is slightly warm. It is likely that one or more boilers has failed to come on and cannot heat the building's HW supply. You should contact stratamanager@venetianpyrmont.com to arrange for a plumber to investigate

There are significant benefits to having a centralised HW system (more flexibility in apartment design, no direct costs to maintain/repair your own HW system etc, no dangerous flue gases to control in your unit etc). However the system is under constant heavy use and will have some issues from time to time. We know how frustrating it can be to find you have no or little hot water but please be patient and work with us to bring the service back on line as quickly as we can.