Understanding English Bathroom Culture

If you come to England, you will notice that in many English bathrooms, there are two separate taps on each basin, one for the hot and one for the cold water. Neal had warned me about this and I couldn't believe that this could really be so annoying. Now, after living in the UK for 5 weeks, I know that it is.

So, trying to understand my host country's culture and the reasons behind their way of live, I asked someone English why this was the case and the first answer was: To annoy foreigners. However, that guy had to admit that this sometimes also annoyed him and he gave me the real explanation, too. Years ago, hygienic conditions were not as good as today and someone introduced a law requiring every cold water tap to dispense water at a drinkable quality. However, back then this was connected with some effort and as it was only required for cold water taps, no one was willing to put in the same effort for the hot water, too. Therefore, people started having two separate taps on their basins. Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to get rid of things you once get used to, and therefore this separation is still in place, although you are probably safe to drink warm water from the tap, too, these days.