I hesitate to say child proofing, because our autistic 10 year old is pretty resourceful when it comes to water play and is already the size of a small adult. He has always been obsessed with water and frequently flooded the bathroom when he was much younger, but has recently (last week) started to get much worse, running hot and cold taps at full flow for fun. We have been telling him off (obviously) but as anyone with a severely autistic child knows, that's not really effective against obsessive behaviour. Not only does it fail to stop repeat offending, but simply preventing access results in a very agitated child for hours on end. This evening I have experimented with turning off the main stop cock. Now that the taps simply don't work, he's tried them all, flushed the toilets and then just walked away calmly (although now he is bored, he's broken a lamp while out of sight / earshot upstairs). Clearly, the stopcock idea is a non-starter on a day to day basis, so we could do with some ideas on how to tamper proof our taps. I've seen taps that have to be pushed and turned (I reckon he would work them out) and covers for taps, but not much else. I don't really know what I need, so any ideas welcome.
Maybe those inline stopcock a that need a screwdriver to switch on and off, or perhaps a tap that needs holding down to operate (like in public toilets)
^yup, this. Stopvalves in the water lines. A pain when you have to get your screwdriver out to have bath, but might solve the problem.
We've got stop valves on some taps, but it's not a practical solution for things like bath taps where the pies are hidden. Taps that you hold down - he would happily hold it down and watch it run.
Put lever valves on the hot and cold feeds in the airing cupboard if you have an airing cupboard. The solution is a lot simpler if you have mains fed hot water and no tanks in your loft!
Yes, got mains feed and that would be a solution for upstairs. Not sure about downstairs - it's no use cutting off the kitchen / utility while washing machines are running and the kitchen is in use. Will have to look more closely at the pipe layout.
Can't you get old fashioned type taps where you just take the top bit off so the tap can only be turned either by replacing the top bit or using pliers?
Just leave the tops off and all carry a top around in our pockets! Will need extra tops, but we can always pay a visit to the tap display area in B&Q.
Theres a product called water guard. Its an intelligent electronic "stopcock" that you can programme to shut off after a set period of time. Its meant for cutting off the water if you have a leak whilst away from home etc. You can also just push the button on your way out of the house to cut off the water. . If you set it for say a minute it wont effect washing machines etc. http://www.waterguardservices.co.uk/
Ours has had multiple extensions over the years, so plumbing and electrics often require some guesswork!
What sort of taps have you got http://britwear.co.uk/magento/child-baby-toddler-proof-indoor-water-tap-strap-guard-lock.html
I remember seeing something on the local news ages ago about an autistic boy who was fascinated by traffic lights. A local charity had hooked up a traffic light in their back garden with a control box he could use to change the sequence etc. I don't know much about these kinds of things but Is there a way you can hook up a low powered waterpump with a tank that he can play with? Maybe you could focus his fascination on a slightly less distructive form of flowing water?
