I recently bought an older house. Half of the plumbing is copper, half galvanized. Luckily, it is a small house that only has plumbing on the main floor, and the plumbing is exposed in the basement. I was looking to replace the galvanized, and noticed there is a section of galvanized where the hot water line off the water heater actually joins in with the cold water line before it goes to the washer's hot water inlet. That then branches off and goes to the kitchen sink. The water seems hot enough in both places even though it's connected to the cold line too. Has anyone seen anything like this before?

You have was we call a cross connection. The solution would be separate the two lines. You should have hotter water and a less costly utility bill. Good luck, Tom

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