Jun 25 2008
Hoses Aren’t Good For Drinking
While it may be convenient to use your garden hose to fill your dog’s outside water dish, or even your doggie/kiddie swimming pool, take note - there is potential for water from a garden hose to be tainted with lead.
Lead leaching into hose water can come from the vinyl (PVC) material used to make hoses or from brass nozzles on hoses. In producing PVC, lead is often added as a stabilizer.
In sunshine, lead in hose water is a particular concern, as heat can cause hoses to leach even higher levels of lead. In that case, the recommendation is to flush the water out before using it.
Special hoses (commonly used by RV and boat owners) that are white with a blue stripe do not contain these materials and are safe for drinking water.
This lawsuit from the Center for Environmental Health against some of the garden hose manufacturers was settled to require those companies to comply with Prop 65 (California toxics law) by August of 2007.
Packaging for new garden hoses should indicate if they are safe for drinking. In addition, warning labels on any hoses that could cause exposures above the standard would carry a prominent warning label reading, “Do not drink water from this hose. Wash hands after use.”
