Water hose question

[rockhoundcamper]

Need advise from those who have been around the campground a time or two! For a water hose, do I need the white "food-grade vinyl" type, or will a new, good quality anti-kink hose from the hardware store do? And if not, why? Thanks!

[BirdMan]

No. The chemicals in vinyl garden hoses that keep them flexible are contaminants which can get into the water.  People and pets should not drink water from standard garden hoses.  There are many websites talking about this and the majority say not to drink water from a regular garden hose.  

Go to any search engine, like goolge, and type this in with quotes "drinking from a garden hose".  I received 341 hits on google with the first one being from Consumer Reports.  

Here is the consumer reports list of good & bad hoses for drinking out of:

SAFE FOR DRINKING(as labeled)  
   Gardener

[tlhdoc]

There are chemicals in most garden hoses that are not good for you.  Get a hose that is listed as being drinking water safe.

[PattieAM]

The white water hose is preferable, and will not leach rubber/vinyl flavor or odor into your water.   I use a water filter on my hose as well as pressure regulator also.

My most recent trip my hose was all of a foot too short to reach.....and I did have a 50' regular garden hose in the bed of the truck.....but low and behold, I had a un-used 25' white water hose in the PUP....so all was good to go!

[wavery]

I assume that you are talking about filling the water tank on your camper. I don't know about you but we always carry "Drinking" water. We never drink water out of the tank. Therefore, we aren't real particular about what hose we use. We do have the white hose with the blue stripe that came from some RV store but only because it came with our camper. The NTU camper that we just bought came with another 50' of that same hose. That doesn't mean that we're drinking that water though.... :rolleyes:

[dkutz]

We do have the white hose with the blue stripe that came from some RV store but only because it came with our camper. The NTU camper that we just bought came with another 50' of that same hose. That doesn't mean that we're drinking that water though.... :rolleyes:

Too bad our NTU camper didn't come with one of those!!  Good thing we already had one!  HA HA :p

[Hackker]

Good info to know.  I bought an extra RV hose for filling up at home, always wondered if there was any reason not to simply use the garden hose.

[pricerj]

C'mon guys... while you might as well buy the "safe" hose for travelling, how many of us grew up as kids drinking from the garden hose on a hot summer day?

[coach]

C'mon guys... while you might as well buy the "safe" hose for travelling, how many of us grew up as kids drinking from the garden hose on a hot summer day?

Even with the "safe" ones, it is recommended "With any hose, flush it by letting the water run for a minute or so before you drink." :confused:

I do this even longer on one of the HOT days.
I'm poisoning the dog, squirrels and birds   :banghead:

One article suggested getting a 'safe' hose for the garden!

I should be dead by now, maybe lead poisoning explains my weight (mass)!

['tiredTeacher]

C'mon guys... while you might as well buy the "safe" hose for travelling, how many of us grew up as kids drinking from the garden hose on a hot summer day?

I heard that! Like any product warnings, exposure levels are the key. If you are full-timing, I'd be concerned. We do as Wavery and bring drinking water and use the tank water for washing, hence I fill at home with the (flushed out) garden hose.