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August 21, 2009 - Blog - I bought the most LOVELY
new garden hose: 100 ft of hot water... I use my hose
to make hot water for my solar electric home.
BUT, the hose is a bit dangerous, it turns out. There
was the tiniest of warning labels on it that I almost
missed. It said something about how I should wash my
hands after use because the hose is made from
something that people in California know causes
cancer.
Thank you, California people!
Today I researched garden hoses, and sure enough
there's a neurotoxin in the composition of most garden
hoses: lead. Apparently it's likely to be in my lovely
yellow hose, too. And, when it's not in the hose, the
brass fittings have lead in them.
It's when a hose sits in the sun that the most lead
leaches into the water, so it's not good to fill pet water
dishes without first letting the water run.
Because I use hot hose water for washing clothes and
even me under my solar shower I thought I'd order a
"drinking water safe" hose from some merchant I have
an affiliation with. But none remain "available".
I began calling. Lowe's, Home Depot and Big Jo
Hardware in Santa Fe don't have drinking safe hoses;
Newman's Nursery and Payne's Nursery were each
very nice, but no; on to the RV dealers: Ah, success:
25 foot, 5 ply is $15 one place and $16 another.
But, I began thinking: perhaps the real problem is lack
of awareness of lead: I've known people who drink
hot water from the tap, oblivious of the fact it has
elevated levels of lead in it due to lead solder used in
plumbing. And, hot water in a bath has lead in it for
the same reason unless you run the water to rinse the
tub prior to filling it.
I've decided to order a drinking safe hose, and I'm
going to be more careful about how long the water sits
in any hose but especially when I heat water. I will
rinse my hot-water-washed clothes with fresh cold
water from the hose to eliminate whatever lead might
be residual from the wash.
Also, I will be careful not to let any of the water that
has been sitting in a hose get into the wasps'
swimming pool. (There were wasps patrolling my
raspberries today, so I don't think there will be more
bug-nibbled leaves on them).
Awareness is an essential first step on the path to
good health.
9/10/09 - My Gatorhyde drinking water safe hose
ordered from Factory Direct Hose has arrived. 100' is
by far lighter than the black hose I had, pictured
above. I've rinsed the new hose out and have it filled
with water which is now heating in the sun. In about 5
more minutes it will have been heating for 15 minutes
and I can see if new hose heats as well as the black.
I noticed right off the bat that the water ran through it
to rinse it did not smell like hose.
I also noticed that my arm is itching were I was
cradling the black hose to carry it, due to its weight.
Hmm. Failed to see that I was supposed to leave the
water on, so that the hose would be under pressure for
the first 30 minutes. Oh, I think that's suggested if you
want your hose to lie flat. I want mine to stay coiled
so that it's sort of out of the way along the edge of my
deck when I'm heating water.
Heating test results: The water is warm, not hot. But
then it's relatively cloudy today. Also, there were
streams of rather cool water, so I think I have the hose
looped so that sun isn't uniformly hitting its surface.
Gosh, I wish I had put all the information here that I
tweeted while I was researching which color hose to
get if I wanted to use it to heat water. There were
some lovely sites dealing with color and heat. I
learned that wearing red on a sunny day is cooler than
wearing blue. Dark green appeared to heat less well
than dark brown, but I ordered dark green because it
looked more beautiful.
Later - Totally lovely shower using water heated in
my new hose. I'm clean and I don't smell like hose!
new garden hose: 100 ft of hot water... I use my hose
to make hot water for my solar electric home.
BUT, the hose is a bit dangerous, it turns out. There
was the tiniest of warning labels on it that I almost
missed. It said something about how I should wash my
hands after use because the hose is made from
something that people in California know causes
cancer.
Thank you, California people!
Today I researched garden hoses, and sure enough
there's a neurotoxin in the composition of most garden
hoses: lead. Apparently it's likely to be in my lovely
yellow hose, too. And, when it's not in the hose, the
brass fittings have lead in them.
It's when a hose sits in the sun that the most lead
leaches into the water, so it's not good to fill pet water
dishes without first letting the water run.
Because I use hot hose water for washing clothes and
even me under my solar shower I thought I'd order a
"drinking water safe" hose from some merchant I have
an affiliation with. But none remain "available".
I began calling. Lowe's, Home Depot and Big Jo
Hardware in Santa Fe don't have drinking safe hoses;
Newman's Nursery and Payne's Nursery were each
very nice, but no; on to the RV dealers: Ah, success:
25 foot, 5 ply is $15 one place and $16 another.
But, I began thinking: perhaps the real problem is lack
of awareness of lead: I've known people who drink
hot water from the tap, oblivious of the fact it has
elevated levels of lead in it due to lead solder used in
plumbing. And, hot water in a bath has lead in it for
the same reason unless you run the water to rinse the
tub prior to filling it.
I've decided to order a drinking safe hose, and I'm
going to be more careful about how long the water sits
in any hose but especially when I heat water. I will
rinse my hot-water-washed clothes with fresh cold
water from the hose to eliminate whatever lead might
be residual from the wash.
Also, I will be careful not to let any of the water that
has been sitting in a hose get into the wasps'
swimming pool. (There were wasps patrolling my
raspberries today, so I don't think there will be more
bug-nibbled leaves on them).
Awareness is an essential first step on the path to
good health.
9/10/09 - My Gatorhyde drinking water safe hose
ordered from Factory Direct Hose has arrived. 100' is
by far lighter than the black hose I had, pictured
above. I've rinsed the new hose out and have it filled
with water which is now heating in the sun. In about 5
more minutes it will have been heating for 15 minutes
and I can see if new hose heats as well as the black.
I noticed right off the bat that the water ran through it
to rinse it did not smell like hose.
I also noticed that my arm is itching were I was
cradling the black hose to carry it, due to its weight.
Hmm. Failed to see that I was supposed to leave the
water on, so that the hose would be under pressure for
the first 30 minutes. Oh, I think that's suggested if you
want your hose to lie flat. I want mine to stay coiled
so that it's sort of out of the way along the edge of my
deck when I'm heating water.
Heating test results: The water is warm, not hot. But
then it's relatively cloudy today. Also, there were
streams of rather cool water, so I think I have the hose
looped so that sun isn't uniformly hitting its surface.
Gosh, I wish I had put all the information here that I
tweeted while I was researching which color hose to
get if I wanted to use it to heat water. There were
some lovely sites dealing with color and heat. I
learned that wearing red on a sunny day is cooler than
wearing blue. Dark green appeared to heat less well
than dark brown, but I ordered dark green because it
looked more beautiful.
Later - Totally lovely shower using water heated in
my new hose. I'm clean and I don't smell like hose!
Lovely, Dangerous Garden Hose
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