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Health & Fitness

Is it safe to drink from a garden hose?

Kids and outside water play: A great summer pairing. But is it okay to let them drink water from that garden hose?

As I hooked up the Slip N' Slide for my kids yesterday (though I cringe at the thought of all that good Avon Lake drinking water bound for the ground), I wondered: Is it okay to let the kids drink out of the hose? So, I took a second to research the subject. Here's some info for you, courtesy of drinktap.org. Thought you might be interested.

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As spring is here and summer is quickly approaching, now is a good time to review whether or not it’s safe to drink from your garden hose. While doing so can be a relief on a hot and sunny day for both humans and animals, it’s not always the best idea. Researchers at the Ecology Center have conducted a follow-up study to a study they did last year testing 90 garden water hoses for contaminants. Here is what the study revealed: 21 new garden hoses were purchased from Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Target and Kmart. One-third (8 of 21) of those hoses contained high levels of one or more chemicals of concern. Those hoses are widely available and top-selling brands.

Plain Talk About Drinking Water by Dr. James M. Symons touches on this issue. It states, “To keep it flexible, a standard vinyl garden hose may contain unhealthy elements, such as lead, which can get into the water as it flows through the hose. These metals and chemicals are not good for animals either, so it’s not a good idea to fill drinking containers for pets from a garden hose unless the water is allowed to run a while to flush out the chemicals.”

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So if you are feeling parched, we recommend that you take a few extra moments to run inside and grab a glass of water from your faucet instead.

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