Running Water Through A Garden Hose...., I think I need to resanitize my tank.... Options

[jamarynn1]

I found Dihydrogen Monoxide to be a very good drink in summer months to cool me off. Mix it with ice and you have a double header. I should be gone soon due to this problem. My days are short now.

Just to make sure you're safe, I suggest adding a little bourbon to your Dihydrogen Monoxide. You're still going to die, but you don't really care all that much.....

[HappiestCamper]

Just to make sure you're safe, I suggest adding a little bourbon to your Dihydrogen Monoxide. You're still going to die, but you don't really care all that much.....

Tequila - it kills worms.

[Texasrvers]

You could also run the Tequila through your hose and and drink it as it comes out. That way you kill the germs in your hose and also have a good time doing it.

[Nolan]

I remember when I was a kid drinking water from the outside hose & water spigot... have the times changed....

Mike

And riding a bicycle without a helmet, swimming in lakes and rivers, playing outside all day long with friends without bottled water. I'm amazed we even survived.

[DXSMac]

Ok, I WAS SERIOUS when I posed this question, but now I see the thread has gone downhill. I did ask my friend again, and he thinks only water has been run through the garden hose (but I SWEAR he told me he had run other things, but now he doesn't remember saying that......)

It appears people are split 50/50 on this, similar to whether or not one should run their propane tank while driving, and whether or not one should put wheel covers on their RV tires.

When I am using water from the freshwater tank, I always run it through a Brita pitcher before I drink it. So it's been double filtered, once through the inline, and once through the Brita. On the other hand, my cat gets bottled water, the same brand. Cat has a sensitive stomach, don't want to upset him.

Once when sanitizing my tank, I used the "bleach water" to wash my RV. Didn't hurt the paint at all. Hey, didn't want to waste the water........

When I get to my camp hosting job, I think I will sanitize my tank to be sure.

[Texasrvers]

The worst thing I remember doing is running and playing in the street behind the DDT foggers. Not only was the chemical bad for us, we could have been hit by a car that couldn't see us. I obviously survived, but breathing that stuff may be the reason my mind is sometimes like Swiss cheese.

[B. Kidd]

This thread is not only serious, but dead serious.
Decades ago when most of us were kids, and drank hose water, like most kids, spray attachments were not put on hoses that dispensed chemicals.

A man sprays commercial weed killer with an arsenic compound in it on his lawn. After he finishes, he disconnects the applicator. It's a hot day, so he takes a refreshing drink of water from the hose. A short time later, he ends up in the hospital, or worse, with arsenic poisoning.
WHAT HAPPENED?

At some time while he was spraying the weed-killer, the water pressure dropped, which resulted in the poison being sucked back (backsiphonage) into the hose. Later, when he drank from the hose, the poison inside was released with the water. Result; he unknowingly poisoned himself.

Many spray attachments do have a backflow prevention device and still, those that do, they sometimes fail.
Besides weed-killer, fertilizers and bug-killers are also dispensed through spray attachments connected to hoses. I know what I've put through my own hoses, you know what you've put through your own hoses, D-Mac knows what he has put through his hoses. But none of us REALLY know what others put through their hoses.
D-Mac is wise to sanitize his tank!

[Texasrvers]

Ok, I WAS SERIOUS when I posed this question, but now I see the thread has gone downhill.

I was one of the contributors to the downhill slide. Sorry, JJ. So now I will say seriously that if you feel uncomfortable about it, then by all means sanitize your tank for your peace of mind. Odds are nothing will come of your using a garden hose, but the possibility it had contaminants does exist, so take the precautions that make you feel better and safer.

[kcmoedoe]

This thread is not only serious, but dead serious.
Decades ago when most of us were kids, and drank hose water, like most kids, spray attachments were not put on hoses that dispensed chemicals.

A man sprays commercial weed killer with an arsenic compound in it on his lawn. After he finishes, he disconnects the applicator. It's a hot day, so he takes a refreshing drink of water from the hose. A short time later, he ends up in the hospital, or worse, with arsenic poisoning.
WHAT HAPPENED?

At some time while he was spraying the weed-killer, the water pressure dropped, which resulted in the poison being sucked back (backsiphonage) into the hose. Later, when he drank from the hose, the poison inside was released with the water. Result; he unknowingly poisoned himself.

Many spray attachments do have a backflow prevention device and still, those that do, they sometimes fail.
Besides weed-killer, fertilizers and bug-killers are also dispensed through spray attachments connected to hoses. I know what I've put through my own hoses, you know what you've put through your own hoses, D-Mac knows what he has put through his hoses. But none of us REALLY know what others put through their hoses.
D-Mac is wise to sanitize his tank!

I suppose anything is possible, but modern weed killer does not contain arsenic, even commercial blends. Modern sprayers do not create back pressure, because they use siphon system. Modern municipal water systems do not backflow unless there is a catostrophic failure, and if that happens, what is sucked into the garden hose would be the least of the worries. The odds of getting sick from your relatives hose is much less than your risk of getting food poisoning from their cooking.

[joez]

This thread is not only serious, but dead serious.
Decades ago when most of us were kids, and drank hose water, like most kids, spray attachments were not put on hoses that dispensed chemicals.

A man sprays commercial weed killer with an arsenic compound in it on his lawn. After he finishes, he disconnects the applicator. It's a hot day, so he takes a refreshing drink of water from the hose. A short time later, he ends up in the hospital, or worse, with arsenic poisoning.
WHAT HAPPENED?

At some time while he was spraying the weed-killer, the water pressure dropped, which resulted in the poison being sucked back (backsiphonage) into the hose. Later, when he drank from the hose, the poison inside was released with the water. Result; he unknowingly poisoned himself.

Many spray attachments do have a backflow prevention device and still, those that do, they sometimes fail.
Besides weed-killer, fertilizers and bug-killers are also dispensed through spray attachments connected to hoses. I know what I've put through my own hoses, you know what you've put through your own hoses, D-Mac knows what he has put through his hoses. But none of us REALLY know what others put through their hoses.
D-Mac is wise to sanitize his tank!

Except in that case sanitizing (chlorine treatment) would not help with getting rid of the insecticide or lawn treatment chemicals, especially if heavy metals are present. Regular sanitizing with chlorine will kill disease organisms but will not typically destroy organic pesticides/algicides, etc or get rid of heavy metals. I would not make a regular habit of it, but if I had to use the hose I would run water through it for 10 minutes or so and then add what I needed to the tank. If what was being sprayed is soluble enough to work in the sprayer and somehow some backflowed into the hose, flushing the hose would get rid of it, IMHO.

[B. Kidd]

I suppose anything is possible, but modern weed killer does not contain arsenic, even commercial blends. Modern sprayers do not create back pressure, because they use siphon system. Modern municipal water systems do not backflow unless there is a catostrophic failure, and if that happens, what is sucked into the garden hose would be the least of the worries. The odds of getting sick from your relatives hose is much less than your risk of getting food poisoning from their cooking.

Siphon systems fail. And more then weed killer goes thru many people's hoses (ie: 'Ortho-Klor' bug killer). Water pressure deviates, even in modern munincipal water systems.
I disagree that the odds are small from getting sick from your relatives hose, but I do agree they might be higher from your relatives' cooking.

[pianotuna]

Hi JJ,

I'm glad you have arrived safe and sound.

You won't need to sanitize if he is on a municipal water supply--but the water may taste bad.

Modern plastic hoses do make water unpalatable. DAMHIK If another fill is needed run the water for ten minutes first to flush out the garden hose.

I hope you change the brita filter often. My understanding is that bacteria can grow inside them once the silver iodide is depleted.

I'm staying at a friend's house in Georgia. I needed to refill my water tank, but couldn't reach his water faucet with my hose. He suggested his garden hose. HORROR!

Well, I used it anyway, I put the RV water filter between his hose and my hose, but I'm still thinking....... he could have run all kinds of crap through that garden hose and my filter won't stop it.

I think I need to purchase a new water hose and sanitize my tank, what do you all think?

JJ

[DXSMac]

I was one of the contributors to the downhill slide. Sorry, JJ. So now I will say seriously that if you feel uncomfortable about it, then by all means sanitize your tank for your peace of mind. Odds are nothing will come of your using a garden hose, but the possibility it had contaminants does exist, so take the precautions that make you feel better and safer.

Oh that's ok. The thing that BKidd said is what concerned me. As for flushing, I usually "flush" all water faucets before connecting, but not for 10 minutes as KCMoeDoe suggested. I have found water faucets usually have "deposits" and I flush out those "deposits" before connecting.

JJ

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I'd only do ten minutes when using a garden hose. Other than that a few seconds is not a bad idea.

[Texasrvers]

Oh that's ok. The thing that BKidd said is what concerned me. As for flushing, I usually "flush" all water faucets before connecting, but not for 10 minutes as KCMoeDoe suggested. I have found water faucets usually have "deposits" and I flush out those "deposits" before connecting.

JJ

We we always flush out a campground's water faucet, but we also keep a container of Clorox wipes handy to wipe off the spigot. Some spigots are very low to the ground, and there are some very tall dogs around--if you get my drift.