[Nikkijw]

Hi everyone, i wondered if any of you would be kind enough to advise me please. I have a few pet sheep in a field at the bottom of my garden which is great. Unfortunately i slipped a disc on my way back up to the house last week so carrying heavy buckets of water is tricky at the mo. Is it ok if i run a length of garden hose from my outside tape down to the sheep for water. I would just turn it on when i need to refill, they dont have auto feeders. I looked at blue pipe but im baffled as to how to connect it to the house outside tape, seems hozelock fittings dont work. Apologies if this is a bit naive! Still learning! Im sure once i have some sort of hoze, i wont want to carry heavy canisters again. Thanks for reading 

[shep53]

Perfect its what i would have done all the time rather than carrying water . If the tap is fed by plastic either black or blue the you can get some one to  dig down cut the pipe and put in a T piece to join the feed pipe on with maybe a stop cock tap ( plastic )

[landroverroy]

Yes it'll be fine to run your garden hose off an outside tap. Get as big a container as is feasible - ie not buckets that will tip over. 

[Nikkijw]

Thank you. I had been told that the garden hose would be toxic & i must use blue pipe. But if its safe (dont need any additional vet bills) just to run it down for washing out & filling up buckets on & off, i will stick with that for ease & saves on getting a plumber in! I really appreciate yr help. Thank you

[SallyintNorth]

Look for "drinking water safe" garden hoses, "food grade hose", "hose for potable water" (readily found in caravanning supplies places) if you want to be sure.

Regular hoses may contain toxins, some of which could be in the water, yes. 

But I bet that many of us have used regular hoses for livestock - pigs, sheep and cattle - for years, and never given it a thought till now! 

[arobwk]

Plenty of hose pipes are now certified as suitable for potable water, [Edit - strike-thro' & additional comment]  but I still reckon my Fitt NTS Wintech hose is as good as one can get and still available at a decent price at Screwfix.  Ref' SiN's later challenge, I cannot verify it's suitability for potable water afterall.

[SallyintNorth]

I couldn't see any info about that one being safe for drinking water?  It says it's made from PVC (not uPVC) and Polyester.  I would have thought it would say "BPA free" or "drinking water safe" or something if it is?

[Kiran]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/FOOD-GRADE-12MM-TOXIC-WATER/dp/B00GGGUQSI/ref=asc_df_B00GGGUQSI/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310087651872&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3510460596051736220&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045405&hvtargid=pla-718285612068&psc=1 something like this is food grade but works out pretty expensive if you need to go far.

I use normal, albeit heavy duty, hose. I just run some water through it before I start filling drinking water containers if it's been a particularly warm day etc.

[arobwk]

I couldn't see any info about that one being safe for drinking water?  It says it's made from PVC (not uPVC) and Polyester.  I would have thought it would say "BPA free" or "drinking water safe" or something if it is?

Good challenge SiN and, despite new searches, I cannot now find the evidence of potable water spec'.  I did check this out before I purchased, but, this far on, I'm confused.  I'll do some more research, but unfortunately Fitt have changed the names of all their hoses so finding historic references on their web-site (or others) might not be possible.

[Backinwellies]

personally never knew there was a reason not to use ordinary hose pipe ..... and yes been using for years ....  surely would only be an issue if left unused for a period of time then the water which had remained in pipe was drunk....  animals drink from streams/ puddles they dung in so cant see what other issues there would be.

[SallyintNorth]

I had to do some googling...  Apparently it's the lead and other toxins in the pipe (and possibly also fittings and connectors) which have been found to be present in the water drawn through the hose.

Running off a bit of water before filling the water trough would reduce the contamination, I imagine.

My initial reaction was also to say that we've never had a problem - but then I remembered that Hillie (Jersey cow) died unexpectedly last year, we don't know why.  No symptoms that we had spotted. 

For several weeks (not all at once) each year, the cows would be in areas where we had to fill a water container for them, for which we used regular hoses.  So I felt that I couldn't in conscience say we'd never had a problem.

[arobwk]

Leaving aside the potable water bit for a moment:  we all know, don't we, that connecting a hose to a supply tap directly connected to the mains on an agricultural holding is not permitted - we all know that right ??!!

Back to hoses suitable for drinking water:  while trying to prise NTS Wintech hose spec's out of Fitt via their website (unsuccessfully), I did press their "drinking water" filter for their latest range of garden hoses.  They offer several hoses including "NTS" hose in different colours (not sure why they bother doing that, but heh! - perhaps some folk would prefer to buy the "NTS Jeans" variant than the "NTS Lime", or other colours to match their wellies, or their jeans!!  ).  However, other than stating their relevant hoses are "phthalate-free" the website leaves us none the wiser regarding full compliance with potable water requirements/reg's.  Therefore, if thinking to buy a Fitt hose for potable water, one might wish to contact Fitt direct. 
(I would vouch for their NTS hoses being "kink free" though - iow it is very very very difficult to get a Fitt NTS hose to kink.  I haven't personally managed to kink mine yet.)

Otherwise: 

If using "ordinary" garden hoses and brass fittings, best to run through any water left "standing" in the line (i.e. let the "standing" water go to waste !!).

Plasticisers used in older or cheap hoses can include various nasties inc' heavy metals.

Brass fittings contain lead.  I would not know whether the amount of metal leaching from a tap or a few hose-pipe fittings (as opposed to, say, an old house with lead plumbing) is of any real concern though, but better safe than sorry.

Alternative plastic fittings might also need to be checked for compliance if one wants to be ultra-sure of the quality of water supplied to your animals, your veg or yourself.
 

[Penninehillbilly]

I know this is an old thread, but i never knew water from hosepipe is toxic, I've been running one from the stone trough spring water to the next field for years, and never thought to run water off first. I will in future!
having a rethink on all water supplies, apart from one to top a little goose bath we are all blue.


But what about watering fruit and veg then?

[chrismahon]

We use standard garden hoses to fill water butts for the chicken drinkers and haven't had a problem at all, but then chickens will drink some horrible water from puddles anyway. However in England we had a garden hose pipe left with water in it and that was a mistake because the water went stale and contaminated the hose. We used to run the water through which absolutely stank, but even just a few days later the water in the pipe was the same. So if you fill troughs with a garden hose pipe, empty the pipe thoroughly each time and put it away from sunlight/ heat. I presume the blue or black water pipe has a bacterial inhibitor in it?

[arobwk]

We use standard garden hoses to fill water butts for the chicken drinkers and haven't had a problem at all, but then chickens will drink some horrible water from puddles anyway. However in England we had a garden hose pipe left with water in it and that was a mistake because the water went stale and contaminated the hose. We used to run the water through which absolutely stank, but even just a few days later the water in the pipe was the same. So if you fill troughs with a garden hose pipe, empty the pipe thoroughly each time and put it away from sunlight/ heat. I presume the blue or black water pipe has a bacterial inhibitor in it?

Bacterial inhibitors ??  I doubt it. 

(As to animal water drinking quality: one of my dogs - the madam - will drink water out of a flooded tub of rusty old metal, but will not drink perfectly clean water out of her kitchen bowl if it's a day old !!)