Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

We just had a girl come over for a play date with our daughter. She'd never
been here before, so I tried to be extra conscientious about things like not
letting her go out of our yard unwatched, me dropping in to check in with them
frequently, those sorts of things (both kids are 8, btw). My husband took them
for a long walk to the beach, and, because he was carrying no water, let the
kids drink out of garden hoses on the way there and back. He did not know (or
ask) the people who owned the hoses if this was okay.

I would not have presumed to use another person's hose without asking, and I
would not have assumed, especially for somebody else's kid, that the water was
safe to drink. I think he did the wrong thing. He thinks I'm crazy. The other
girl's parent, as it turned out, laughed about the whole thing when he heard
about it later. But that's not the point.

My husband claims that it never would have occurred to him that *anyone* would
think that the kids shouldn't be drinking out of garden hoses. I find that hard
to believe; in fact, I'm not even convinced drinking water out of a hose is
necessarily safe. He wants me to ask here if anyone else besides me would mind
having their kid drinking out of a hose. So does anyone here have an opinion?

Please, moderators, let this have enough parenting content! ;) This is
something I need to know!

beeswing,
hitting SEND

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

My husband wants me to clarify that it was only one hose at only one house and
the water was already running. For what it's worth. (As far as I'm concerned:
Absolutely nothing.)

We await your wise guidance, members of mkm.

beeswing

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

I grew up drinking out of my parents' hose on hot summer days, and
would let my son do the same. However, the same does not hold true
for random stragers' hoses, especially on older homes where lead pipes
might not have been replaced where they only lead to an outdoor faucet
if the homeowner doesn't normally drink from the hose.

just my $0.02

Susan

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 00:18:54 EDT, (Beeswing) wrote:

We just had a girl come over for a play date with our daughter. She'd never
been here before, so I tried to be extra conscientious about things like not
letting her go out of our yard unwatched, me dropping in to check in with them
frequently, those sorts of things (both kids are 8, btw). My husband took them
for a long walk to the beach, and, because he was carrying no water, let the
kids drink out of garden hoses on the way there and back. He did not know (or
ask) the people who owned the hoses if this was okay.

I would not have presumed to use another person's hose without asking, and I
would not have assumed, especially for somebody else's kid, that the water was
safe to drink. I think he did the wrong thing. He thinks I'm crazy. The other
girl's parent, as it turned out, laughed about the whole thing when he heard
about it later. But that's not the point.

My husband claims that it never would have occurred to him that *anyone* would
think that the kids shouldn't be drinking out of garden hoses. I find that hard
to believe; in fact, I'm not even convinced drinking water out of a hose is
necessarily safe. He wants me to ask here if anyone else besides me would mind
having their kid drinking out of a hose. So does anyone here have an opinion?

Please, moderators, let this have enough parenting content! ;) This is
something I need to know!

beeswing,
hitting SEND

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

Beeswing wrote:
We just had a girl come over for a play date with our daughter. She'd never
been here before, so I tried to be extra conscientious about things like not
letting her go out of our yard unwatched, me dropping in to check in with them
frequently, those sorts of things (both kids are 8, btw). My husband took them
for a long walk to the beach, and, because he was carrying no water, let the
kids drink out of garden hoses on the way there and back. He did not know (or
ask) the people who owned the hoses if this was okay.

I would not have presumed to use another person's hose without asking, and I
would not have assumed, especially for somebody else's kid, that the water was
safe to drink. I think he did the wrong thing. He thinks I'm crazy. The other
girl's parent, as it turned out, laughed about the whole thing when he heard
about it later. But that's not the point.

My husband claims that it never would have occurred to him that *anyone* would
think that the kids shouldn't be drinking out of garden hoses. I find that hard
to believe; in fact, I'm not even convinced drinking water out of a hose is
necessarily safe. He wants me to ask here if anyone else besides me would mind
having their kid drinking out of a hose. So does anyone here have an opinion?

Please, moderators, let this have enough parenting content! ;) This is
something I need to know!

beeswing,
hitting SEND


If I understand this, your BH had 2 thirsty kids and walked by
a running hose, and they drank from it?

I'm not sure what's objectionable about this, speaking as someone
who drank from a hose a lot while young. My kids have drunk
water from hoses as well. As long as the water supply is okay --
and we live in a city with good water -- I don't see a problem.

I mean, the hose wasn't lying in a festering pool of manure before
they drank, was it? I'm not sure why it wouldn't be safe.

Scott DD 10 and DS 7

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

"Beeswing" wrote in message
...
We just had a girl come over for a play date with our daughter. She'd
never
been here before, so I tried to be extra conscientious about things like
not
letting her go out of our yard unwatched, me dropping in to check in with
them
frequently, those sorts of things (both kids are 8, btw). My husband took
them
for a long walk to the beach, and, because he was carrying no water, let
the
kids drink out of garden hoses on the way there and back. He did not know
(or
ask) the people who owned the hoses if this was okay.

I would not have presumed to use another person's hose without asking, and
I
would not have assumed, especially for somebody else's kid, that the water
was
safe to drink. I think he did the wrong thing. He thinks I'm crazy. The
other
girl's parent, as it turned out, laughed about the whole thing when he
heard
about it later. But that's not the point.

My husband claims that it never would have occurred to him that *anyone*
would
think that the kids shouldn't be drinking out of garden hoses. I find that
hard
to believe; in fact, I'm not even convinced drinking water out of a hose
is
necessarily safe. He wants me to ask here if anyone else besides me would
mind
having their kid drinking out of a hose. So does anyone here have an
opinion?

Please, moderators, let this have enough parenting content! ;) This is
something I need to know!


Well......*I* have a real issue with people just traipsing into my yard just
because they feel like they have a right to but do not know me, do not care
to meet me, and are not there to interact with me. And, if they also feel
the need to avail themselves of the water which I have to pay to use they
are doubly in my bad graces. That is impolite, at best. Now, if they rang
my bell and asked me I'd be thrilled to get them a drink of cold water from
my fridge, especially if kids were involved. It's all about boundaries and
being considerate, imo.

Now, otoh, my husband would probably not have any issue with all of that. I
say that because when I blew up when the neighborhood kids were cutting
through our yard on their way home from school [at a previous home] he did
not see that as a boundary violation but being smart since there were no
sidewalks and the street was quite busy.

And, just to throw something else into the mix, you do not know what has
been flowing through that hose nor what has been in contact with it
recently. It is quite possible that that lawn had been recently treated
with pesticides and the hose was covered with them. It would be quite
unhealthy for those pesticides to be ingested.

-Aula


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Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

In article ,
(Beeswing) wrote:

We just had a girl come over for a play date with our daughter. She'd never
been here before, so I tried to be extra conscientious about things like not
letting her go out of our yard unwatched, me dropping in to check in with
them
frequently, those sorts of things (both kids are 8, btw). My husband took
them
for a long walk to the beach, and, because he was carrying no water, let the
kids drink out of garden hoses on the way there and back. He did not know (or
ask) the people who owned the hoses if this was okay.

I would not have presumed to use another person's hose without asking, and I
would not have assumed, especially for somebody else's kid, that the water
was
safe to drink. I think he did the wrong thing. He thinks I'm crazy. The other
girl's parent, as it turned out, laughed about the whole thing when he heard
about it later. But that's not the point.

My husband claims that it never would have occurred to him that *anyone*
would
think that the kids shouldn't be drinking out of garden hoses. I find that
hard
to believe; in fact, I'm not even convinced drinking water out of a hose is
necessarily safe. He wants me to ask here if anyone else besides me would
mind
having their kid drinking out of a hose. So does anyone here have an opinion?

Here's my thinking:

There are three issues with garden hoses. The first is whether or not
the material it's made of is safe for drinking water applications. Some
are, some clearly are not. (I believe in the last few years, USA
regulations require appropriate labeling.)

The second is whether or not there is water sitting in the hose that
would be consumed. That is potentially a more significant problem.
Sitting water in a hose not "approved" for drinking water is a double
no-no.

The third is that, especially in older homes, the plumbing to outside
hose bibs is not necessarily nice hosehold copper and might more likely
be galvanized pipe and, if old enough, using lead solder.

In general, I would not drink from a hose *at all* and even if it was an
"approved" material, I would let the water run through, clear and cool
before drinking.

A simpler solution is to disconnect the hose and drink from the hose
bib, with the #3 caveat. Of course, in an emergency, one might have to
make some concessions.

--Larry

--

Dr. Larry Bickford, O.D.
Family Practice Optometry Eye & Vision Care
The EyecareConnection
http://www.eyecarecontacts.comREMOVE-SPAMTRAP
email: larrybic at mac dot com

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

"Beeswing" wrote in message
...
We just had a girl come over for a play date with our daughter. She'd
never
been here before, so I tried to be extra conscientious about things like
not
letting her go out of our yard unwatched, me dropping in to check in with
them
frequently, those sorts of things (both kids are 8, btw). My husband took
them
for a long walk to the beach, and, because he was carrying no water, let
the
kids drink out of garden hoses on the way there and back. He did not know
(or
ask) the people who owned the hoses if this was okay.

I would not have presumed to use another person's hose without asking, and
I
would not have assumed, especially for somebody else's kid, that the water
was
safe to drink. I think he did the wrong thing. He thinks I'm crazy. The
other
girl's parent, as it turned out, laughed about the whole thing when he
heard
about it later. But that's not the point.

My husband claims that it never would have occurred to him that *anyone*
would
think that the kids shouldn't be drinking out of garden hoses. I find that
hard
to believe; in fact, I'm not even convinced drinking water out of a hose
is
necessarily safe. He wants me to ask here if anyone else besides me would
mind
having their kid drinking out of a hose. So does anyone here have an
opinion?

Please, moderators, let this have enough parenting content! ;) This is
something I need to know!


/follows up on own answer because insomnia reminds me:

You also have no certainty that the hose is running potable water. Around
here a lot of folks are using "gray water" to water lawns. That is water
that has been recycled through the city sewage plant. They require
homeowners to sign that no one will be using it for drinking or cooking due
to it's source. We also have a number of folks with artesian wells to water
lawns and you wouldn't want to drink that water ever ever ever.

And, as if that isn't enough.....I have enough trouble getting my own kid to
turn off the hose when he is done with it. I am assuming that the hose that
was found running was attached to a sprinkler, which would be the only
reason I could see someone leaving a hose running unattended for more than a
few seconds. Do they want to get the blame from the irate home owner coming
outside for leaving the hose on for who knows how long and high water bills
etc etc etc when it was little johnny who lives there and was filling up his
squirt gun a half hour ago? Do they [does anyone] want to deal with that
irate homeowner? Once again, boundaries are my issue here. I'm not saying
that your spouse went in, undid the sprinkler and took a drink, etc. Just
pointing out possible areas where homeowners could readily take issue.

-Aula


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Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

In article ,
(Beeswing) wrote:

My husband wants me to clarify that it was only one hose at only one house and
the water was already running. For what it's worth. (As far as I'm concerned:
Absolutely nothing.)

We await your wise guidance, members of mkm.

beeswing


Actually, I think that IS worth something: I had visions of your
husband walking up to a stranger's house and turning on the outside
water hose to give the kids a drink of water!

I drink out of hoses all the time, and would have no concerns about the
safety. In fact, I LIKE the way it feels to drink water out of a
running hose, but I'm told I'm odd in many ways. The water is the same
as the water that comes into your sink, and, if you've let the water run
for a while, chances of there being anything nasty to drink are pretty
remote.

I don't know if I would pick up a strangers' hose, but suspect that if I
were with thirsty kids, and the water was already running, and it didn't
involve any serious trespassing (didn't have to open a gate or anything)
-- I'd probably have done the same thing that your husband did.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

In article ,
Beeswing wrote:
My husband wants me to clarify that it was only one hose at only one house and
the water was already running. For what it's worth. (As far as I'm concerned:
Absolutely nothing.)
We await your wise guidance, members of mkm.

OK, I'll bite :-)

In the spring when I pump out the low spots in our back yard (lest
ducks and the local Canada goose flock take up residence) the garden
hoses are used to carry the (rather muddy) water to the street. Ditto
for the winter when the normal sump pump exhaust pipe freezes.

I don't let kids drink out of them.

[Wasn't there a recent article in Consumers Reports on trace chemicals
leaching into the water?]

Kids drinking out of a garden hose
 

Aula wrote:

I am assuming that the hose that
was found running was attached to a sprinkler, which would be the only
reason I could see someone leaving a hose running unattended for more than a
few seconds.

It was just sitting out next to the sidewalk, running. There was nothing
attached to the end of it.

beeswing