Kids drinking out of a garden hose

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 08:21:00 EDT, "Jeff Utz"
wrote:

I would agree. Every spring, my dad uses the water hose to drain the top of
our pool. Now, what do you think would be in your kids' stomach if he used
the hose to drain the pool, the flooded cellar (perhaps after a sewer leak),
etc.? Sure, getting those things in the garden is no big deal, but getting
them in a stomach is.

Anyone who has ever went swimming in a pool has swallowed water from
the pool. I don't see your point.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

"Daye" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 08:21:00 EDT, "Jeff Utz"
wrote:

I would agree. Every spring, my dad uses the water hose to drain the top
of
our pool. Now, what do you think would be in your kids' stomach if he
used
the hose to drain the pool, the flooded cellar (perhaps after a sewer
leak),
etc.? Sure, getting those things in the garden is no big deal, but
getting
them in a stomach is.

Anyone who has ever went swimming in a pool has swallowed water from
the pool. I don't see your point.

The pool water I was referring to was the water that is on top of the
plastic cover before the pool or in the pool itself before the pool is
opened or before chlorine is added. So sorry I was not clear.

BTW, pool water is not very clean. I mean, how many people do you know who
shower well and clean their poop holes before going into pools. Most kids
under 7 or 8 I know don't take a bath every day. The chlorine helps a lot,
but it does not get all disease causing organisms.

Jeff


--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
EDD 11 Jan 2004

"Tamex" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 12:15:46 EDT, Darrell Tangman
wrote:

Beeswing wrote:
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.

Unless the hose was attached to a faucet visible from the street, I
would hesitate to assume that it was delivering potable water. It could
as easily be draining something (pool, water bed, whatever) that I
wouldn't much want kids drinking from.

Exactly. Most people don't just leave hoses running water from the
tap unless there's a sprinkler on the end or they are filling
something. It could very well be draining something (possibly icky)
if the hose was just running water onto the grass.

If the water is coming from a well, it may be cold (around 50 degrees F),
which would be a hint that the water is potable, though certainly no
guarantee. (However, if the drinking water is comes from a lake or
resarvoir, it might be about 80 degrees F even though it is fresh and
chlorinated.)

And even if the water is coming from a faucet, it might not be potable. For
example, my runs water directly into the pool from a pipe that is also
connected pool's plumbing. If the pump broke and the valve were open, the
water would run the other way from the pool circuit into the house plumbing.

I might drink (and let kids drink) from my own garden hose, but I
wouldn't drink out of a stranger's unattended garden hose if I could
possibly help it.

Neither would I. Who knows what lives in the hose (ants, bacteria, or maybe
the hose tip acidently went down a drain).

Jeff

--
Tamex

No matter how much Jell-o you put in the pool, you still can't walk on
water.

**remove Tricky Dick to reply by e-mail**

In article , Lee writes:


Between the chlorine and the dilution, there's nothing to worry about.
Parents of infants are warned not to allow them to swallow too much
water because of the volume effect. I've never heard a warning about
pathogens.


I've heard them.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/livin...teria0526.html

-Marjorie

"Lee" wrote in message
...
Jeff said:

BTW, pool water is not very clean. I mean, how many people do you know
who
shower well and clean their poop holes before going into pools. Most kids
under 7 or 8 I know don't take a bath every day. The chlorine helps a
lot,
but it does not get all disease causing organisms.

Between the chlorine and the dilution, there's nothing to worry about.
Parents of infants are warned not to allow them to swallow too much
water because of the volume effect. I've never heard a warning about
pathogens.

In a community pool where my brother lives, there are occaisonal potty
accidents caused by the parents (like, when a parent is too busy talking and
ignores the kids pleas "But I have to go right now"). When this happens, the
pool is required to be shut down long engough for the entire water volume to
circulate through the filters after the offending material is removed. (A
few years ago, when there were a lot of these incidents, a member of the
community made a desert for a baking contest shaped like the pool. The cake
was topped with blue jello, and there were raisans in the jello to represent
floaters. This desert got 1st prize).

However, there are outbreaks of diarrheal disease caused by cryptosporidium
and Giradia and other pathogens in public pools. There pathogens are not
killed by chlorine, so the only way to deal with them is through fine
filters (a lot finer than the ones around pools) and by washing around the
anus well before swimming (washing this area is actually the reason for
showering before going into the pool -- getting smelly sweat and other dirt
in the pool is no big problem, although it does use up the chlorine a bit a
faster). The other thing is that these and other pathogens are often passed
in the stool (and left on the skin to get into pools unless one washes (and
not just wipes, which does not remove all the material)) long after the
symptoms have subsided, so someone who is spreading the disease may not know
(s)he has it (which is a reason why I was my hands after toileting).

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00032242.htm

I think there are few outbreaks like this each year, so it is not a huge
problem, except to the very young and very old who get sick, and a few of
the people in between.

Jeff

"Jeff Utz" wrote in message
...

"Tamex" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 12:15:46 EDT, Darrell Tangman
wrote:

Beeswing wrote:
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.

Unless the hose was attached to a faucet visible from the street, I
would hesitate to assume that it was delivering potable water. It could
as easily be draining something (pool, water bed, whatever) that I
wouldn't much want kids drinking from.

Exactly. Most people don't just leave hoses running water from the
tap unless there's a sprinkler on the end or they are filling
something. It could very well be draining something (possibly icky)
if the hose was just running water onto the grass.

If the water is coming from a well, it may be cold (around 50 degrees F),
which would be a hint that the water is potable, though certainly no
guarantee. (However, if the drinking water is comes from a lake or
resarvoir, it might be about 80 degrees F even though it is fresh and
chlorinated.)

water coming from a well may or may not be potable. i have tested some
wells that are definately NOT potable for my job. i investigate hazardous
waste sites, sometimes in or near neighborhoods.


--
Edith
oht nak




And even if the water is coming from a faucet, it might not be potable.
For
example, my runs water directly into the pool from a pipe that is also
connected pool's plumbing. If the pump broke and the valve were open, the
water would run the other way from the pool circuit into the house
plumbing.

I might drink (and let kids drink) from my own garden hose, but I
wouldn't drink out of a stranger's unattended garden hose if I could
possibly help it.

Neither would I. Who knows what lives in the hose (ants, bacteria, or
maybe
the hose tip acidently went down a drain).

Jeff

--
Tamex

No matter how much Jell-o you put in the pool, you still can't walk on
water.

**remove Tricky Dick to reply by e-mail**

"Scott Lindstrom" wrote in message
...
mountainspring wrote:
just me wrote:


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.


Getting OT here, but what is wrong with drinking from artesian wells??
As I understand it, we have an artesian well as our main water source
and the water from it has tested fine.

Wells around here are easily contaminated by
pesticides. Not sure about artesian wells,
which theoretically should be protected by
an impervious layer above....


Scott

artesian, as with any other kind of well may or may not be contaminated. it
depends on where the water is coming from, what it travels through, the
amount of time it takes to travel there, etc.
if it is traveling through fine sand, silt, and maybe a trace of clay, for a
long period of time, over a long distance, from an uncontaminated source, it
should be OK. traveling through limestone caves (basically pipework with no
filtration qualities), it's doubtful.
the impervious layer above only protects from what is above. if the source
is contaminated, you start out with contaminated water...
sorry for all the repetition...

--
Edith
oht nak

In ,
Daye wrote:

*On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 08:21:00 EDT, "Jeff Utz"
*wrote:
*
*I would agree. Every spring, my dad uses the water hose to drain the top of
*our pool. Now, what do you think would be in your kids' stomach if he used
*the hose to drain the pool, the flooded cellar (perhaps after a sewer leak),
*etc.? Sure, getting those things in the garden is no big deal, but getting
*them in a stomach is.
*
*Anyone who has ever went swimming in a pool has swallowed water from
*the pool. I don't see your point.

Sure, but usually not in the springtime, when the top of the pool has a
lot of crap from the winter in it, and it hasn't been shocked yet.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

(Beeswing) wrote in message ...

Of course, I drank out of plenty of hoses as a kid, and I have been
known, even as an adult, to take a swig out of our garden hose.

But have you gone shopping for a hose lately? I was looking to replace
our hose for the front yard. Nearly every hose now has a warning -
about how it could cause birth defects or other problems due to the
chemicals that are in the hose.

I understand that the health concern with garden hoses is that your
basic garden hose has substances including toxic lead in it that keep
it flexible. Lead is very toxic and it is especially toxic to young
kids. Those substances leach into the water as it goes through the
hose and are not good for anyone. Drinking from a hose doesn't
immediately put you at risk, but doing it over time can do damage
because the chemicals build up in your tissue.

You can find hoses safe for drinking water -- usually at a local RV
Store, many boating stores, and some garden supply shops. Read the
label to make sure it's safe for drinking. I just read in an old
Consumer Reports yesterday that those hoses without labels generally
are unsafe for drinking water.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky )
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Singing with you at: http://www.tiferet.net/
Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky

dragonlady wrote:


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.


Actually, the water coming out of my hose is not the same as the water that
comes out of my sink. The water coming out of the hose comes directly from
our well. The water coming out of our sink runs through a water purification
system which filters out 5 times the legal limit of arsenic and many times
more than that the legal limit of radon.

You wouldn't get sick from drinking out of the hose once, but repeated ingestion
could make you sick.

Diane