Using a garden hose for field water is it safe

[Laurac13]

Hi all

I was just speaking to someone who said using a garden hose to transport water from a tap to a horses paddock further up the field isn’t safe due to chemicals in the hosepipe and it will taste rank… what are your thoughts please as I was about the buy a very long garden hose rather than bucketing water up to my mini Shetland’s pen will need about 60 meters of hose and the human grade safe for drinking is really expensive
Thank you

 

[SEL]

Do it daily and they're all drinking!

 

[milliepops]

Do it daily and they're all drinking!

Same ?

 

[meleeka]

It tastes fine. I’m happy to drink water from the hose and can confirm it tastes as you would expect.

 

[Quigleyandme]

I do it everyday and mine are thriving.

 

[FlyingCircus]

Speaking as someone who regularly drinks from the hose...I'm still standing!

 

[FieldOrnaments]

Assuming your hosepipe is on mains it is possible to get a breakdown of the contents of your water on the water company's website, simply by entering your postcode

 

[shortstuff99]

It will grow a biofilm but horses eat off the dirt so won't really matter ?.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

All my horses water is filled with a hose what a strange thing to say, what do they suggest you use instead just curious ?

 

[Jenko109]

??? tell them you took their advice and have instead decided that the safest bet is that your horse only drinks Evian.

 

[Laurac13]

Thank you everyone ? yes the hose would be connected to the mains. The person was suggesting some special hose which is human grade for drinking water and it’s mega expensive! I’ll grab an extra long garden hose it will be a lot less work than bucketing 60 meters and back multiple times! Thanks again all ?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Thank you everyone ? yes the hose would be connected to the mains. The person was suggesting some special hose which is human grade for drinking water and it’s mega expensive! I’ll grab an extra long garden hose it will be a lot less work than bucketing 60 meters and back multiple times! Thanks again all ?

Well I've had horses for 40 years and have been using a garden hose for the horses water and have never had an issue, I have never heard of using human grade hoses for animals thats crazy.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I just let the hose run for 5 mins before using it for horse water for the first time so if there is any residue or anything in it from manufacture its washes out before it gets to the beasts.

 

[Gloi]

The troughs get filled with a hose and I drink out of it and I'm not dead yet.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I drink from the hose and havent had a dicky tummy yet lol… but yes, use it for the horses too

 

[nutjob]

I have used a garden hose for 25 years now. The only issue I have is when leaving it out in the hot weather it can run very hot to start with so you may need to run it a little if you don't want to fill the buckets with hot water and especially if you are hosing off your horse it can scald it gets so hot.

 

[maya2008]

Always worked fine for us, but blue pipe is easier for longer distances. Some of those horses have been drinking this way for nearly 20 years with no ill effects…

 

[PapaverFollis]

I think every yard I've ever been on has had a hose attached to a tap for filling buckets!

 

[Nicnac]

Well after 30 years of filling troughs and stable water via hoses off my house mains, I haven't killed a horse yet so guess it's pretty safe!

 

[only_me]

Lol

Fill main tub with water from a hose that’s probably older than the horse - but still lovely clean water.
He still prefers the old stone drinker which is at least 50 years old where the water is always a green tinge!

 

[Melody Grey]

Absolute BS I’d say....having no water Will be far worse for your horses health!

let it run for a few minutes if you’re worried?

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Does this person work for a human-grade hose pipe company?

 

[ponynutz]

Our horse's water source is our garden hose - and as a regular drinker of it myself - it's much yummier than the stuff inside!

 

[ponynutz]

Lol

Fill main tub with water from a hose that’s probably older than the horse - but still lovely clean water.
He still prefers the old stone drinker which is at least 50 years old where the water is always a green tinge!

Strange because we use an old bath and whenever I clean it out they won't drink from it 'till it's gone a bit green again. Our horses are mad!

 

[FlyingCircus]

Today I learned that there are human-grade hosepipes!

 

[Lois Lame]

I often drank from a hose when I was working (in a nursery) but at the paddock, I would unsnap the hose from the tap to wet my horse's feed or to fill up my water bottle. Some people thought I was daft but I didn't like the hose flavour. Even if I let the hose run for a while, it tasted like hose. Ah well, we're all individuals.

 

[PurBee]

I bought new hoses this year for the garden and was reminded of the hose plastic smell the water initially gets tainted with when you first use it. Watering plants i could smell the plastic water smell, but i’m sensitive to smells.

If you use a new hose, i’d rinse the hose through to leach out any overt manufacturing residues - allow water to sit in it overnight - dispose of that and rinse through again, then use it.

For the horse area ive never used brand new hoses - always older ones that have been used for months elsewhere in the garden.

the thicker blue hdpe pipe is meant to be inert and more suited for drinking water - its often used for long runs to fields as its more robust to splits and horses walking on it etc if not buried in the ground-but more expensive than hosepipe yet longer lasting.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Today I learned that there are human-grade hosepipes!

Blue human grade hosepipes are in use on every campsite, we've got one.

Regular garden hosepipes are fine for equestrian use when used regularly. They do get rank on the inside if allowed to sit around unused and full of stale water though, so bear that in mind.

 

[Northern Hare]

Not for horses, but we've got a motorhome, and there's always a lot of debate about the correct hosepipe to use to fill the fresh water tanks in the motorhome (about 125 litres). Aficionados always insist that it must be a food grade blue hose. However we always fill it from the garden hose at home before we head off as the blue one isn't long enough, and we've survived to tell the tale - we always let it run through with fresh water first though. ?

 

[Red-1]

I use a hose for all my water, the only yard tap is attached to the house so we have a 25 yard hose to get to the stables and a 30m hose to attach on to get to the fields.

I have only ever had a problem once...

I had an expandable hose by Hozelock, it was fabulous. Retracted itself to put away in winter, a huge hose fitted into a little ice cream box, magic.

However, the horse one day trod on it and I discovered they were kaput with even a little hole :-(

It was sooo god I decided to buy another, but they are also pricey so I found a 'similar' one on ebay, green not yellow. It smelled plasticky when first used, so I ran it through but, some weeks later, the water was still tainted.

Worse still, I am always careful not to leave the hose end in water to avoid suck back, but the strong elastic of the hose forced the hose water backwards into the house (have since had a special valve fitted to avoid this!). Our house water was rank. I actually reported it to the water company (they provided the special valve). As soon as I realised, I binned it.

Back to a standard hose now, no issues.