Drinking Water from the Garden Hose: Not a Good Idea

I think it's something we've all done at least a few times: take a break from pulling weeds or mowing the lawn to take a nice big slurp of cold water, straight from the hose. Well, as it turns out, that probably wasn't such a good idea. According to About Container Gardening Guide Kerry Michaels, most garden hoses are made from PVC, which contains lead as a stabilizer. Lead can leach out into the water, and, bammo, you're drinking water that has 10 to 100 times the acceptable amount of lead in it.

To avoid the dangers that come from drinking from the hose, check out Kerry's article, Garden Hoses - Is Your Garden Hose Safe? It includes a handy list of "drink-safe" hoses. I have to admit: I hadn't even considered hose safety as an issue. Thanks, Kerry, for a really informative article!