Potable Water Hose

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
hmason

hmason

Guru
Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
2,764
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Lucky Lucky
Vessel Make
Pacific Mariner 65
Some water hose is specifically intended for drinking water. Assuming one has that hose, should it be replaced after some period of time? Clearly, (pun intended) you can't see the inside of the hose which surely must grow "things" over time. Is there a way to sterilize a hose and how often should that be done?

What's wrong with washing your boat with the water hose? Seems to me, the more water that flows through the hose, the cleaner it would become. Interested in your thoughts.

Howard
 
This is pretty much the only brand of hose I use on boats.

Tricoflex - Un savoir-faire champenois depuis plus de 60 ans

We use them to both wash the boat and fill the tanks. The drinking water is filtered on its way into to the tanks and as it comes out of the tanks. We never seem to have anything growing in the hose.

Although I've seen it happen in hoses that either don't get much use and/or are not drained after most every use.
 
I've never had a problem with hose growing things. If you're using city water, chances are it has chlorine in it any way. We're been using the same hose for the last 8 years. We always run it though before we use it.
 
finally our marina replaced the section of clear hose that connected the bulkhead to the floating dock.


for years not only has my "drinking water safe" hose grown algae...that clear section of dock supply during weeks of low usage grew a forest of greenies.


and that was with city water with all the appropriate disinfectants.
 
psneeld said:
finally our marina replaced the section of clear hose that connected the bulkhead to the floating dock.


for years not only has my "drinking water safe" hose grown algae...that clear section of dock supply during weeks of low usage grew a forest of greenies.


and that was with city water with all the appropriate disinfectants.
Click to expand...

That may be because of the clear hose section. I don't know if greenies can grow without light.
 
hmason said:
That may be because of the clear hose section. I don't know if greenies can grow without light.
Click to expand...

My white potable water hose is obviously green inside...I can see it...they can definitely grow stuff inside as I have had it belch up green long after leaving my marina.
 
psneeld said:
My white potable water hose is obviously green inside...I can see it...they can definitely grow stuff inside as I have had it belch up green long after leaving my marina.
Click to expand...

:facepalm: uh oh.
 
We have one 75'' hose at the slip for all purposes. We always drain the hose of excess water before storing it in the dock box and we don't connect both ends together as we've seen some people do. So the hose can dry out inside. As Larry said, city water has additives in it that help prevent growth in the hose. We use the hose enough to keep collected moisture sitting in it long enough to start hosting flora or fauna. We've been using the same hose for 17 years now.
 
I've used the same water hose for probably 10 - 12 years, but I drain it after each use and store it in a dry place. Then we run the hose a couple of minutes just to remove dust and any spiders before filling the tanks.
 
A "Brain Eating" amoeba was found in the water system of a neighboring Parish, there have been a few cases in the news lately. Apparently one can drink the water with no problem but if it gets up the nose it can be fatal. The Parish did a "chlorine burn" supposedly all is ok now, It probably would have starved to death anyway.
 
Steve, the 'brain eating amoeba' was also located in the water supply to the state Senate and House of Representatives...it will DEFINITELY starve to death!!!
 
hmason said:
..... Is there a way to sterilize a hose and how often should that be done? .........

Howard
Click to expand...

In a rustic rural house I built in Mexico I used a clear hose (mistake) to supply water from the rooftop tinaco (water storage tank) and after a short period of time (a few weeks) green algae started growing inside the hose. To rid the clear hose of algae I simply disconnected it and added a few tablespoons of chlorine bleach into the hose and then connected both ends of it together and circulated the water/chlorine mixture for fifteen or so minutes. The green algae disappeared within that fifteen minutes so I reconnected the hose to my water supply system and all was good to go. Note: I have since replaced the clear hose with a black irrigation type hose and, since I can't see through it, I'm assuming my algae growth problem has been eliminated (algae needs light to grow).

If you choose to error on the safe side of things you can flush your water hose with a quarter cup of chlorine bleach every few months.
 
Ihad bought a potable water hose, and then noticed one time when hooking up, a big slug of green algae Ran out
it was the typical white hose with a blue stripe. Upon closer inspection I discovered that the hose was almost translucent allowing the Sun the cause algae to grow. I searched hard to find the hose that was a little sticker that was not translucent. in the sunlight you could stick your finger inside the hose and see the shadow from the outside .who would have thought that?
 
Calcium Hypochlorite is typically used to sanitize potable water systems.

It's what we used in the Navy for potable water hose flushing. On occasion, the "doc" would even check up on us.

I'd surmise you could buy it a Home Depot, unless of course, someone has figured out how to make a bomb with it, then you probably can't.

Regular bleach, aka Sodium Hypochlorite, decomposes over a relatively short time particularly when warm or hot, like my closed up boat. So if you use it for disinfecting, use fresh stuff, or increase the retention time.

I use neither...but I drink out my backyard garden hose all the time, so I might not be the best role model. Just not high on my priority list.
 
Last edited:
I use the same hose for washing the boat as I do for filling the tanks but I have a fairly large inline filter that I use when the tanks. I got It at WallyWorld a couple of years ago.


It goes onto the dock hose and has an outlet hose that I put into the tank. Since I started using that filter we've had zero smell to the water, no greenies and no sediment.


The filter has a paper element inside that I change annually.
 
The real question is, has anybody gotten sick from drinking the algae? I kind of doubt it. At least based on how common it is in hoses.

Seems more like a cosmetic issue.
 
Maybe I will cultivate it and sell it as health food...I know a country that would probably import it too....:D
 
you can use a bit of white vinegar in the hose to kill the bacteria. just flush it when you are ready to use it next time.
 
While we have a dedicated potable water hose connected to a filter that is used to fill the tanks that gets drained after every use and lives out of the sun in a locker on the boat, am I the only one who grew up drinking out of the garden hose? The same hose that hung out in the sun all summer long and was only replaced when it finally cracked and started leaking years and years after the fact? The one that was never drained and lived in the dank basement all winter? And we had well water, not treated city water. Amazing that we all made it out of childhood (and that with riding bikes, skateboards and roller skates without helmets). :D
 
Hoses that we depend upon to DRINK from deserve special consideration from hoses we work with.
AFAIK, the concept of having a dedicated 'potable water hose' is so that is does not get 'borrowed' and used for other less clean jobs: Like flushing the poop tank, the antifreeze or other contaminable vessels.

The hose is made of rubber. Put a nozzle on it, Turn the faucet on. Then spray a lot. The difference in pressure widens the hose and let's it shrink loosening crud up on the inside wall. Then flush that all out.

Regarding cleaning them, add a half bottle of bleach, and connect the ends of the hose. With the hose coiled up, rotate the hose a bunch of times. Then disconnect and flush out.
 
FWIW, Camco makes a blue hose advertised as suitable for potable water.


-Chris
 
ranger42c said:
FWIW, Camco makes a blue hose advertised as suitable for potable water.


-Chris
Click to expand...


From what I have seen, many hoses are certified for potable use. The issue is that they should ONLY be used for potable. Mixing uses is where the trouble comes from.

People forget that the hose used to fill the boat should NOT be the one that is stuck in the black water tank to rinse out the tank. Bacteria loves to hang around.
 
cappy208 said:
From what I have seen, many hoses are certified for potable use. The issue is that they should ONLY be used for potable. Mixing uses is where the trouble comes from.
Click to expand...


Also called cross contamination or cross connection in professional circles. It is the lone reason I will never consume water from any of your boats, no offense. I will never book passage on a cruise ship for similar reasons.
 
I use a standard garden hose which never gets drained or cleaned. I don't filter my water or add anything but water to my 34 year old tanks.
The water tastes great and I never get sick.

Maybe I'm just lucky.
 
AusCan said:
The water tastes great and I never get sick.

Maybe I'm just lucky.
Click to expand...

I don't think so. As nanny-state mentality expands around the world I think there are people who are paid to sit up all night thinking up things that could go wrong, no matter how far fetched or without evidence or proof they may be, and then start wringing their hands and wailing until the media and feel-good politicians take notice and then it becomes a Thing To Be Protected From.

While I applaud them for this, I'm amazed that the London Underground still gets away with simply telling passengers to "mind the gap" when entering or leaving the cars and then leaves it to the passengers to take responsibility for themselves to not fall through a break a leg.

As Capt. Bill said, the algae growing in a water hose is probably edible and in fact is probably good for you.:)
 
cappy208 said:
From what I have seen, many hoses are certified for potable use. The issue is that they should ONLY be used for potable. Mixing uses is where the trouble comes from.

People forget that the hose used to fill the boat should NOT be the one that is stuck in the black water tank to rinse out the tank. Bacteria loves to hang around.
Click to expand...


I expect there's not much difference between the dock water supply being fed into a "potable water hose" for drinking water use on board... and that same dock water supply being fed into that same "potable water hose" and being used to wash the boat. IOW, just because the hose is carrying potable, there's some flexibility in the end use of that potable water.

But sure, using that hose in the black water tank wouldn't be a great idea. I don't happen to personally know anyone who would "forget" that.

-Chris
 
We have a water supply at the slip (white hose) and then another water supply hose at the marina's fuel/pump-out dock. I drank out of garden hoses when I was a kid too and slept on the shelf above the back seat of my mother's 1973 Caprice on long trips and lived to tell about it so I'm not too fussy, but I've seen way too many boaters stick the marina's water supply hose down their waste inlets (outlets?) for me to ever use a gas dock water hose to fill my water tanks. Stomach acid is pretty good at killing lots of critters but I don't want to test it that hard.
 
ranger42c said:
But sure, using that hose in the black water tank wouldn't be a great idea. I don't happen to personally know anyone who would "forget" that.

-Chris
Click to expand...

Stick around a marina dock for a couple hours and observe. You'd be amazed at what you will see.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

magna 6882
fresh water flush
Replies
28
Views
2K
lwarden
lwarden
T
Flow meter on raw water intake, Genny
2
Replies
30
Views
3K
grumpyfnq
G
M
Fresh Water Flushing -- Water Supply Question
2
Replies
53
Views
5K
rwaldrop13
R
B
Raw Water Pump change questions
Replies
9
Views
973
ronobrien
R
C
Fuel Tank Mystery
Replies
17
Views
1K
Greg QS
Greg QS

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom