Hmmm. Ok here is another area to think about. Everyone knows that the fire hydrants and overhead sprinkler systems in businesses are not often used and because they do not have drains (or if they do a warning is sent to the fire dept.) so they have standing water in them for years, right? Ok quite a few places that i worked at, the plumbers (having no other water source) decided to use this water supply for the drinking fountains and the coffee brew stations in their offices. So the 'standing water' is now routed to the drinking fountains & the coffee stands, (hmmm how hot does the coffee have to be to kill contaminants?, just a thought.... Yes, the standing water is then drained, so it doesn't 'stand' but why make the employees drink it? Now if the employees cant get another source to refresh themselves and knowing what is in the contents how long should they 'run' the spigot to wash the contaminants out do the water fountains have filters? Personally i haven't seen any. Maybe CR needs to look into this as a nationwide problem. Alton Cason

I've never thought about the chemicals used in the making of garden hoses before. I and everyone I know, has always drank out of the hose when outside. I sure won't let my grandkids do it any more! Thanks for the heads-up.

Now what a second here, we always drank from these hoses as kids and...and..oops, I forgot what I was commenting about.

We have an RV for weekend and longer vacation travel. The warnings are everywhere in the RV media not to use ordinary garden hoses for water supply. Approved hoses are readily available at RV supply distributors.

The hose material has been noted but I have not seen any reference to the brass fittings. Replacement plastic fittings are available, but they are not durable.

We use a water filter at the hose bib and always flush the hose before connecting to the RV inlet. I would also like to find an approved lubricant for the hose threads when the bib or fittings are corroded or dinged.

@Alton Fire sprinklers usually have flow detectors installed on the risers so any water use on these systems would be sensed as a sprinkler flow and set off the fire alarms. If the riser(s) in question don't have flow alarms, I suppose this wouldn't be a problem. As to the water sitting in the pipes for extended periods of time, there is normally a periodic flow test performed where the farthest points of the system have Inspection Test Valves opened and the water flow is observed and/or measured. This would not flow enough water to flush the pipes completely.

I've always watered my vegetables in the summer using a garden hose. Never considered that this could be an issue.