# How Safe Is Garden Hose Under Mains Pressure?



## shadders (21/2/11)

I've just installed an old laundry tub free standing in my brewing room (spare room in the main house). It's temp installation as it's a rental so I've just run a drain outside through a floor level window and the tap is fed of an outdoor door tap. I've got garden hose running in through the window and it's clamped onto 1/2" copper pipe (two hose clamps to be safe) from the back of the tap. The whole thing is leak free and I've left it for a few hours with the garden tap on and it seem ok but I'm getting the heebie jeebies about it now. There's only about 1/2 metre of actual hose inside the house but I'm wondering about the risk of it bursting. If it did inside it would be a bit of catastrophe, the floor is lino in that room but the adjoining room are all carpeted.

I've had a few old garden hoses burst before, this one is brand new and never exposed to sunlight. But I want to leave the outside tap on permanently and I've never left a garden hose under mains pressure full time before. So the question is, can it handle it? Has anyone tried something similar and could tell me how it went?

Next job is to run some hot water. Not quite sure how to do that on the cheap. Pretty sure garden hose is a bad idea. I often attach short lengths to indoor hot taps for cleaning etc and the hose gets really pliable with a bit of heat, I'm sure it's leaching unspeakable things into the water as well.


----------



## glaab (21/2/11)

i never turn my hose off at the tap because I use it so often with my aviaries, they usually last a year or two before they give up but I buy good quality nylex ones


----------



## ianh (21/2/11)

I have had a garden hose on main pressure for the last 4 years it's part of my garden watering system. I got a quality garden hose and some proper fittings for 12mm pipes not the normal garden hose connections.

I am currently transferring my brew place to the garage and likewise looking at installing a laundry sink. This will also mean an extension to my garden hose water system.

Another reason for a good quality hose is some cheaper ones impart a plastic taste to the water.

cheers

Ian


----------



## warra48 (21/2/11)

Try the hose and fittings from this lot:

http://www.hoselink.com.au/


----------



## ratchie (21/2/11)

I use air hose about the same price as a quality garden hose but so much better.


----------



## Yeastie Beastie (21/2/11)

warra48 said:


> Try the hose and fittings from this lot:
> 
> http://www.hoselink.com.au/



+1.


----------



## Rod (21/2/11)

Are you going to use the water for making brew 

Ok for washing , ? , maybe

but for brew you will need a drinking water hose 

available from bunnings , usually clear with a blue strip 

the garden hose will give you taste and odours 

drink some water from the garden hose on a warm day and you will get plastic like taste


----------



## Amber Fluid (21/2/11)

Polypipe is not expensive and a better alternative to running a garden hose imo.


----------



## NickB (21/2/11)

I would hard plumb some copper inside the house, with a drinking water hose to the tap.

Cheers


----------



## pcmfisher (21/2/11)

Depends on how much water pressure you have in your area.
At my house, yes I probably would do it but at me mum's you take your life in your hands just turning a tap on in case the fitting flies off and takes your eye out


----------



## np1962 (21/2/11)

Blueline polypipe FTW


----------



## bum (21/2/11)

Amber Fluid said:


> Polypipe is not expensive and a better alternative to running a garden hose imo.



Meh. It'll turn to shit with UV exposure the same way (the more expensive UV treated hoses would last longer, IMO).

In terms of pressure, we often use normal garden hoses to test water mains at up to 1100kpa. Depends on where you are but it is most likely your mains pressure would be half that and much lower at your hose. I'd be more worried about the damage the clamps might do rather than the pressure by itself. As mentioned above you should have a think about swapping it out for some drinking water hose if this is for brewing water.


----------



## TedAu (21/2/11)

bum said:


> . As mentioned above you should have a think about swapping it out for some drinking water hose if this is for brewing water.



+1 

As the hose gets older and starts to break down it will put more crap flavour in the water.
Good poly is pretty cheap and the fittings available make it a simple diy jobbie.


----------



## woodwormm (21/2/11)

my solution would be...

kinko fitting onto your copper at the back of your tap inside the room...

something plumbing like inside the room to just outside the window, then you can use your garden hose outside and if it does go bye bye it wont damage your room....

by plumbing like i mean whatever is cheapest for your length that you need..

you could look at blueline (my favourite)

or a braided line (i think they come up to 1.2m at the big green shed)

or you could even use a few metres of copper to get you outside the window...

when you're deciding what to do, remember how much your rental bond is, the repair bill on top of that and the grief it may cause for a rental reference if your hose does explode...

good luck.


----------



## Cocko (21/2/11)

warra48 said:


> Try the hose and fittings from this lot:
> 
> http://www.hoselink.com.au/


 :icon_offtopic: 

I wonder how accurate their flow meter is? Seems a cheap alternative to a sight gauge or other methods of measuring volumes.... just a thought.

Cheers



Edit: Second thought - Probably cant handle the heat.... please carry on.


----------



## shadders (21/2/11)

Got some reinforced food grade hose from clark rubber

http://www.clarkrubber.com.au/hosing/food-...ade-hosing.html

My confidence was lifted once I saw the woman in the shop struggling pretty hard to cut it. It's pretty rock solid. Rated to 1700kpa up to 60 deg C. Just need to get a 2nd and 3rd hose clamp that I think I'll sleep easy when it's left under pressure.

Didn't want to go with polypipe because the fittings are so damn expensive. It would have need a number of contortions to get around various obstacles so it probable would have ended more pricey than copper.


----------



## Florian (21/2/11)

Hey Shadders,

interested to know how much you paid per metre.


----------



## michael_aussie (21/2/11)

Dishwashers and washing machine instructions usually tell you to turn off the water ate the tap when not using the appliance.
I never have ... and I'd guess 99% of people don't. 
In 25 years I have had one washing machine hose blow off (poor fitting by its owner) and one dishwasher hose blow off.... the house used hot water into the dishwasher.

As long as you use quality fittings - and make sure they are tight ... but not too tight ... you are unlikely to have a leak.
However, as previously pointed out .. if you want to use the water for brewing .. use food grade hose.


----------



## shadders (21/2/11)

Florian said:


> Hey Shadders,
> 
> interested to know how much you paid per metre.



Was about $5/meter for short lengths. They had a 20 metre roll there which I think was about $40.


----------



## Florian (21/2/11)

Cheers, that sounds pretty reasonable seeing it's food grade. Depending on where I'll move my brewery to I might have to set up something similar.


----------

