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I HATE TO WATER, but unless the heavens provide an inch a week, it requires human intervention on these two hilly acres with thousands of plants, a well that is understandably precious and limited, and no irrigation system beyond a few basic spigots to connect to. Lately, we've been blessed locally with extra rain; any day now, it could be hose dragging time...which isn't as bad as it used to be since I finally found a hose I can handle (and you can, too, if you win one of two I've bought to share). First, a disclaimer, since my old-style journalistic policy is not to accept samples of garden products or plants, even for my giveaways, and because I almost never write about a product: I got my first length of this particular hose when it was a prototype, in an inadvertent swap with the man developing it. Jeff Thomas of Water Right Inc. emailed me when I left my job and started A Way to Garden; he'd heard I was consulting, and wondered if I might be free to help with something. We met, and though we never did work together, that morning I swapped some of my ideas for a bagel, tea—and a piece of the most unusual-looking garden hose I'd ever seen. I know more than the average gardener about garden hose, because at Martha Stewart, I worked intensively with manufacturers on her original K-Mart line. Plus, I own many, many hundreds of feet of hose, all of which I thought was top quality to match my tough site...but I nevertheless have been dissatisfied with every foot. Even the very best...sporting claims like kink-free and multiple ply (the layers of reinforcing materials that make up the tube, up to eight of them), or better-than-average fittings (still mostly junk), and maybe even dyed a color that didn't make my teeth ache–even with all those improvements, hose is my least-favorite tool. In fact, I blame traditional garden hose design for my bad relationship with the chore of watering. It's just too heavy (especially kink-free, since attempts at reducing kinking typically add weight). Though it's often hot when I need to water, I am not built like a fireman, and lugging hundred-foot lengths to set sprinklers in one spot after another is no fun. Worse than kinking, it gets damaged wherever a kink tries to happen. Ever notice how once you crease a hose too far, that spot will be where creases occur again and again? No coincidence. When you bend multi-ply hose beyond a certain point, you actually damage all those layers, and leave a memory in the material, a weak point. And by then it has already also probably started to leak near the connectors because the fittings were cheaply made, and it's time for repair, or what most people do instead: haul it off to the dumpster. Do we really need more disposable PVC products in our lives? SO IN 2008, THERE I WAS with this attractive olive-colored, narrow, almost weightless length of prototype hose from Jeff Thomas, thinking: What a nice man, but this must be just another garden-product gimmick, right? This looks too sleek to actually work. Obviously the punchline is that it wasn't a gimmick (or I wouldn't be giving away two hoses). When Water Right started selling its Slim & Light line, I ordered more, and am gradually retiring my old clunkers as they give out. All of Water Right's hoses (they make coil hoses as well, for smaller jobs) have some unseen features. They are drinking-water safe (most hoses contain and leach lead and other chemicals), made of polyurethane, not PVC, a stronger material requiring fewer ply. They have machined fittings made of solid brass plated in chrome. They're made in the United States, and even come in nice colors (including a new blue shade called sunken pool that Martha Stewart selected. Even though the hoses are really slender and lightweight, at just 1 ounce per foot...meaning a 50-footer weighs just 3 pounds—they deliver 4 to 5 gallons per minute, plenty to run my sprinkler (and a slightly wider diameter model is being introduced in July). Speaking of which, if I can just find a sprinkler that I really love just as much…watering might be not so bad after all. By the way, that's my favorite piece of watering gear in the photo up top: an old metal kitchen stool from the tag sales. I use it to prop up a sprinkler to do small beds here and there around the yard, when placing the sprinkler on the ground just sprays the water right into the foliage and flowers.
By Julie Day, Danny Lipford.com The lead-free, Ultra-Light garden hose by Water Right. The Water Right lead-free water hose claims to be the finest quality polyurethane garden hose ever made. Since I'm a person who always ends up in a mud-wrestling match with garden hoses, I decided to try the Water Right hose out to see if it lived up to its claims. Testing the Water Right Garden HoseThe hose I tested, the Water Right Ultra-Light , was very easy to use. It's supple and lightweight, with high-quality metal fittings that were easy to connect to my faucet and sprayer. It has plastic coils at each end to prevent kinks at the connectors. Best of all, the hose material rebounded quickly, which means it was pretty easy to shake out tangles. When I kinked it on purpose, it didn't crease. Compared to bargain-bin garden hoses I've used, the Water Right hose was far superior in performance and quality. Compared to expensive hoses I've used, it was much lighter and easier to pull around, making the Water Right more pleasant to use. The Water Right hose features kink-resistant connectors. However, the most important thing about this garden hose is that it's made from 100% lead free polyurethane. Lead contamination is a serious concern with PVC garden hoses. Lead leaches out of both the PVC tubing and the brass fittings and is a very dangerous neurotoxin even in very small doses. A 2003 study by Consumer Reports revealed that water from some major garden hose brands had up to 100 times the lead levels allowed by the EPA. A subsequent lawsuit has attempted to reduce lead levels and disclose the risks, but not all garden hoses are properly labeled. Importance of Lead-Free Garden HosesMade from food-grade materials. Water Right garden hoses are made from top-quality, food grade polyurethane that meets both Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and NSF International safety standards, so you can fill your child's swimming pool without worrying about highly toxic lead leaching out into the water. While more expensive than big-box-store garden hoses, you're buying safety and peace of mind in addition to a really high-quality, user-friendly product. Buying and Using a Garden HoseWith any garden hose, it's important to:
Further Information
__ I have spent a frustrating number of years looking for water hoses that don't kink and are non-toxic. Many have claimed to have these properties but none have actually had them. A local distributor highly recommended a well known brand to me a few years ago. It was a really bad recommendation. In the winter, it won't bend at all. It's not much better in the summer plus it has toxic outgasing chemicals in it, and it still kinks. We wish all retail stores carried this, but until then it is available here: Water Right Hose .
Visit the Green Living store for great garden, home, kids and pet products. If you have any questions regarding this newsletter or any other topic, join me this weekend for my Green Living and Dirt Doctor radio shows . Naturally yours, Howard Garrett ________________________________________________________________________________________________________  By Product Review Guest Author - Jessica Carson Most garden hoses are made from plastics and fittings not FDA approved for drinking water, and most can put harmful chemicals and lead into the water as it passes through the hose, especially if the water sits in the hose for any length of time. Remember that 'hose water' taste? Well, guess what that taste comes from? Numerous studies have shown that the products that contribute to that taste are harmful, and some are cancer-causing. Lead is also common in many garden hoses and fittings, making the water from those hoses unhealthy to drink. No in-depth studies have been conducted on the effects of such hose water on plants, but if it's unhealthy for me, I don't want it on or in my plants, especially container plants, where minerals build up to much higher levels in containers than in soil. Water Right contacted me and asked if I would like to evaluate one of their hoses, a 3/8 inside diameter 50 foot straight hose (they also have a variety of coiled hoses). They would send me a hose with which I could do my worst, tie it it knots, freeze it and run over it with my car, leave it in the hot sun while pressurized as high as I could get it (120 PSI is all my home water system can muster), and any other punishment I could think of. In return they only asked that I write truthfully about my findings. So I accepted, and two days later the hose arrived at my door. I've spent the last two weeks trying to find something I didn't like about the hose, but other than one minor thing (which I'll write about shortly), with each use and test I've become more and more of a believer. The hose isn't just lead-safe, it's tough, strong, easily coiled, lightweight, hard to kink, and has great strain reliefs at each end. My one complaint? The female hose end has six sides of very smooth metal – when my hands were wet it was a little slippery and hard to grip to tighten fully. However, due to the depth of the socket and the great washer inside, it didn't leak even when not fully tight. Here are the details of my testing: Kink Test I repeatedly kinked and straightened a section of hose and it always popped back into shape with no visible sign of the hose ever having been kinked. I then tied it in a knot, forcing it to stayed kinked, and set it out on hot pavement on a 100 degree afternoon. After two hours I drove over the knotted hose several times. When I untied the hose, yep, you guessed it, no damage and the hose straightened right out. At each end of the hose are some very well designed kink protectors, intended to create a gentle curve to the hose at the faucet. They work very well, are very strong, and appear just as durable as the rest of the hose. Freezing flexibility test I put the hose in my garage freezer which is set to 0 degrees F (-18 degrees C) for two days. When I pulled it out it was still flexible, and kinking it and stepping on it showed no signs of damage. Heat and pressure test I then hooked up the hose to a faucet which has 120 psi, screwed a plug onto the end of the hose, and turned the faucet on all the way. I measured the diameter of the hose, then set the hose out in the hot sun (this day was a little cooler, 98 degrees) and let it bake for several hours. I then jumped up and down on the hose and even ran over it with my car (again). Other than a little dirt, there was no visible stretching or damage. Abrasion test I dragged the hose back a forth and back and forth across bricks, a cement driveway, and asphalt. There were some minor surface scratches, but less than on my regular garden hose when I performed the same test. Coiling test I hooked up the hose in my hand-crank hose box and coiled it up. The hose coiled very easily due to its light weight and flexibility. I unwound and wound up the hose several times, and each time it went very easily. I then put a hand sprayer on the end of the hose and turned on the water, filling the hose. The hose even coiled easily while pressurized and full of water! That's something I would never try with a regular hose. Scratch test I took a pair of pliers to the female hose end and clamped down and wiggled around. There was barely a scratch, and the heavy nickel and chrome plating is clearly very hard and thick, as Water Right claims. Water flow The hose is smaller around than most I work with, so I was concerned about water flow and pressure at the end of the hose. I hooked up a hose-end fertilizer sprayer and tested out the pressure by fertilizing my garden. There was more than enough pressure and water flow for the spray to reach the far corners of my garden. OK, so they've shown me that not all garden hoses are the same, and that quality design and materials really does make a difference. The Water Right hoses come in both straight versions (like I tested) and coiled, and in several lengths and colors. A larger diameter hose (½ inch ID) is due out soon, if not already available. I plan to buy at least two of the coiled hoses; they will be perfect for my deck gardens. You can see all the hoses and accessories at www.waterrightinc.com, and they may be available at a garden shop or hardware store near you.
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