Water is one of the most critical resources on planet Earth, and a lot of industries are dedicated to collecting it, cleaning it, and providing it to homeowners and private citizens in a city or town. On a smaller scale, meanwhile, there are many useful commercial products out there for handling water, from watering cans to lawn sprinklers to water hoses. For most homeowners, at least one or two water hoses will be present on their property, and a commercial garden hose is a modest but important buy. Such hoses may be composed of rubber or a tough nylon weave, and in some applications, a flexible water hose is in fact a heavy duty hose for bigger jobs. How might water hoses be used by private citizens, and how do these jobs affect how those hoses are designed? Water hoses are simple in form, but there’s more than one way to make them.
In the Backyard
A major arena for using water hoses is a person’s own backyard. Homeowners and town home renters alike may have back yards that they want to supply with water, and plenty of plants who are thirsty for it. Garden hoses can be found at nearly any hardware store or garden supply store, and they are often 25, 50, or even 100 feet long and typically composed of woven nylon with waterproof lining on the inside for use. These hoses are not cheap and disposable, either; a garden hose may be expected to last 10 years or so, making it a fine investment for any homeowner. These hoses may be connected to handheld sprayers or sprinklers for their work, and these devices will have nozzles where a hose may be securely screwed into position to supply that water.
These hoses vary in length and diameter, and these are important factors to keep in mind even for something as simple as watering a lawn or flowerbed. In fact, a 0.75″ hose may deliver three times the volume of water as a 0.5″ hose, something that some homeowners may take a keen interest in. For hose nozzles and sprinklers in particular, a homeowner is urged to find a hose whose burst pressure is at least 350 psi, since a hose with a lower rating won’t provide enough water for their needs. The length, too, is a factor, and a hose may indeed be too long or too short. For green landscaping, for example, a hose no longer than 100 feet will do the job just fine, and exact length may vary based on the lawn’s size and where thirsty shrubs or flowerbeds are located. Another factor in length is the ease of storage, since very long hoses may be awkward to coil up and store in a shed or elsewhere. So, some homeowners opt to buy a plastic hose spool, which can be attached to the house’s siding for convenience. This way, the hose can be conveniently wrapped up as the spool is rotated. This is fast, easy, and minimizes the chance of tangles, especially on longer hoses.
Other Hoses
Campers may also make use of hoses, and here, more specialized models may be used. A pop-up camper or an RV will need water, and although some RVs have their own water tanks, a secondary supply may be helpful. And of course, someone camping in a tent will need hoses. These hoses tend to be short, since a camper’s RV will be parked very close to a provided water spigot at a campground. Campgrounds are designed for convenience, so each camp lot will have its own spigot for guests. These hoses may be as short as 10-12 feet or so, and some are used for potable water while others are meant for toilet water, an important distinction to make. Some hoses may be color coded to show what sort of water they are carrying, and some hoses may be green, white, or even black on their outer nylon surfaces. These specialized hoses might be found at hardware stores or at camping suppl outlets, and if need be, the customer may simply find them with an online catalog dedicated to camping gear and supplies.