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Could you damage plumbing (drinking water) by leaving the outside valve open

A

alphatarget1

Diamond Member
Let's say a valve outside of the house had a hose attached to it, with an attachment on. The valve is left open with the attachment closed (no water running out of it). Could it damage the drinking water piping inside?
 
I can't think of any way that it could possibly damage the plumbing itself, but it could certainly put a dent in the water supply.
 
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
I can't think of any way that it could possibly damage the plumbing itself, but it could certainly put a dent in the water supply.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate?
Click to expand...

... 😕

Explain this to me. How do you think it might? Plumbing is pretty hard to damage without some kind of physical impact. Water is easy to deplete (depending on your source) if there is a valve left open, running water for the hell of it...
 
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
I can't think of any way that it could possibly damage the plumbing itself, but it could certainly put a dent in the water supply.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate?
Click to expand...

... 😕

Explain this to me. How do you think it might? Plumbing is pretty hard to damage without some kind of physical impact. Water is easy to deplete (depending on your source) if there is a valve left open, running water for the hell of it...
Click to expand...

Well no, the hose had an attachment on it (meaning no water was running out of it).
 
If the shower head on the hose were to rest on the ground in a puddle with the water turned off, it might be possible for contaminated water to siphon into the plumbing thus contaminating the drinking water which is why underground sprinklers have an anti-siphon valve.
 
Originally posted by: Zaitsev
You're asking if only using the on/off valve at the end of the hose will damage the plumming? No.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. I'm not increasing the pressure of the system by extending it 50'...
 
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
I can't think of any way that it could possibly damage the plumbing itself, but it could certainly put a dent in the water supply.
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate?
Click to expand...

... 😕

Explain this to me. How do you think it might? Plumbing is pretty hard to damage without some kind of physical impact. Water is easy to deplete (depending on your source) if there is a valve left open, running water for the hell of it...
Click to expand...

Well no, the hose had an attachment on it (meaning no water was running out of it).
Click to expand...

Having an attachment on it doesn't indicate at all whether or not there is any water flowing through it. Shower heads generally don't have an independent control valve.

Then no, it wouldn't damage the plumbing.
 
Are you worried that some soap or something got sucked from the showerhead into the drinking water supply or something?

a) The system is pressurized and only lets water, out not in.

b) Anything that would "come in" through the showerhead would be massively diluted before it made it into drinking water.

c) The same pipes that carry the cold water to your indoor shower(s) also carry drinking water.
 
ok sorry for the confusion. This has nothing to do with a "shower head". It's one of those hose attachments that you use to wash your car and stuff. That thing was closed (no water was running). The hose connected to the outside of the house was on (water was pressurized in the hose).
 
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
ok sorry for the confusion. This has nothing to do with a "shower head". It's one of those hose attachments that you use to wash your car and stuff. That thing was closed (no water was running). The hose connected to the outside of the house was on (water was pressurized in the hose).
Click to expand...

No, there is no possible way that damaged any plumbing.
 
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: Zaitsev
You're asking if only using the on/off valve at the end of the hose will damage the plumming? No.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. I'm not increasing the pressure of the system by extending it 50'...
Click to expand...

Just curious, why are you using a shower head instead of lawn sprinkler or something similar? Is this actually going to be a makeshift shower?

edit: nvm. didn't update thread before I posted
 
Originally posted by: Zaitsev
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: Zaitsev
You're asking if only using the on/off valve at the end of the hose will damage the plumming? No.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. I'm not increasing the pressure of the system by extending it 50'...
Click to expand...

Just curious, why are you using a shower head instead of lawn sprinkler or something similar? Is this actually going to be a makeshift shower?
Click to expand...

Yeah it's not a "shower head". I should've said attachment instead...
 
Install a backflow preventer at the tap to prevent hose water from getting sucked back into the system should the system depressurize. Garden hose is generally not considered food grade.
 
Originally posted by: ironwing
Install a backflow preventer at the tap to prevent hose water from getting sucked back into the system should the system depressurize. Garden hose is generally not considered food grade.
Click to expand...

Better travel back in time 20 years and tell my younger self to not drink out of the garden hose. Don't do it!! It's not food grade!!!
 
Originally posted by: I Saw OJ
Originally posted by: ironwing
Install a backflow preventer at the tap to prevent hose water from getting sucked back into the system should the system depressurize. Garden hose is generally not considered food grade.
Click to expand...

Better travel back in time 20 years and tell my younger self to not drink out of the garden hose. Don't do it!! It's not food grade!!!
Click to expand...

He asked, I gave the book answer.
 
[keanu] Whoa! this is like eerie...we have a thread about blonde jokes for a couple of days, and all of a sudden, we get blondes asking stupid questions under the user names of our members...whoa! [/keanu]

Come the fuck on....OP, have you never left the garden hose turned on with a nozzle on the end so that no water actually ran?

I've fucked up a couple of cheap garden hoses like that over the years, especially in the sun...but there's no way it will hurt your plumbing...
 
Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Originally posted by: Zaitsev
You're asking if only using the on/off valve at the end of the hose will damage the plumming? No.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought. I'm not increasing the pressure of the system by extending it 50'...
Click to expand...

No, you can't "increase the pressure". There is only one source of pressure, and that's what is in the water supply system in the first place. You have no way to change that simply by adding anything to the pipes. Even if you hooked the hose to an open-topped vertical pipe going up 1000 feet, you could not increase the water pressure in the hose and pipes. In fact, in that ridiculous situation the water would only rise up in the vertical pipe as far as the supply pressure would drive it, and it would not get to the top.
 
You could increase the pressure with a pressure tank, done all the time for low psi systems.
But no, a garden hose does nothing , but usually lose pressure. Lots of people have hoses, valves that leak.
 
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