Garden Hose Facts and Information

The garden hose is such an everyday item that few homeowners stop to think about the job that it does until it fails them. Nor do most garden hose owners realize that many of those failures – leaky garden hose couplings, splits in the hose and poor water pressure among them – could be completely avoided by purchasing the right garden hose from the start. These simple garden hose facts can help you make the right choice the next time you have to replace this basic garden staple.

Garden Hose Capacity

The number of gallons a hose will carry and the pressure at which it will deliver that water are determined by three factors. One of them – available water pressure – has nothing to do with the hose. The others are an intrinsic part of the garden hose – the hose’s diameter and its length. While it’s simple logic that a garden hose with a larger diameter can carry more water, most people underestimate just how much difference that simple thing makes.

The diameter you read on the label refers to the inside diameter of the hose. The cheapest hoses are usually ½-inch diameter garden hose. They’ll deliver 9 gallons of water per minute. A 5/8 inch diameter garden hose will deliver water at 17 gallons per minute. The increase of 1/8 of an inch nearly doubles the carrying capacity of the hose. A ¾ inch garden hose delivers water at 23 gallons per minute.

It’s also simple logic that the longer the water has to travel through the hose, the more pressure it loses on the journey. Most people don’t realize, however, that water loses more pressure in a narrow hose than it does in a larger garden hose. According to hardware store experts, if your water pressure at the faucet is under 40 psi, or if the garden hose is extra long or is running uphill, you should use the largest size hose available to maximize the amount of water pressure you have for washing your car, sprinkling the lawn or watering the garden.

Garden Hose Care and Storage

A good garden hose can last for many years if you care for it properly. One of the most important things you can do to preserve your garden hose is to avoid kinks, either while you’re using the hose or while the hose is in storage. During the season, store your hose on a garden hose reel or hanger that allows you to coil the hose loosely and avoid sharp bends or kinks.

If your hose does get kinked while you’re using it, don’t yank on it to loosen the bend or you might permanently set the bend. Instead, work it free by hand.

In cold weather areas, drain the water from your garden hose at the end of the season and clean out the threads in the garden hose couplings and store it indoors in a loose coil. If you need a hose outdoors during the winter, consider a heated garden hose, which will not crack or freeze.

Choosing a high-quality garden hose might set you back a few more dollars, but it will pay off in the long run because you’ll get far more years of use from it.