Drinking Water Safe?
Being a health-conscious society, we want to know what goes into our food, water, and products. More people today are choosing safe or chemical-free products; however, high levels of toxins and harsh chemicals are still present in many garden hoses and the internal plumbing of hose reels and outdoor watering tools. The harsh chemicals found in common PVC and vinyl garden hoses include lead, phthalates, bromine, (BPA), and antimony. All ELEY products, including our professional-grade hose reels, garden hose and watering products, are 100% free from these toxic and harsh chemicals.
Standard 61 Certification
The term "Drinking Water Safe" typically refers to the NSF/ANSI Standard 61 (NSF-61), a set of national standards relating to water treatment. It establishes stringent requirements for equipment that comes in contact with potable (drinking) water or products used in potable water production. NSF/ANSI 61 is the only American National Standard addressing the human health effects of drinking water system components. It is a performance-based standard that evaluates the amount of contaminants that leach from the products into drinking water. However, there is no standard for a garden hose, hose reels, or watering tools under which a manufacturer can get certified because the Safe Drinking Water Act exempted garden hose and other outdoor watering products from the prohibitions.
The 2011 Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act (RLDWA) also created exemptions in SDWA Section 1417 from the prohibitions on the use or introduction into commerce of “pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings or fixtures, including backflow preventers, that are used exclusively for non-potable services such as manufacturing, industrial processing, irrigation, outdoor watering, or any other uses where the water is not anticipated to be used for human consumption” (SDWA 1417(a)(4)(A)) Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder, and Flux for Drinking Water
As such, if a watering product is for non-potable, outdoor use, it cannot be certified under NSF 61 for drinking water. The manufacturer can only say the materials have been certified. Unfortunately, most outdoor watering products on the market today ARE NOT produced with drinking-water-safe material. ELEY outdoor watering products, including our aluminum hose reels, polyurethane garden hose, and lead-free brass watering tools ARE made from drinking water safe material.
