Bought a new pope drinking water hose and the smell and taste of the water coming through it was foul, tasted a bit like chloreen and plastic, stunk out the whole van. The smell and taste stayed on/in everthing that came into contact with it, hands, crockery, towels, cups of tea and coffee, even went through the drinking water jug fillter. I ran the water through it for an hour, didn't make any difference. After 3 days could no longer stand the smell and taste and were starting to feel ill, returned it to bunnings with a sample of the water, had no trouble getting a refund and the lady agreed it was really bad, she kept the sample of water and is giving it to the rep when he comes. Now heres the crunch, rang pope told them and basically they were not one bit interested didn't even get past the switch board, thanks for calling it wont kill you (and how would she know).
From now on will not be buying Pope products.
kiwijims said
02:49 PM Sep 2, 2015
You may have had better attention if you had taken the sample of water and the hose direct to the Health Dept.
K.J.
Dougwe said
02:53 PM Sep 2, 2015
Sounds terrible Lyn n Ken. I hope you can get that smell and taste to go soon.
I have a Nylex drinking water hose. Light blue in colour and reinforced. I have had it for about 4 years now and not one problem. I hook up a in-line BEST water filter just before the water enters the inlet of the van. Works well. It also was purchased from the big green shed. I have made some smaller lengths as well to use to fill containers when free camping and no tap is available or close by.
Keep Safe out there.
deverall11 said
05:29 PM Sep 2, 2015
kiwijims wrote:
You may have had better attention if you had taken the sample of water and the hose direct to the Health Dept.
K.J.
You may also get their attention when you tell them that your caravan wall is around 7m in length and it makes a good bill board that would read:
'DO NOT BUY POPE DRINKING WATER HOSE'
Cheers,
Larry
Desert Dweller said
06:54 PM Sep 2, 2015
deverall11 wrote:
kiwijims wrote:
You may also get their attention when you tell them that your caravan wall is around 7m in length and it makes a good bill board that would read: 'DO NOT BUY POPE DRINKING WATER HOSE' Cheers, Larry
Reminds us of a Stirling caravan we followed with a big sign on the rear stating: WE BOUGHT A JAYCO BECAUSE THEY'RE LIKE A*SE H*LES, EVERYONE'S GOT ONE!
Bruce and Bev said
08:53 PM Sep 2, 2015
Because you don't have a water sample anymore, you should email Bunnings H/O about this.
Bunnings are VERY customer focused and issues like this they take extremely seriously - especially their customers health and safety (I know from a faulty bbq I bought from them a few years ago and they took all of that brand - not just that model - out of all their stores. I checked about 4 Bunnings to confirm)
Now with Masters handing onto their pantyhose, Bunnings will take action on your email. Keep us appraised of the outcome please as obviously Pope is a big supplier of retail equipment - and not cheap !
Ozzie_Traveller said
10:01 PM Sep 2, 2015
lyn-n-ken wrote:
Bought a new pope drinking water hose and the smell and taste of the water coming through it was foul, ....
G'day mate
Sorry to hear this - it's never nice to end up with this sort of trouble
A couple of Qs ... 1- what colour was the plastic of the hose? [green or blue or white / sort of clear] 2- how long was it? [did id come with fittinns as a household hose does, or just plain hose]
Phil
Desert Dweller said
05:12 AM Sep 3, 2015
Some idiot on Caravaners Forum recommended that every year to sterilize the drinking water tank of your caravan, add 200ml of Milton baby bottle sterilizer to the water then take your van for a 5km run to stir it around, then empty the tank completely. We did it & after refilling the tank half a dozen times the water still tasted like cat's p*ss.
lyn-n-ken said
09:12 AM Sep 3, 2015
I was happy with bunnings it was no problem for them the service was great they gave me a refund and are going to talk to the rep about it I was happy with that
lyn-n-ken said
09:16 AM Sep 3, 2015
ozzie traveler
it was a pope drinking water hose, blue , 20m, no fittings
lyn
lyn-n-ken said
09:18 AM Sep 3, 2015
desertdweller
we don't use our water tank never even filled it,
lyn
kiwijims said
10:58 AM Sep 3, 2015
When I worked for a Caravan Hire Company a number of years back,
We had to fit locking water caps to all ( 140 ) of our caravans, the reason was that there were too many complaints about, would you believe,
people relieving themselves in-to the water tanks, How low is that ???? and this was happening in Caravan Parks !!!
To this day, I've never forgotten the stink from these tanks, as we tried to sterilize them, many had to be discarded and replaced with new ones, "Yes" there are some low life out there!!
K.J.
Bruce and Bev said
11:09 AM Sep 3, 2015
sorry Lyn...Im missing something here.
Your initial post said you bought the Pope hose and the water tasted foul even after 3 days of use. Now you say you never don't use your water and never even filled it. Please "de-confuse" me and probably the others reading this thread.
Thanks
lyn-n-ken said
12:12 PM Sep 3, 2015
bruce, that answer was for desertdweller,
our water comes in through the hose and a seprate tap at the sink, we do not fill the tank or use the tank pump tap
lyn
Bruce and Bev said
07:04 PM Sep 3, 2015
Thanks for that Lyn....that cleared up the confusion I had :))))
dishlicker said
07:30 AM Sep 4, 2015
This artical is good timing i was only thinking about the water quality last wk and then sore an in line water filter that ataches to the hose before entering the water tank 25$ so have ordered one hope it releives this problem
aussie_paul said
10:42 AM Sep 4, 2015
dishlicker wrote:
This artical is good timing i was only thinking about the water quality last wk and then sore an in line water filter that ataches to the hose before entering the water tank 25$ so have ordered one hope it releives this problem
I use one of those as I fill the tanks.
Aussie Paul.
kiwijims said
01:01 PM Sep 4, 2015
Those water filters are good for taking the flotsam out of the water,
But are they going to take the rotten smell out of the water as well ???
K.J.
Delta18 said
01:45 PM Sep 4, 2015
It must have been a seriously bad hose to do that. I normally fill our van tank at home with the garden hose after flushing the water that was sitting in the hose out! Never had a problem with the water.
When working in the garden I will drink from that hose on a warm day as I am sure many of us have done. I think some get a bit precious about water supply.
Having said this, I do have a quality Blue Drinking Water hose that is used during the odd times we stay in van parks as it sits, full of water in the sun connected to the tap & van. I wouldn't use garden hose for this purpose as a 'taste' can leach into the water sitting in the hose.
Cheers Neil
lyn-n-ken said
02:43 PM Sep 4, 2015
Delta18
I know drank outa the garden hose myself on the odd occasion, it was a Pope drinking water hose and I thought it would be ok they've been around awhile was very disappointed in their attitude though, bought another brand no problem with it.
lyn
Sunshine said
01:23 PM Sep 9, 2015
I turned the water onto a new pope garden hose yesterday and the smell was horrific and I became that lethargic, had to lay down... Today I had another go but ran it the full 30m length up the back yard away from me and the house and turned it on... toxic chemical smell filled the whole yard... lowered the pressure and am letting it run before using it on veg garden,,, not impressed. See what their reply is...
Bought a new pope drinking water hose and the smell and taste of the water coming through it was foul, tasted a bit like chloreen and plastic, stunk out the whole van. The smell and taste stayed on/in everthing that came into contact with it, hands, crockery, towels, cups of tea and coffee, even went through the drinking water jug fillter. I ran the water through it for an hour, didn't make any difference. After 3 days could no longer stand the smell and taste and were starting to feel ill, returned it to bunnings with a sample of the water, had no trouble getting a refund and the lady agreed it was really bad, she kept the sample of water and is giving it to the rep when he comes. Now heres the crunch, rang pope told them and basically they were not one bit interested didn't even get past the switch board, thanks for calling it wont kill you (and how would she know).
From now on will not be buying Pope products.
You may have had better attention if you had taken the sample of water and the hose direct to the Health Dept.
K.J.
I have a Nylex drinking water hose. Light blue in colour and reinforced. I have had it for about 4 years now and not one problem. I hook up a in-line BEST water filter just before the water enters the inlet of the van. Works well. It also was purchased from the big green shed. I have made some smaller lengths as well to use to fill containers when free camping and no tap is available or close by.
Keep Safe out there.
You may also get their attention when you tell them that your caravan wall is around 7m in length and it makes a good bill board that would read:
'DO NOT BUY POPE DRINKING WATER HOSE'
Cheers,
Larry
Reminds us of a Stirling caravan we followed with a big sign on the rear stating: WE BOUGHT A JAYCO BECAUSE THEY'RE LIKE A*SE H*LES, EVERYONE'S GOT ONE!

Bunnings are VERY customer focused and issues like this they take extremely seriously - especially their customers health and safety (I know from a faulty bbq I bought from them a few years ago and they took all of that brand - not just that model - out of all their stores. I checked about 4 Bunnings to confirm)
Now with Masters handing onto their pantyhose, Bunnings will take action on your email. Keep us appraised of the outcome please as obviously Pope is a big supplier of retail equipment - and not cheap !
G'day mate
Sorry to hear this - it's never nice to end up with this sort of trouble
A couple of Qs ...
1- what colour was the plastic of the hose? [green or blue or white / sort of clear]
2- how long was it? [did id come with fittinns as a household hose does, or just plain hose]
Phil
Some idiot on Caravaners Forum recommended that every year to sterilize the drinking water tank of your caravan, add 200ml of Milton baby bottle sterilizer to the water then take your van for a 5km run to stir it around, then empty the tank completely.

We did it & after refilling the tank half a dozen times the water still tasted like cat's p*ss.
I was happy with bunnings it was no problem for them the service was great they gave me a refund and are going to talk to the rep about it I was happy with that
ozzie traveler
it was a pope drinking water hose, blue , 20m, no fittings
lyn
desertdweller
we don't use our water tank never even filled it,
lyn
When I worked for a Caravan Hire Company a number of years back,
We had to fit locking water caps to all ( 140 ) of our caravans, the reason was that there were too many complaints about, would you believe,
people relieving themselves in-to the water tanks, How low is that ???? and this was happening in Caravan Parks !!!
To this day, I've never forgotten the stink from these tanks, as we tried to sterilize them, many had to be discarded and replaced with new ones, "Yes" there are some low life out there!!
K.J.
Your initial post said you bought the Pope hose and the water tasted foul even after 3 days of use. Now you say you never don't use your water and never even filled it. Please "de-confuse" me and probably the others reading this thread.
Thanks
our water comes in through the hose and a seprate tap at the sink, we do not fill the tank or use the tank pump tap
lyn
This artical is good timing i was only thinking about the water quality last wk and then sore an in line water filter that ataches to the hose before entering the water tank 25$ so have ordered one hope it releives this problem
I use one of those as I fill the tanks.
Aussie Paul.
Those water filters are good for taking the flotsam out of the water,
But are they going to take the rotten smell out of the water as well ???


K.J.
It must have been a seriously bad hose to do that. I normally fill our van tank at home with the garden hose after flushing the water that was sitting in the hose out! Never had a problem with the water.
When working in the garden I will drink from that hose on a warm day as I am sure many of us have done. I think some get a bit precious about water supply.
Having said this, I do have a quality Blue Drinking Water hose that is used during the odd times we stay in van parks as it sits, full of water in the sun connected to the tap & van. I wouldn't use garden hose for this purpose as a 'taste' can leach into the water sitting in the hose.
Cheers Neil
I know drank outa the garden hose myself on the odd occasion, it was a Pope drinking water hose and I thought it would be ok they've been around awhile was very disappointed in their attitude though, bought another brand no problem with it.
lyn
Hi sunshine
had no reply so far
lyn