NSF/ANSI 61, NSF/ANSI 372 and Lead-Free: What the Labels on a Water Hose Mean

Three labels, three different statements

A lead-free water hose, an NSF certified water hose and a BPA-free water hose sound like the same promise. They are three separate statements, and only two of them refer to a standard.

The page on the heated drinking water hose compares which hoses name which of these. This page explains the labels themselves and how to check them.

How the two standards relate

The short version used across this site: NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 is about what a product leaches into water, NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 about lead content. The EPA's guide to certification marks, revised in June 2024, adds a detail that matters when you read a label:

“In October 2017, NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 was updated to require compliance to NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 for all products other than those exempted in the Safe Drinking Water Act.”

So the two do not weigh the same. A current certification to 61 covers leaching and, according to the guide, lead content as well. A certification to 372 alone covers lead content and nothing else. For products marked with 61 only, the guide still advises checking: review the data sheet, search the certification body's online product listing directory, or contact the certification body.

Who certifies, and what a mark looks like

NSF is the name in the standards' titles, but it is not the only certifier. The EPA counts “eight American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited third-party certification bodies” for the lead free requirement and names them in its guide: ALS Global, CSA Group, IAPMO R&T, ICC-ES, Intertek, NSF, UL Solutions and WQA. Each has its own registered marks.

What the guide says about the marks:

• Mark plus identifier text. Next to the certifier's mark stands text that names the standard, for example “NSF/ANSI/CAN 61” or “NSF/ANSI 372”, to the left, right, above or below the mark.
• Where to look. The marks are “typically” on the front or back of the packaging or engraved on the product itself.
• No mark is not proof of no certification. Small packaging or parts may lack one. “In these cases, contacting the manufacturer is the best way to ensure that the product meets the lead free requirement.”
• Directories. Every one of the eight bodies keeps a public product listing directory; the guide lists them on its contact page.

One line of the guide helps with a Camco detail. For CSA Group it says that “LLC” and “Low Lead Content” signify compliance with NSF/ANSI/CAN 372. The Amazon listing of the Camco heated hose states that it is “CSA Low Lead Content Certified to NSF/ANSI 372”, and the product name on Camco's own page ends in the letters “cETLus” and “LLC”. Camco's page does not explain those letters, so we do not read more into them than the listing says.

Does the law cover a hose at all?

Here the sources stop short, and so do we. Since September 2023, manufacturers and importers must certify that pipes, pipe and plumbing fittings and fixtures, solder and flux meet the lead free requirement; the EPA's web page gives September 1, 2023, its guide to certification marks September 21, 2023. Neither document mentions hoses. The EPA's page also notes that the Safe Drinking Water Act exempts plumbing devices used exclusively for nonpotable services “such as manufacturing, industrial processing, irrigation, outdoor watering”.

What follows for a buyer:

• A plain garden hose is sold for watering. Whether a given one is lead free is not something its label has to tell you under the rule as the EPA describes it, and we make no statement on any specific hose.
• A hose sold for drinking water, which includes nearly every heated RV water hose, makes a claim about potable use. That claim is as good as the standard and the certifier named with it.
• A lead free garden hose in the sense of a certification exists only where a mark and a standard number say so. The color of the hose and the word on the box are not marks.

How to check a claim in four steps

1. Read the exact wording. Write down the standard number and the certifier's name. If one of the two is missing, you already know the level of the claim.
2. Look at the box and the hose on arrival. A certification mark with identifier text is something you can see.
3. Search the certifier's directory for the maker's name. The EPA's guide links all eight directories.
4. Ask the manufacturer if there is no mark. That is the guide's own advice, and a maker with a real certification can name the listing.

What this looks like on heated hoses

• Camco is the case with both parts in writing: the listing names an NSF/ANSI 61 certified hose and a CSA lead-free certification to NSF/ANSI 372, and Camco's own page says “Certified For Drinking Water & Lead-Free”. Details are on the Camco brand page.
• Kohree cites NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 on its product page without naming a certifier: a standard, but nobody to ask.
• Many marketplace hoses say lead-free and BPA-free and stop there. One 100 ft title says “NSF Certified” without a number; the page on 100 ft heated water hoses treats it as the seller's claim.
• PIRIT prints “Drinking water safe.” in its manual, without a standard.

Our pick

Camco 25 ft (22911)

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Camco · Established brand

The 25 ft hose whose listing names its certifications and its certifiers.

Why here: The one hose in our comparison whose listing names both a standard for the hose (NSF/ANSI 61) and the body behind its lead-free claim (CSA, to NSF/ANSI 372).

Best for: RV sites where the spigot is within 25 ft and named drinking-water certifications matter more than the lowest price.

What speaks for it

• Listing names an NSF/ANSI 61 certified hose and CSA lead-free certification to NSF/ANSI 372
• Thermostat-controlled heating cable that only heats as needed (listing)
• 5/8 in inner diameter
• Camco's own site lists a 3-year warranty with receipt

What to know first

• Camco publishes no wattage on its product pages
• Instruction sheet not available online: cord and insulation rules could not be checked
• Warranty is given as 1 year in the Amazon listing data and 3 years on camcooutdoors.com
• Costs clearly more than marketplace hoses of the same length

Length

25 ft

Rating (maker's claim)

−20 °F (Camco)

Inner diameter

5/8 in

Heat control

thermostat-controlled cable (listing)

Certification named

NSF/ANSI 61 hose, CSA lead-free to NSF/ANSI 372 (listing)

Warranty

3 years with receipt (camcooutdoors.com); 1 year in Amazon listing data

We did not look any hose up in a certifier's directory for this page; the pick rests on what is stated, as explained on how we compare. The full side-by-side of claims is in the comparison by spec sheet, and short definitions of the terms are in the glossary.

For the product type as a whole, start at the heated water hose overview.