Loose,
I was an astrophysics major at one point -- though I didn't graduate with a degree in it -- so being a scientist gets you no points here. A firehose will get you no more flow than a garden hose. Want to know why? Because a garden hose is more or less the same diameter as the pipe leading to the spigot. With a fire hose attached, the water won't suddenly speed up.
So can we drop the water analogy now? They really have nothing to do with one another.
And as a science major, you should be at least loosely familiar with some engineering methodology. Calculate the necessary materials to get the job done, and then use something slightly better.
