If you're talking a carbide blade, I wouldn't touch that technique with a ten foot pole.  

Diamond blades aren't that expensive. In a pinch, a Harbor Freight one would do just fine.  And, running a blade forward or backwards on a stone sounds like a great way to make carbide shrapnel. 

Key to making stone cutting blades last is cooling. If the water dribbling out of the bottle is enough to do that, great. It's fair game.

I added a modification to a garden hose that allowed me to run a 1/8" clear hose. A valve anywhere along the line will allow you to control the flow of water needed to protect the blade.

In the past, I found the 1/8" hose was so light it was easy to direct it over the front of the blade and hold it there during the cut. 

I used the same approach on my variable speed angle grinder when I was using it to cut, grind or polish rock.