Unfiltered Water

[rainman19]

I saw a lot of people drinking directly out of Thoreau falls and ethan pond this weekend. I have always used a filter. I guess my question is what are these people thinking?

Also, from a gear standpoint, I would be interested in hearing thoughts on the water filter bottles - Katadyn has one - the idea of just walking up to a stream scooping up some water and drinking it sounds very convenient. However, I never see anyone using them on the trail.

 

[MadRiver]

Short answer, I had one years ago and hated it. I forget the name of the company, but only used it on one trip and found it too difficult to squeeze the bottle enough to actually quench my thirst. I much prefer my filter.

 

[DougPaul]

I saw a lot of people drinking directly out of Thoreau falls and ethan pond this weekend. I have always used a filter. I guess my question is what are these people thinking?

Most of the time one will be ok after drinking untreated water from sources that look ok. Just not all of the time...

Its a convenience vs risk trade-off. Take your choice.


Ethan Pond has an adjacent campsite and its water feeds Thoreau Falls. Campsites can be sources of pollution and pathogens.

Doug

 

[peakbagger]

There are folks that do not believe in the need for treating back country water sources. There are frequently threads on Whiteblaze.com about various studies that attribute poor individual and group sanitation practices to water contamination far more than getting contamination from back country water sources.

There are also individuals that claim to be "immune" to back country parasites and therefore dont treat their water.

Given the high tannin content of many backcountry ponds, I expect a bottle type filter would plug up rapidly. There is also a high potnetial for cross contamination.

I used to have some hestitancy when encoutering hikers on the trail who were visibly dehydrated and underequipped when they asked where the next water source is. Do I tell them that there is a stream crossing back down the trail some distance away and bring up that they should treat it before drinking (which may mean that they elect to keep hiking as they dont have water treatment chemicals or equipment with them) or do I just mention the water crossing and leave it at that? My final rationalization is dont comment about treatment unless they ask specifically, as the immediate potential for problems with dehydration are for more likely than catching a water bourne illness a few days later. Of course we dont have crypto in the whites so this is viable, with a potential incubation rate of crytpo of less than 24 hours, this may not be as simple in areas where cryto is prevalent.

The depressing part is frequently the ones asking about water sources have a couple of kids in tow or worse case its the dreaded "church group" out with a couple of adults with a bus load of kids thatr are the ones doing the asking.

As an aside, I did find it interesting that on the guided treks in New Zealand this spring, the guides stated that as long as the water was running there was no need to treat the water, while in official New Zealand DOC recomendations, it said to treat all water due to Giardia. (It did take a couple of bottle fills straight from the stream to resist the temptation to want to treat.)

 

[DougPaul]

I used to have some hestitancy when encoutering hikers on the trail who were visibly dehydrated and underequipped when they asked where the next water source is. Do I tell them that there is a stream crossing back down the trail some distance away and bring up that they should treat it before drinking (which may mean that they elect to keep hiking as they dont have water treatment chemicals or equipment with them) or do I just mention the water crossing and leave it at that? My final rationalization is dont comment about treatment unless they ask specifically, as the immediate potential for problems with dehydration are for more likely than catching a water bourne illness a few days later. Of course we dont have crypto in the whites so this is viable, with a potential incubation rate of crytpo of less than 24 hours, this may not be as simple in areas where cryto is prevalent.

The depressing part is frequently the ones asking about water sources have a couple of kids in tow or worse case its the dreaded "church group" out with a couple of adults with a bus load of kids thatr are the ones doing the asking.

Usually the onset of symptoms is delayed enough that most dayhikers will be out of the woods before they appear. In a real dehydration survival situation, drinking is more important than the after effects.

Of course, one could always treat a bit of water for them...

Doug

 

[dug]

I saw a lot of people drinking directly out of Thoreau falls and ethan pond this weekend. I have always used a filter. I guess my question is what are these people thinking?

The #1 item dropped from a thru-hiker's pack is a water filter.

I drank directly from streams for 30 years before filtering, and still do often. Not sure I would from a pond, though. Depends on how desperate/clogged my filter is. I'd rather crap later than dehydrate now....

 

[peakbagger]

Usually the onset of symptoms is delayed enough that most dayhikers will be out of the woods before they appear. In a real dehydration survival situation, drinking is more important than the after effects.

Of course, one could always treat a bit of water for them...

Doug

Doug, I have in the past but usually I am quite a distance away from the water source when they ask. On at least two occasions I went with people to a water source to treat water and they werent willing to wait the 20 minutes!

 

[Kevin Rooney]

My experience with the squeeze bottles is similar to MadRiver's. I also had to use a fair amount of pressure to squeeze the bottle. It didn't last more than a month or two in use, and I was glad when it broke.

 

[DougPaul]

Doug, I have in the past but usually I am quite a distance away from the water source when they ask.

Pragmatics apply...

On at least two occasions I went with people to a water source to treat water and they werent willing to wait the 20 minutes!

One cannot help those who do not want to be helped. And if they are not willing to take the precautions, then they have to take the risk. IMO, no longer your problem.

Doug

 

[Tom Rankin]

There are several LONG threads on VFTT about this. Seek and ye shall find...