[at-l] Re: water filters...

[jbryankramer@msn.com (J Bryan Kramer)]

I  checked the Hach catalog today, just glanced at it, and they seem to have
dipstick type tests for about $3 a test. You get total coliforms and total
aerobic bacteria from these and they are semi-quantitative. The tube with
the dipstick in it probably has to be kept warmish, 35 C or so, for a day or
two but the tests are fairly bullet-proof. We've used similar tests for iron
and sulfur bacteria in the lab.

Bryan

"Si vis pacem para bellum"

> on the larger issue, i still think hikers such as myself could take good
> samples, and that the results would be valuable to the hiking and
> scientific community - not so much for posting a specific water source
> as "bad," but rather as a tool for gathering general regional
> information re water quality, which then might be something that could
> be factored into local water quality improvement efforts, learning what
> danger signs to look for, learning what good filters can do, helping the
> ATC gather data on a potential new issue for them to get involved in
> [think what it could mean to water quality improvement efforts if you
> had some data that triggered a more complete study, that identified a
> polluting source, and that sparked enough effort to get it cleaned up
> due in part to the public health impact on large numbers of AT hikers -
> just a possible scenario . . .], etc.
>