[at-l] chlorine as water treatment

[thornel at attglobal.net (W F Thorneloe)]

You were _so_close_ to the right conclusion.

Objective research demonstrates that all FDA approved filters, purifiers, 
bleaching agents and such will kill water borne pathogens, when used with 
manufacturers instructions and with procedures best completed in Dexter's 
Lab. You are correct that laundry bleach has never been FDA approved or 
tested for such a purpose, but is commonly used as a disinfectant from the 
streets of Bejing to the toilets of High Point, NJ.

What objective research demonstrates is that water is only one vector for 
fecal-coliform and parasitic infections that attack hikers in the back 
country. Thus far, no one has compared efficacy of water treatment versus 
hand washing after toileting in the backcountry. There is much more money 
to be made selling filters and other water treatments than there is in 
selling alcohol gels for hygiene. Advertising tends to use fear of 
infestation with pictures of bird dumping and beaver scat.

Use whatever water treatment turns you on, or even forego the weight and 
expense. Never let anyone's hands approach your food and cooking gear. 
Avoid shaking hands and other social graces.

OrangeBug

At 11:11 AM 5/6/03 -0700, Sloetoe wrote:
>4) The objective research I have come across on the net
>*consistently* indicates that bleach is not effective for
>neutralizing pathogens in backcountry water -- the amounts and
>contact periods would need to be vastly increased.
>
>I would suggest:
>1) Not filtering your AT water is not gambling, it's common
>sense -- the same common sense that saw thousands of AT
>throughhikers through their through hike before Madison Avenue
>convinced us that we could not survive a untreated drought from
>the backcountry. Go light; go simple; go quick.
>
>2) You drank a lot of bleach.