[at-l] A twist on water purification

[DaRedhead@aol.com]

I just thought I would share with you some statistics I found in a book called
"Long Distance Hiking" by Roland Mueser.  Bear in mind that his survey group
was less than 200 thruhikers, I forgot the exact number (it WASN'T seven :).
Still, the results were definitely interesting, indeed, fascinating even.

Frequency of water purification versus incidence of gastrointestinal illness:

How often purified		# of Hikers      Number Ill         Percent Ill
Always					19				4				21%
Usually					36				10				28%
Sometimes				56				22				39%
Never					25				5				20%

He notes that even though the study group was small, it was tested over 5 to 6
months, which equates to about some 15,000 person-days of backpacking,sampling
about 1000 water sources.  His theory is that water sources are actually not
as polluted as we think, because if they were, a much higher percentage of
people who never treated their water would have gotten sick.  Only at low
levels of contamination could the apparent ineffectiveness of purification be
explained - in other words, if the contamination was as rampant as we think,
then purification would have made a difference in these percentages.  He is
not saying we shouldn't purify our water, only that other things play a bigger
part in the diseases hikers normally contract, cleanliness and sharing of
pots/cups, etc being a few of them.  For future thru hikers, this is a great
book :)  He does similar tables on everything else, from satisfaction or
failure rate of different gear by brands or types, etc. and many other
interesting comparisons.  Intwined with all that data are descriptions, quotes
and experiences from thru hikers, great info on everything from how age or
fitness affected the success rate, etc.  At the end he lists the hikers who
participated in the survey.  No, I don't know the author and don't proffit
from this plug <g>.  I just thought that it was a great read as well as a
great resource for someone thinking of or planning a thru hike.  And hey, WF
is quoted a few times :)  Sorry so long.  (and thanks to the friend who loaned
it to me <G>)

The Redhead
Ga > Me  00
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================