Re: [at-l] Water

["W F Thorneloe, MD" <thornel@ibm.net>]

I would be a bit cautious about some of this advice. If one has grown up in 
a fairly sterile environment, it may be a bad idea to quickly assume you 
are as immune as someone from a "third world country".

I suggest as reading, the water advice from the Polar Pure bottle. It is an 
excellent brief review of means to treat water, as well as what to be 
concerned with in finding water to consume. (I don't know if it is on the Web)

Giardia is not that common on the trail, and is often blamed for every case 
of diarrhea experienced on the trail. I am certain that there are more 
common sources, including food poisoning and poor hygiene. However, Giardia 
can be very debilitating, just as Lyme Disease can be. Rarely, these can be 
fatal. There is no reason to invite such illnesses by gambling about where 
people or critters choose to poop or pee.

Our filters do not avoid viral illnesses, the chief problem includes 
hepatitis. Iodination does work, and one can use a combination of 
filtration and iodination to quickly purify water, with less weight and 
recurrent costs than a purifier. Iodine will work, but one must wait for 
treatment times, and maintain the discipline to avoid drinking too early. I 
use a filter to deal with my lack of discipline, and use Polar Pure if 
filtering from non-moving water (puddle, lake, pond, etc.). Standing water 
is quite a hazard, as this is much more likely to have septic contaminants. 
I have _never_ heard anyone suggest UV is helpful in this situation.

Just be careful with how you gamble with your water and your life.

OrangeBug
Atlanta, GA

At 11:27 AM 5/24/1999 -0400, David  F. Addleton wrote:
>having grown up in the "third world" where truly dangerous organisms
>allegedly lurk everywhere,
>i can attest that you'd be surprised what one can drink without actually
>getting sick:
>
>Our general rule was:  if you can see the water moving in the sunlight for
>100 yards and there's no one peeing or pooping along your line of sight,
>then you can probably drink it safely because the UV does wonders in
>purifying water ... This rule has always served me well.
...
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