Drinking Stream Water

[retired jerry]

Thanks for the Lewis and Clark links, interesting stories, I'll have to read through those when I have some time

[chrisca]

A few years ago, Backpacker Magazine did a fairly rigorous study where they tested unfiltered water from various sources including very busy campgrounds. They found that the incidence of pathogens in the water was very low and in over 95% of the cases the water was safe to drink, even at some places they thought would surely fail the tests. They concluded that the water filter industry wants hikers to believe water is unsafe everywhere and thus buy their products.

It's a good precaution to use a filter, but if one is in a situation where you're thirsty or dehydrated and need to drink, it's better to drink unfiltered water than to not drink at all. Just about every kind of illness from unfiltered water is easily treated afterward. The odds are clearly in one's favor to drink and not worry about it. Try to choose a clean water source near a spring or clear water from a fast-flowing creek. If you do that, you're likely to not have any problems.

[Aimless]

It's a good precaution to use a filter, but if one is in a situation where you're thirsty or dehydrated and need to drink, it's better to drink unfiltered water

This has been my default position for the past couple of decades. I try never to put myself in a position where it is necessary to drink wild water. But never is a hard standard to meet, so I do (although rarely) fail to meet it.

[texasbb]

It's a good precaution to use a filter, but if one is in a situation where you're thirsty or dehydrated and need to drink, it's better to drink unfiltered water than to not drink at all. Just about every kind of illness from unfiltered water is easily treated afterward. The odds are clearly in one's favor to drink and not worry about it. Try to choose a clean water source near a spring or clear water from a fast-flowing creek. If you do that, you're likely to not have any problems.

Survivorman and Bear Grylls don't help. They always leave the impression that they'll die of dehydration if they can't figure a way to boil a leaf thimble of water.