Another example underlining the usefulness of the diversity of SP member backgrounds, with you as an expert in the treatment of contaminated water. Anyway, a really useful article for anyone venturing into the back country, but I'd say especially for those planning expeditions - so I have taken the liberty of attaching yours as a child of my article on "Expedition Medicine". (you may want to have a look at what I have written on water purification - I think I didn't emphasize enough the impact of viruses - but I will when I get round to updating my article at some point).
Best wishes, Mark
First of all, thank you for the article - very comprehensive and well written!
I wonder, though, how much different locations differ from each other in regards to water quality?
I have been hiking actively for about 15 years now, and especially in Northern Finland I drink straight from any flowing, clear body of water which is at least 1 day away from human settlement.
If no flowing water is available, I will opt for clear water from lakes (preferably large), but not from the top layer.
I have never suffered any ill effects, nor has anyone of my friends or fellow hikers.
Could it be that Northern Lapland is cold enough to resemble Alpine conditions in this sense? I would not recommend such a happy-go-lucky approach to drinking water anywhere outside Scandinavia, though.
There can be huge variation due to geography but also due to season. The lower the wildlife density (typically lower in cold climates) the lower the chances for contamination. The other factor that can have a large impact is natural immunity. Depending on how you were raised, your diet, genetics, living conditions, job etc the variation between healthy adults can be enormous.
A widely used treatment method to obtain 150F water for 5 minutes or greater temperatures can be seen in all of the myriad of solar heat collectors.
Generally said system is a simple tray with its Bottom painted JET BLACK and then one carries stiff aluminum foil or cardboard aluminized foil that directs the sunlight onto the water tray. This heats the water to the correct temperature without any fuel consumed. The fancy ones have a temperature guage that turns a color when it reaches 160F, then you time it for 5-10min and viola out pops 2 liters or so of clean water. Weight is generally about a pound when all is said and done for the lightweight systems and for the food solar cooker, an earthenware pot of a couple pounds to pots painted jet black to 10 lbs and several gallons in size.
These system are prolific in Africa/middle east/equatorial islands, etc. Obvious requirement is dependable sun. Also works perfectly well depending on the season very far north. Farthest North I have personally heard is British Columbia. California/Colorado would be simple I would think. Same with the Blue Smmoky Mountains and the EU alps.
This method was not missed as this is simply a pasteurization technique. Boiling and pasteurization are one of the 5 general methodologies covered in the article. I think you mean that I did not specifically mention these type of devices.
Similarly I did not mention fires or stoves as the purpose of the article was not to suggest a specific device or product but to provide the reader with the information necessary to select a treatment methodology (pasteurization in this case) based on their specific situation. The reader can than chose the specific system they intend to use based on their own specific preferences.
...only way better, coming from someone I can identify with. Really good--thanks for sharing your considerable breadth of knowledge, and for talking with us, not down to us.
Almost 30 years ago when I was in the Dominican Republic for two years in "el campo" I made an inconsistent yet purposeful effort to purify my water with iodine tablets. The reasons for the inconsistency are three: 1) Didn't like the taste 2) Didn't want the offend those that offered me food and drink every single day as I passed through their villages 3) Over the course of time thought I was able to judge a clean water source from and unclean source.
I paid dearly for both my sensitivity to my hosts and lack of judgement and/or discipline. I suspect it was Giardia that throttled me the worst, the sulphur belches rank among the low points of my life. Yet even at the time my regrets were few. Balancing personal health with a robust experience is not easy. 30 years later I wonder just how much more careful I would be? How does that saying go? "You can take a man out of the country but you can't take the country out of the man." I don't want to come across as arrogant about this, please understand that I struggled with this issue!
Thanks for the time you took to write that article. It was very well done. You have my respect.
Funny you would say that as I used to teach part time in the civil engineering faculty at a local college. That was shortly after I started my business and for the first few years I needed a little extra cash to keep things afloat. I guess the teaching habits I picked up are still in my head somewhere.
For the past 10 years I have not filtered or purified water. I hike in the Columbia Gorge in winter and drink from streams, and I climb Northwest mountains in the summer, and drink from streams and glacier melt and alpine lakes. I have never gotten sick, and neither has my wife. I feel that choosing your water source prudently is a reasonable precaution. You are more likely to get backcountry giardiasis from lax hygiene practices than from drinking tainted water.
http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Giardia.pdf
This is in agreement with the source selection portion of the article. 4 of the 7 seven source types described often do not require treatment. The purpose of describing the various treatment options is for those cases when these types of sources are not available - typically in the developing world where livestock control and personal hygiene habits are questionable, in base camp settings where there is a concentration of people, or in lower altitude settings where mammal concentrations are higher.
A very good article but I did not see mentioned the quality of rocks which we walk through. There is a big difference between the abilty of filtration of erruptive rocks and limestone; i.e. limestone (but also dolomite, sandstone, chalk) lets water circulate faster than granite. More permeable the soil or rock is, less filtration you have. Even more, a river or creek may disappear for some distance under limestone and seem to "appear" at a spring as a "new" watersource. So, if there is the smallest dwelling "upstream" (even a pasture used for seasonal grazing by locals) you may not realize it, as upstream may mean another valley in that case.
Another implication is that in limestone mountains it's more difficult to find water in higher altitudes than in other rocks, therefore you need to carry water with you.
Rule of thumb: don't drink water from karstic springs.
Thanks for the feedback. I intentionally did not really get the topic of springs other than to say it is very difficult to determine water quality from a spring as many factors such as upstream features and geology come into play. Even impermeable rocks like granite can be unsafe as springs usually follow fracture lines which essentially act like pipes and create a localized zone of high transmissivity. For example you can drop a pump in a deep drilled granite well 1/2 a mile from a creek, turn the pump on and depending on the fracture structure there can be an almost immediately measure a response in the creek.
markhallam - May 20, 2012 2:40 am - Voted 10/10
Great article!Another example underlining the usefulness of the diversity of SP member backgrounds, with you as an expert in the treatment of contaminated water. Anyway, a really useful article for anyone venturing into the back country, but I'd say especially for those planning expeditions - so I have taken the liberty of attaching yours as a child of my article on "Expedition Medicine". (you may want to have a look at what I have written on water purification - I think I didn't emphasize enough the impact of viruses - but I will when I get round to updating my article at some point).
Best wishes, Mark
Enkidu - May 20, 2012 11:22 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Great article!Thanks for the feedback. I read your article while writing this one. There is is a ton of good stuff there. Best regards, Joe.
Jukka Ahonen - May 20, 2012 5:16 am - Voted 10/10
Different locations?Hello,
First of all, thank you for the article - very comprehensive and well written!
I wonder, though, how much different locations differ from each other in regards to water quality?
I have been hiking actively for about 15 years now, and especially in Northern Finland I drink straight from any flowing, clear body of water which is at least 1 day away from human settlement.
If no flowing water is available, I will opt for clear water from lakes (preferably large), but not from the top layer.
I have never suffered any ill effects, nor has anyone of my friends or fellow hikers.
Could it be that Northern Lapland is cold enough to resemble Alpine conditions in this sense? I would not recommend such a happy-go-lucky approach to drinking water anywhere outside Scandinavia, though.
Enkidu - May 20, 2012 11:38 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Different locations?Thanks for the visit and vote.
There can be huge variation due to geography but also due to season. The lower the wildlife density (typically lower in cold climates) the lower the chances for contamination. The other factor that can have a large impact is natural immunity. Depending on how you were raised, your diet, genetics, living conditions, job etc the variation between healthy adults can be enormous.
Best Regards, Joe
Wastral - May 20, 2012 7:16 pm - Hasn't voted
Missed treatment methodA widely used treatment method to obtain 150F water for 5 minutes or greater temperatures can be seen in all of the myriad of solar heat collectors.
Generally said system is a simple tray with its Bottom painted JET BLACK and then one carries stiff aluminum foil or cardboard aluminized foil that directs the sunlight onto the water tray. This heats the water to the correct temperature without any fuel consumed. The fancy ones have a temperature guage that turns a color when it reaches 160F, then you time it for 5-10min and viola out pops 2 liters or so of clean water. Weight is generally about a pound when all is said and done for the lightweight systems and for the food solar cooker, an earthenware pot of a couple pounds to pots painted jet black to 10 lbs and several gallons in size.
These system are prolific in Africa/middle east/equatorial islands, etc. Obvious requirement is dependable sun. Also works perfectly well depending on the season very far north. Farthest North I have personally heard is British Columbia. California/Colorado would be simple I would think. Same with the Blue Smmoky Mountains and the EU alps.
Enkidu - May 20, 2012 8:55 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Missed treatment methodThis method was not missed as this is simply a pasteurization technique. Boiling and pasteurization are one of the 5 general methodologies covered in the article. I think you mean that I did not specifically mention these type of devices.
Similarly I did not mention fires or stoves as the purpose of the article was not to suggest a specific device or product but to provide the reader with the information necessary to select a treatment methodology (pasteurization in this case) based on their specific situation. The reader can than chose the specific system they intend to use based on their own specific preferences.
JoelSkok - May 30, 2012 10:18 pm - Voted 10/10
Just like a college lecture......only way better, coming from someone I can identify with. Really good--thanks for sharing your considerable breadth of knowledge, and for talking with us, not down to us.
Almost 30 years ago when I was in the Dominican Republic for two years in "el campo" I made an inconsistent yet purposeful effort to purify my water with iodine tablets. The reasons for the inconsistency are three: 1) Didn't like the taste 2) Didn't want the offend those that offered me food and drink every single day as I passed through their villages 3) Over the course of time thought I was able to judge a clean water source from and unclean source.
I paid dearly for both my sensitivity to my hosts and lack of judgement and/or discipline. I suspect it was Giardia that throttled me the worst, the sulphur belches rank among the low points of my life. Yet even at the time my regrets were few. Balancing personal health with a robust experience is not easy. 30 years later I wonder just how much more careful I would be? How does that saying go? "You can take a man out of the country but you can't take the country out of the man." I don't want to come across as arrogant about this, please understand that I struggled with this issue!
Thanks for the time you took to write that article. It was very well done. You have my respect.
Enkidu - May 30, 2012 10:51 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Just like a college lecture...Funny you would say that as I used to teach part time in the civil engineering faculty at a local college. That was shortly after I started my business and for the first few years I needed a little extra cash to keep things afloat. I guess the teaching habits I picked up are still in my head somewhere.
robertjoy - Jun 5, 2012 6:44 pm - Hasn't voted
Cooties don't scare me!For the past 10 years I have not filtered or purified water. I hike in the Columbia Gorge in winter and drink from streams, and I climb Northwest mountains in the summer, and drink from streams and glacier melt and alpine lakes. I have never gotten sick, and neither has my wife. I feel that choosing your water source prudently is a reasonable precaution. You are more likely to get backcountry giardiasis from lax hygiene practices than from drinking tainted water.
http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Giardia.pdf
Enkidu - Jun 5, 2012 9:33 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Cooties don't scare me!This is in agreement with the source selection portion of the article. 4 of the 7 seven source types described often do not require treatment. The purpose of describing the various treatment options is for those cases when these types of sources are not available - typically in the developing world where livestock control and personal hygiene habits are questionable, in base camp settings where there is a concentration of people, or in lower altitude settings where mammal concentrations are higher.
ktnbs - Jul 15, 2016 7:52 pm - Hasn't voted
For sure, a good refresherI use a uv device method when fishing in a clear high country river or creek for on the spot hydration and back at camp a filter....so far, so good.
Tudor G - Mar 9, 2017 4:36 am - Voted 10/10
a small observationA very good article but I did not see mentioned the quality of rocks which we walk through. There is a big difference between the abilty of filtration of erruptive rocks and limestone; i.e. limestone (but also dolomite, sandstone, chalk) lets water circulate faster than granite. More permeable the soil or rock is, less filtration you have. Even more, a river or creek may disappear for some distance under limestone and seem to "appear" at a spring as a "new" watersource. So, if there is the smallest dwelling "upstream" (even a pasture used for seasonal grazing by locals) you may not realize it, as upstream may mean another valley in that case.
Another implication is that in limestone mountains it's more difficult to find water in higher altitudes than in other rocks, therefore you need to carry water with you.
Rule of thumb: don't drink water from karstic springs.
Enkidu - Mar 17, 2017 11:55 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: a small observationThanks for the feedback. I intentionally did not really get the topic of springs other than to say it is very difficult to determine water quality from a spring as many factors such as upstream features and geology come into play. Even impermeable rocks like granite can be unsafe as springs usually follow fracture lines which essentially act like pipes and create a localized zone of high transmissivity. For example you can drop a pump in a deep drilled granite well 1/2 a mile from a creek, turn the pump on and depending on the fracture structure there can be an almost immediately measure a response in the creek.