Fresh water supply from creeks or rivers for showers/cooking?

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

Come on out here, lets go spearfishing, lets go kitesurfing, lets drink the rain and river water, life is full of risks, but I refuse to live in fear.

Well said!

[skipmac]

I'm sorry for the insults you received. Not the way to discuss or debate an issue, but I still disagree.

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

Come on out here, lets go spearfishing, lets go kitesurfing, lets drink the rain and river water, life is full of risks, but I refuse to live in fear.

Fear has nothing at all to do with how one obtains and treats (or doesn't treat) drinking water. It is only a matter of assessing the potential downside of an action and making an informed decision on one's preferred way to deal with it. If people choose to take more care with treating drinking water I doubt if it is because they are all living a life of fear, certainly not in my case.

[Franziska]

Any normal pump will do this, maybe add a strainer and filter.
Unless you are on pristine nature and the river leading up to you is as well, I'd rather not drink or cook with it.

Ask me how I know? Well, when living on the hook for a while you see all sorts of stuff drifting by.
Worst was a decomposing large dog.

For anything else I'd still use the water, including shower & cleaning.
My on-board rule is, if you feel it's clean enough for swimming you can shower in it as well.

Rainwater is a good option too, but in industrial areas often polluted as well.

www.ladyrover.com

[Mike OReilly]

As a long-time remote wilderness traveller (canoe, kayak and sail), I have commonly used water from the wild. For direct consumption we usually (but not always) filtered the water using a high-quality manual filter (Katadyn Pocket Filter). If the water is to be boiled first (cooking) I have often used unfiltered water. Cleaning is also mostly raw water, with a spritz of treated.

All open source untreated water carries a risk of pathogens and parasites. Use common sense about where you draw from, and treat when in doubt. I've never had a problem with this approach.

[uncle stinkybob]

Life on the edge is awesome, been doing it my whole life. I was a grunt (infantry) Vietnam, we learned a lot about fouled water and very nasty parasites. The risk's I take are educated and the payoff is worth the risk. I find O payoff drinking water that is that risky to drink, not when the facts indicate that 200,000 a year die from contaminated water.
and having been victim to my own stupidity in drinking clear cold mountain water coming out of the Olympic Mtn's and getting beaver fever not once but twice, vomiting, horrid diarrhea, stomach cramps that felt like knive's for days, then dehydration, fever, high temps to 103, that breaks. Then recovery start's, that takes a few weeks before your stronger than a new born kitten. try doing anything safely in that condition, let alone sail.
And that scenario sounds like a better view? strong? ha ha ha, ya whatever.
I'm glad you have been so lucky and that's all it's been.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I prefer opening another beer.

I know you said it as a joke but for centuries, beer was the drink of choice because it was safe to drink. They didn't realize why but between the boiling and the alcohol, it killed off most of the nasty bugs.

For washing, sure. We often use a bucket on a rope to wash down the decks.

For drinking/cooking, it would only be in an emergency and then boil, chlorinate, filter etc...

[ingrid75]

We have used "creek" water once in 21 years of cruising. And that was from a spring on Esprito Santo island in Vanuatu that had been used by the U S army during WW I I. Don't count on creek water. Get a good rain catching awning and a small back-up water maker. And you will find a lot of places where you can Jerry can good fresh water from shore facilities without going into a marina.

[jkindredpdx]

Lots of opinions, I'll add my 2 cents, about what it's worth. I drink from Oregon and Washington Rivers and creeks a bit. I read that a high proportion of hikers who think they got giardia from creeks actually got sick from a lack of personal hygiene on the trail. BC water should be pretty darn clean using common sense. I think the sharp drop from mountain to sea would make many river/creeks approachable within 100 ft by boat, maybe closer. I buy inline water filters with a garden hose attachment. I ferry blue plastic jerry cans in my dinghy and purify in the can as desired. When I chlorinate, I allow the water to breath overnight to let the chlorine evaporate. I attach the inline filter between the can and the water inlet. The filter restricts flow, so I leave the can atop the cabin with gravity feed and go do something else... it ain't fast, but at times like that I'm not really in a hurry. For backpacking, I have those triple filter water bottles.

I do recommend filtering and purifying. My GF wanted to drink zigzag river glacial melt. After she carried the buckets up from the river and was in the cabin's kitchen, she saw a little extra protein, caddis and mayfly nymphs, in the water. So she boiled the water then filtered it. After a couple months she went back to tap water.

Good Luck, Be Safe, Have Fun!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

I know you said it as a joke but for centuries, beer was the drink of choice because it was safe to drink. They didn't realize why but between the boiling and the alcohol, it killed off most of the nasty bugs.

For washing, sure. We often use a bucket on a rope to wash down the decks.

For drinking/cooking, it would only be in an emergency and then boil, chlorinate, filter etc...

I think that was the reason British seamen were rationed 2 pints/day.

[jkindredpdx]

I tend to splash a bit of Bourbon into my glass of water... just to be safe.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

I tend to splash a bit of Bourbon into my glass of water... just to be safe.

It is better to use frozen water.

[Mike OReilly]

To be specific, I have routinely drank water directly from many remote lakes and rivers, including Lake Superior (where I have filled my tank water directly from the Lake). I usually filter drinking water using a high quality manual filter, but not always.

I would NOT drink water from stagnant sources, nor areas close to urban or farm activities. I don't drink Lake Ontario water (where I sail now).

I have never researched this, but I do find it interesting that in some locations (Mexico?) locals are able to drink the water when visitors are not. Could this be yet another example of the rich western societies being too clean? I haven't looked at the research, but this is certainly true around other aspects of our over-clean life.

So, to answer the OPs question. I would say, yes, it is might be possible in specific circumstances. But I wouldn't count on it. Rain collection is a better option for cruising sailors.

[rwidman]

Drinking untreated water from unknown sources is a bit like having unprotected sex with strangers. You might be fine or you might catch a disease.


The question is, is it worth the risk?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Drinking untreated water from unknown sources is a bit like having unprotected sex with strangers. You might be fine or you might catch a disease.


The question is, is it worth the risk?

It would depend on how good the sex water was.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Drinking untreated water from unknown sources is a bit like having unprotected sex with strangers. You might be fine or you might catch a disease.


The question is, is it worth the risk?

Love it. Well stated.