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

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by Cap Erict3

Boil and filter suspect water. I did it to the bottled water when I lived in Nigeria.

+1

I recently purchased a life straw water bottle filter. They are becoming very popular in third world countries and would be a very easy way to filter water from the tank prior to drinking. I used to use a UV water bottle system to treat water coming out of my very old boat tank, but I think I like the life-straw idea better.

While there certainly are people who get sick from drinking bad water, there are also all sorts of examples of people who regularly collect and treat water from the environment themselves with no ill effects. I really don't get why so many seem to think these proven methods won't work for people on sailboats.

[captlloyd]

Recommended show, ''Monster inside of me''. Enough to scare the bejeezus out of me.

[Seaslug Caravan]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I wouldn't for cooking. Even if up stream is only forest it can be full of fecal coliforms from the wild life.

He says opening another Coke.

In the process , quite happy to erode tooth enamel, consume known carcinogens, and increase his chance of diabetes while becoming morbidly obese.


Quite obviously some here haven't got the "smarts" to assess a water source/location and make an informed decision.

Probably best to stick to Coke.

[SV DestinyAscen]

In a non-industrialized country, biologicals are your primary concern. Treatment and filtration will work.

In an industrialized country, you'll have to survey what's upstream.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by nautical62

While there certainly are people who get sick from drinking bad water, there are also all sorts of examples of people who regularly collect and treat water from the environment themselves with no ill effects. I really don't get why so many seem to think these proven methods won't work for people on sailboats.

The operative word here is "treat" and I might amend that to say "treat properly". If properly treated, water from most sources IE without toxins, chemicals, etc can be made safe to drink. I believe most objections on this thread are about suggestions that with little or minimal treatment surface water can be safe to drink.

To make pathogen contaminated water safe to drink requires at a minimum filtration with a max filter size of 1 micron AND chlorination. Boiling on top of these treatments would be an extra safety step and recommended for pregnant women, very old or very young and anyone with a compromised immune system.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Seaslug Caravan

He says opening another Coke.

In the process , quite happy to erode tooth enamel, consume known carcinogens, and increase his chance of diabetes while becoming morbidly obese.


Quite obviously some here haven't got the "smarts" to assess a water source/location and make an informed decision.

Probably best to stick to Coke.

Question: how do you ''assess a water source/location'' to determine if a bird crapped in the water? (or snake, chipmonk, rabbit, raccoon, ect.)

[Badsanta]

Quite obviously some here haven't got the "smarts" to assess a water source/location and make an informed decision.:[/QUOTE]

Wow, some smart people here don't know that they don't know. That is a really uninformed remark.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Seaslug Caravan

He says opening another Coke.

In the process , quite happy to erode tooth enamel, consume known carcinogens, and increase his chance of diabetes while becoming morbidly obese.


Quite obviously some here haven't got the "smarts" to assess a water source/location and make an informed decision.

Probably best to stick to Coke.

I prefer opening another beer.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by skipmac

The operative word here is "treat" and I might amend that to say "treat properly". If properly treated, water from most sources IE without toxins, chemicals, etc can be made safe to drink. I believe most objections on this thread are about suggestions that with little or minimal treatment surface water can be safe to drink.

To make pathogen contaminated water safe to drink requires at a minimum filtration with a max filter size of 1 micron AND chlorination. Boiling on top of these treatments would be an extra safety step and recommended for pregnant women, very old or very young and anyone with a compromised immune system.

Not all surface water is the same. I've done month long canoe trips where we could and did drink lake and river water without any treatment. I lived in and visited communities that use untreated surface water as their drinking water source, tested safe to drink. I've done backpacking in the Rockies were Giardia is very common and can be a risk even with boiling or iodine treatment. I've paddled rivers with chemical pollutants that can't be made potable by any of the conventional individual treatment options.

You yourself just stated that even pathogen contaminated water may require minimal treatment to be made potable. A $40 life straw bottle filter will filter down to 0.2 microns. Just fill the bottle and drink. No need to even pump. These filters have been proven effective with some fairly nasty water in developing countries. They certainly can be effective with fairly clean Canadian water. This past summer I spent quite a bit of time hiking a river valley where simply dropping 2 very small potable aqua tablets in a quart of water was sufficient. An entire bottle of potable aqua tablets is about the size of 8 dimes stacked. You don't get much more minimal than that, yet it's effective for the right water source.

Again, most people who go backpacking, canoeing, etc, regularly drink surface water using very simple, minimal treatment options. Given a reasonable water source, such as the isolated streams of western B.C., there is no reason why cruisers can't use these same methods.

Many seem to think only water treated by a commercial treatment plant can be safe to drink. That's simply not true. Many surface water sources can be made safe to drink with minimal treatment such as chemical treatment, filtration, UV, or boiling. Some surface water is even safe to drink without any such treatment as confirmed by laboratory testing and actual human consumption.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by nautical62

Not all surface water is the same. I've done month long canoe trips where we could and did drink lake and river water without any treatment. I lived in and visited communities that use untreated surface water as their drinking water source, tested safe to drink. I've done backpacking in the Rockies were Giardia is very common and can be a risk even with boiling or iodine treatment. I've paddled rivers with chemical pollutants that can't be made potable by any of the conventional individual treatment options.

You yourself just stated that even pathogen contaminated water may require minimal treatment to be made potable. A $40 life straw bottle filter will filter down to 0.2 microns. Just fill the bottle and drink. No need to even pump. These filters have been proven effective with some fairly nasty water in developing countries. They certainly can be effective with fairly clean Canadian water. This past summer I spent quite a bit of time hiking a river valley where simply dropping 2 very small potable aqua tablets in a quart of water was sufficient. An entire bottle of potable aqua tablets is about the size of 8 dimes stacked. You don't get much more minimal than that, yet it's effective for the right water source.

Again, most people who go backpacking, canoeing, etc, regularly drink surface water using very simple, minimal treatment options. Given a reasonable water source, such as the isolated streams of western B.C., there is no reason why cruisers can't use these same methods.

Many seem to think only water treated by a commercial treatment plant can be safe to drink. That's simply not true. Many surface water sources can be made safe to drink with minimal treatment such as chemical treatment, filtration, UV, or boiling. Some surface water is even safe to drink without any such treatment as confirmed by laboratory testing and actual human consumption.

Since you're quoting my post I assume you're addressing these comments to me.

Again, if you are answering my post you do make a whole of assumptions and extrapolations from my words that were not said or meant.

You are absolutely correct in what you say and I do not disagree: that some surface water is safe to drink, water that isn't treated by a municipal water plant can be treated and safely drunk by various methods, etc, etc, etc.

Yes I have drunk untreated water from the environment but I knew the source and quality. My main point, one cannot look at water and tell if it is safe to drink or not. To drink untreated surface water without good information about the quality or source is like rolling the dice. Most of the time you'll be fine. Occasionally you'll pay the price. Usually the price will be a bit of gastrointestinal distress. Occasionally the price can be a bit higher.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

Question: how do you ''assess a water source/location'' to determine if a bird crapped in the water? (or snake, chipmonk, rabbit, raccoon, ect.)

Or the locals in a little village 20 miles up the river.

[J Clark H356]

Look into a SafeH2O system. This is a filtration and UV light system that is very economical. They have on-board and portable models. They have one unit that is for survival use and includes a 12 volt pump. I have the on-board model and we use marina water but with this system we always have pure fresh water. Our unit cost around $250 and the annual filters and UV light is $53.

http://www.safh2ouv.com/

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Or the locals in a little village 20 miles up the river.

or the dead cow 1/2 mile around the bend? This happened 2 blocks from where I lived in Tri-City's. WA.

As I came home from work, around the corner from my driveway, I watched a huge bunch of kids playing in the their front yard sprinklers, having a great time, must of 15 of them. All yard irrigation in that area is open ditch, pumped to each house from ditch underground. As I came around the corner with the ditch 100 Yards from my house, this being up stream, a crew in bio suits were pulling a mans body from the ditch, it had been in the ditch for an estimated 4 to 6 weeks, badly decayed.
Those kids were playing in what was escaping from the body.
A creek or river system, in any kind of length at all is going to have many animal corpse's decaying in it.
just plain nasty and a very serious health concern.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

........
Those kids were playing in what was escaping from the body.
A creek or river system, in any kind of length at all is going to have many animal corpse's decaying in it.
just plain nasty and a very serious health concern.

Corpses, cow poo, human poo....

That's why I don't drink South Australian beer, wadjarekon that sediment in the bottom of a bottle of Coopers is?

[sy_gilana]

Thanks to all that called me uneducated etc.
All I said is we have been doing this for 18+years, and no serious ill effects. I don't have any options in the areas I cruise, its river water or rain. We don't have a watermaker.

My answer to the OP was quite simple and to the point. I think that he will be fine cleaning and washing in that water, and we even drink it. Some might disagree, and insist on only imbibing the purest of pure water. We have met many of them over the years, and the funny thing is, they insist on drinking their watermaker water only, but then they go ashore and put ice in their drinks, and spend the next few days doing the potty polka.

No, were not stupid, we check, speak to the locals and make a decision.

The closer you live to the edge, the better the view....I might not live long, but I'm going to live strong!

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.