water/keep this in mind

[wareagle69]

as most of you know i am involved with the rasing of orphaned and injured wildlife, i like it cuz it gives me an excellent opportunity to study behaviors and habbits i might not normaly get to see, now other than when in primary/critical care, we try to have the critters in as natural habbitat as possible the bears have 20 acre pens and the moose 10 acre pens and coons in large enclosures, you get the idea.
so what does this have to do with water you might ask, well by far and large the main habbit that i have seen most critters share it that to hide their presence in the wild they will uriniate and deficate when ever possible in water, the same small creek you may be looking to take a nice long cool satisfying drink out of on a nice hot day.
just thought you should know, now wheres my water bottle......

[Rick]

The story of my life. I'm forever drinking downstream from the herd.

(Sure, Bear. Go ahead. You'll like it)

[gryffynklm]

Recently a friend became sick after drinking from a stream even though she used purification tabs. The tabs were new in the package and used them according to instructions. Her doctor found parasites. Any way he said that it was something the raccoons contributed to the ecosystem. The doctor went through mountain training in the Alleghenies when he was in the army. Their instructions were not to even cool their beer or canteens in the streams and always boil because the residual water on the outside of your container could be enough to make you sick if it got to your mouth.

[Rick]

You bet and you'll find I've warned folks in several posts to keep their dirty water tubes separate from their filter and clean water tubes to prevent cross contamination. Amazingly, we drop our hands in the water, wipe them on our clothes and then proceed to wipe our eyes and pick our nose (sorry, but it's true). And that's an excellent way to introduce organisms into our body. We should respect our eyes and nose the same as our mouth and recognize they all are entry points into our system.

[Winnie]

The old saying still rings true.... If in doubt, BOIL IT!

[gryffynklm]

Ya, thats the way I look at it. She thought she was safe because she used the purification tabs. I don't know if the tabs worked or not. I just don't like being sick, so I plan on boiling unless I brought the water.

[Rick]

If I had to guess I'd say the problem wasn't with the purification tablets. Either she didn't wait long enough for the tablets to be affective or she inadvertently cross contaminated her food or water.

[crashdive123]

Not all purification tablets are created equal. Some will stop more nasties than others.

[Ken]

....and pick our nose (sorry, but it's true).


http://www.laughparty.com/funny-pictures/Booger-Board-902.jpg

[wareagle69]

Not all purification tablets are created equal. Some will stop more nasties than others.
ah ,you feeling alright crash?

If I had to guess I'd say the problem wasn't with the purification tablets. Either she didn't wait long enough for the tablets to be affective or she inadvertently cross contaminated her food or water.

i agree rick, i think that when things fail in the feild people always want to blame the gear and not them selves i would think that she did not wait long enough or cross contaminated. good thinking

[gryffynklm]

So... out of curiosity, has anyone had an experience that made them question the effectiveness of purification tablets? I haven't had problems but......

anyway I agree, human error and cross contamination is likely what caused her to get sick.

[crashdive123]

So... out of curiosity, has anyone had an experience that made them question the effectiveness of purification tablets? I haven't had problems but......



Yes. Hiking in the Olympic Mountains. Me - boiled water and used purification tablets. Him. Purification tablets only. We both waited - I drank warm water - he wanted cold. He came down with giardia, I didn't.

[Oasis de Tucanes]

So true. There are many animals here that will absolutely not go unless it's in the water.
the Tepesquintle...giant rodent, the Oscelot and the kinkajoo are three that come to mind.
I still use iodine drops when I cant find a spring or bromeliad to collect water from. That isn't too often.