How safe is river water?
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f you want to find out about any particular river then have a look at this. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/33106.aspx
Thanks for that Frogo, ...difficult to believe governement agencies,, they'll p**s on you & tell you it's raining & I don't think drinking the stuff is what they have in mind. ...I would give the findings of organizations such as Greenpeace more credibility.
Don't worry chap, there's more folks like you than there are like me, that's why they can continue to "inform" us with relative ease.
Far too many dangerous substances in any river water unless its from very high ground and even then there is no guarantee.
Nitrates, Phosphorous,Nitrite,and chemical drain off from agriculture makes the whole thing a very dangerous practice indeed. Some things may take years to come back and haunt you, and a chlorine tablet only kills, it does not clean.
A Reverse Osmosis pump with a UV bulb and active carbon filter would probably be the safest method, but even that is fallible, plus you have to carry/ operate it.
Springs in the highest mountains are your best bet, but a river to me is nothing more than an open sewer. May as well drink from a puddle in the farm yard or dip your cup into the toilet bowl.
Nitrates, Phosphorous,Nitrite,and chemical drain off from agriculture makes the whole thing a very dangerous practice indeed. Some things may take years to come back and haunt you, and a chlorine tablet only kills, it does not clean.
A Reverse Osmosis pump with a UV bulb and active carbon filter would probably be the safest method, but even that is fallible, plus you have to carry/ operate it.
Springs in the highest mountains are your best bet, but a river to me is nothing more than an open sewer. May as well drink from a puddle in the farm yard or dip your cup into the toilet bowl.
Calling me a little paranoid because I doubt the veracity of governmental agencie's affirmations, leads me to the conclusion that you consider thier findings, published or otherwise as pertaining to the truth.................................
It's true I do believe a great many reports put out by the environment agency, but then I do tend to trust the results of report containing fieldwork carried out by people, some of who are good friends and put a lot of hard work into collecting the raw data to produce the findings shown on the EA website.
Ah, at last,....... many people think that because there are no immediate ill effects, then everything's ok.......I guess they're unaware of the long term effects of certain toxic chemicals in the organism.............
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I used to believe them too, but then I used to believe a lot of things, including the existance of father christmas,....... I think Tchernobyl erased any remaining crediulance I had...............it will be interesting to see how they handle the imminent reactor melt down of the nuclear power station in Japan,..............anyway, each is free to believe or not & that's what counts.
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if you think tap water is miraculously free of 'chemicals and radioactivity' then you're sadly mistaken tapwater is just river/ground water thats been treated with chemicals to kill the nasties. water without chemicals in it is actually bad for you it wants to get the chemicals back so it takes them from your body, and you need them to continue to live and thrive. i've drunk water from loads of different rivers with no ill effects as long as its fast flowing and there's nothing dead in it you should be fine, although boiling it is prudent in most cases. you seem to delight in panning everyone else's opinions which is a poor approach to forums i find
So ALL tap water is the same then Wattsy? regardless of district or company? Tap water has to be tested continuously, when was the last you heard of anyone in the UK contracting an illness from the water?
The water in the UK is not the best to drink, but its certainly safe, and can you please tell me what chemicals are essential in water? you have me intrigued.
for all information on water treatment, and how to treat the water, then look at the science of water stickey.... its packed full of information and is a must read
thailand has got it down to a tea. they open a flood gate and fill an enormous tank with water, in a factory, bombard it with uv light until its clean, shove it through a filter and bottle it. they then take the bottles back, wash them and reuse with the same process. easy, cheap, clean.
Helas wattsy, you are so right, every drop of water on this planet is polluted from the deepest cave pools to the snowy virgin caps of the Himalayas......so what makes tap water so special as opposed to river water ?............I believe ( naively admittedly) that tap water contains lesser or controlled quantities of polluants,that the nature of the pollution is known & that the levels are no higher than the " safety" limits ( not perfect I know) also the water is constantly analysed & that the origin of the supply is sourced from limited & controlled enviroments..............
There are no such constant checks on river water & decades of toxic chemicals, ( industry, agriculture, household, medical etc.) have been versed into these rivers, not forgetting leaching from contaminated land or by air, resulting in an accumulation & concentration of these polluants which remain invisible & undetectable by a thirsty bushcrafter..........
All the water in east ,north & western europe is to some extent, radio-active, thanks in part to Tchernobyl (25th anniversary this year) & we can't do anything about it...........," I've been drinking tap water for years, with no ill effects"..................
As for your comment about me "panning everyone else's opinions" that may be the impression but it's not my intention. I value everybody's opinion as much as my own & I enjoy reading & learning from them. It's true I'm not a subscriber to a world where everyone agrees with everyone else, & if fellow posters wish me to quit this thread, I will
There are no such constant checks on river water & decades of toxic chemicals, ( industry, agriculture, household, medical etc.) have been versed into these rivers, not forgetting leaching from contaminated land or by air, resulting in an accumulation & concentration of these polluants which remain invisible & undetectable by a thirsty bushcrafter..........
All the water in east ,north & western europe is to some extent, radio-active, thanks in part to Tchernobyl (25th anniversary this year) & we can't do anything about it...........," I've been drinking tap water for years, with no ill effects"..................
As for your comment about me "panning everyone else's opinions" that may be the impression but it's not my intention. I value everybody's opinion as much as my own & I enjoy reading & learning from them. It's true I'm not a subscriber to a world where everyone agrees with everyone else, & if fellow posters wish me to quit this thread, I will
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Hmmm... what have you used for the basis for these assertions my good chap, early Sanskrit writings refer to filtration of water sources, which Hippocrates further developed centuries later in the form of a cloth sleeve (and modern special forces operate from vehicles to be resupplied by air by the way).
Not so either I'm afraid, I would sincerely love to hear your reasoning behind that suggestion!
