Boiling river water in a kelly kettle

[KAE1]

What precuations and kit do I need to be able to boil river water for a brew up for use when canoe/camping. Thanks in advance for any tips.

 

[Goose]

Filter it, basically. Use something along the lines of a millbank bag, or a home made version. As you are boiling the water you need no chemical treatment. Be aware of the area you are in, our area has had lots of chemical plants and in the past chemicals such as mustard gas have been found buried! That is why I will generally carry water, but if in a different area it would be filter and boil.
Obviously don't drink the water from estuary as it will be sea/salt water.
When you have boiled water remember it can be recontaminated easily, tap water still has active chlorine when it comes out of a tap to kill any bugs it picks up along the way, your filtered boiled water will not have this residual protection so be extra clean with your water and bottles.

 

[bikething]

Also bear in mind that it's not just industrial chemicals... agricultural and pesticides are a risk. Think about what's upstream...is it farmland?

 

[KAE1]

Thanks for advice, for now I am thinking East Anglias rivers (so there will be farmland) and maybe the River Wye. Long term I am thinking of a lake trip in Sweden http://www.canoe.nu/

 

[bambodoggy]

In Sweden you can drink straight from the rivers and lakes.....the Swedish look after their "nature" and so it's a lot cleaner than ours

Hava a good trip

Bam.

 

[fred gordon]

In Sweden you can drink straight from the rivers and lakes.....the Swedish look after their "nature" and so it's a lot cleaner than ours

Hava a good trip

Bam.

In the remoter parts of Scotland this is still possible as long as you are careful. Just spent the weekend walking to Cape Wrath and drank from the streams all the way

 

[bambodoggy]

In the remoter parts of Scotland this is still possible as long as you are careful. Just spent the weekend walking to Cape Wrath and drank from the streams all the way

Glad to hear it Gordon To be fair I've always drank the water in Scotland and also Wales and never been ill but as it's a personal choice thing so I'd not recomend it to anybody else publicly....what they do is up to them

Cheers,

Bam.

 

[lub0]

i wouldn't risk drinking from any major river in the UK.
But what about in-land lakes and ponds? Would that water be drinkable after filtering and boiling?

Just to what level of dirt and stagnation can you actually take it? Dosn't the water source have to be somewhat clean looking to begin with??

 

[dwardo]

i wouldn't risk drinking from any major river in the UK.
But what about in-land lakes and ponds? Would that water be drinkable after filtering and boiling?

Just to what level of dirt and stagnation can you actually take it? Dosn't the water source have to be somewhat clean looking to begin with??

I guess you can filter/make safe pretty much any water its just a matter of how.
I usually drink from springs when in my local haunt. Drinking rom springs i just roughly filter through cloth to remove debris and then boil. If i am in a hurry then i used a little premac filter. I have used puri tabs but they are bloody awfull.
In any countryside where there are farms the water can contain some chemical nastys and heavy metals which will be unaffected by boiling. Whilst i dont think this is a massive problem if your only suppin a few boiled pints but regular use could cause problems from what i have read.

I have just rough filtered from large lakes mainly Loch`s and boiled with no problems. I would worry about a small pond as it would take a lot more filtering and boiling being mostly stagnent. One more consideration is the ammount of minerals in the water you are drinking, too much could give you an upset stomach.

 

[Ogri the trog]

iJust to what level of dirt and stagnation can you actually take it? Dosn't the water source have to be somewhat clean looking to begin with??

Common sense states that you should find the freshest source of wild water that you can. Even then you should try to find out what might be in it by looking at the land around you, then go through your purification routine.
In the end no-one is forcing you to consume that water, you choose to drink it - or you can choose to carry more or wait till a fresher source presents itself - your choice.

ATB

Ogr the trog

 

[Trackerman]

In Sweden you can drink straight from the rivers and lakes.....the Swedish look after their "nature" and so it's a lot cleaner than ours


Bam.

Well, almost true. In south of Sweden where I live, you will have to be careful with drinking water in nature, because it´s a pretty big agricultural region. But in northern Sweden the air and water is clean. Sweden is a very long country with a small population, about 9 million people, like the population in London, I belive. You British bushcraftguys should visit the mountain regions around Kiruna in northern of Sweden. Absolutely amazing! And water taste very good from the streams.

 

[Melonfish]

chaps, what about all those wells and springs up in the lakes, i take it its boil time there too? isn't alot of the land used for sheep?
pete

 

[Peter_t]

if in any doubt boil it, and if it was already safe your not doing any harm

pete

 

[Wild Thing]

As a rule of thumb I always boil any water I collect no matter how clean it may seem.

This is because I was ill once after drinking some water I was assured by the landowner was clean.

Since then I always boil it, lets face it, it only takes a few minutes to boil the water and better that than days of stomach problems.

Just my opinion.

regards

Phill

 

[xylaria]

chaps, what about all those wells and springs up in the lakes, i take it its boil time there too? isn't alot of the land used for sheep?
pete

I have drunk the water straight out of wastwater lake, and I was fine. Where we walk very regulary there is a spring, and we all drank from it for years without any treatment and no illness. I only got dysentry once. hideously ill for ten days and lost a stone in weight. We carry clean water or aquatabs now. The bear grylls school of bushcraft, watch the idiots get ill so you don't have too .

 

[Melonfish]

thats the plan, we're all going to have a pack of puritabs with us and we'll be boiling our water too. better safe then glued to the loo!
besides i just lost a stone in weight over christmas with that flu bug and although i like the results the method was not what i'd call fun

 

[scottishwolf]

I always drink the water from burns, rivers and some lochs. One thing I do now though is always use puritabs even if boiling. And always check upstream a fair distance. Found a decomposing sheep upstream from camp once and we were wondering why we all had a dose of the scoots for 2 days even after boiling the water etc lol

And I always make sure I take some immodium in my first aid kit whenever out and about. It's amazing how quickly having the runs dehydrates you and zaps energy from you.

 

[taws6]

JFYI, a friend of mine has had a kidney transplant, so he is open to infection, but will now only drink the cleanest of water.
That's after he drank water from a outside tap, labeled as 'drinking water', and he gained an infection and was VERY ill for 3 weeks.

So for all you drinking straight from ponds / streams, please at least use some form of filtering & boiling.

 

[wedgie]

you also have the posibilty
Leptospirosis & Weil’s Disease
What it is

Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection carried in rat’s urine which may contaminate water in lakes, rivers, etc. The bacteria does not survive long in dry conditions or salt water. The risk of infection is greater in stagnant or slow-moving water but cases have occurred in swift moving streams and lowland rivers. There is an enhanced risk where flash floods have washed out rat runs.

The infection is caught by direct contact with the urine or polluted environment. Bacteria enter through skin abrasions or via eyes, nose or mouth.

The usual incubation is 2 to 12 days. Usually a ‘flu’ like illness occurs which resolves in 2-3 weeks. There may be fever, severe headache, pains in the back and calf and prostration. A few cases develop Jaundice, when the condition is known as Weil’s disease.

 

[Hammock_man]

On Ebay a seller by the name of
drinksafe-water
has a number of water filters would might want to take a look at.

I have the EXPLORER WATER CANTEEN and can reccomend it for ease of use. Plus you can drink from it as you walk along.