Clean water

[Jimmy Bojangles]

Hi all

Just wondered what people's thoughts were on purifying water. I don't like to have to buy or carry equipment I don't have to, so tend to just boil my water for a few mins, and I'm good to go. Now, that takes care of ANY and EVERY parasitic, bacterial, etc risk with the water (as I understand). But I got to thinking about chemical pollution, I'm usually camping on or around the High Peak moors, so no risk from upstream pollution. But I'd like next year to start going further afield, and wondered what the risks were from your average lowland rivers, and what other people's experiences were. I find it hard to believe there's many rivers so polluted (obviously avoiding canals etc) that a couple of liters of water from them as a one off is going to do you much harm. But as I say, I'd be interested to hear the opinions of some of the more knowledgable members on here.

Please note I'm happy boiling my water so I'm not after filter, purification product recommendations. Yet! Lol

Cheers

Mat

 

[Retired Member southey]

here is a good sticky to read chap

 

[udamiano]

Hi JB,

The ad truth is that almost all of the water you are going to come across is likely to contain some form of pollution, either chemical or protozoa, as well as the usual contaminates.
The only real exceptions to this would be at a fresh water spring, at the point it comes out of the rock, and then if its been identified as safe, as even these dissolve metals in the rocks. Basically the rule is to treat ALL water as suspect. A combination of filtering and boiling will kill all of the biological content, but in heavy polluted areas (near roads, and farmland) a secondary charcoal filtration is required to remove the heavy metals and chemical compounds.
However the higher up you go, the smaller the problem of chemical and metal pollution, however there is a very large and real risk of water protozoa in all our water ways and ground water.
Research done at Glasgow university has shown an alarming natural resistance to chemical purification using the chemicals (iodine, chlorine, etc) that we normally employ in the wilds, and should always be backed up by boiling.
however the best advice I can give anyone is to take a multiple treatment approach, using a mixture of filtration, chemical, and heat to produce a best result, I do however understand that this can be both expensive in kit.

A link to some of the research papers

http://www.iwaponline.com/jwh/005/0001/0050001.pdf

Day

 

[Jimmy Bojangles]

Thanks for the help guys, but I'm still stuck on the crux of my question which is, assuming you have the means to kill all living contaminates in the water, would people worry about drinking average quality river water without filtering out chemical pollution? Obviously I'm talking about drinking for a day or two, not months at a time.

Again, thanks for your input

Mat

 

[ateallthepies]

What I would do if your concerned is to contact the water treatment company in the area you are visiting and ask their advice. It is their job to monitor all the sources of water in their catchment area they collect and process so they should have an idea if there is a problem in the area. They especially monitor pesticide and industrial hazards and also a certain slug treatment chemical which can be tricky to remove from water.

There may even be a government site that will give this information but I have not looked?

Personally I think I would be happy to filter through a silver ceramic/charcoal filter and boil, virtually any water I found for short periods.

Steve.

 

[pango]

Hi Jimmy,
I see you're from the Derbyshire area. I apologise if exposing my knowledge of English geography to be sparse, but believe Derbyshire to be hill country with a long industrial history. Much of what I do know is from my father's knowledge of the coal mining industry and its history and my interest in rock climbing and the huge contribution to climbing made by working folk from your area.

I too am from an area with a long industrial history and have also had the privilege of cool crystal water running off the hill. I've wandered the hills of Scotland for most of my life, as well as having spent time in the mountains of Europe and North Africa, and have only recently discovered the delights that lie in the dells and woodlands not far from my doorstep. The first thing to be aware of is that not everyone has the luxury of assuming water to be safe. I've had issues with seemingly safe water in Scotland and once made the mistake of drinking cold, clear glacial melt in Austria... I won't go into the details!

Even so, I have a deep seated grudge against carrying water, but if you're wandering in an area with an industrial heritage, and with industrial archaeology which may pre-date the official advent of the "Industrial Revolution", you must bear in mind that every hole that has ever been dug in the ground will contain, to some extent, a reservoir which will make its way to the surface at some point or other. This may be iron, coal, lead or limestone mining, but whatever other minerals are in the formation, along with everything that was left in the mine, be it batteries or machinery from the last hundred years or more, will be leaching contaminants.

On top of that, a couple of Springtimes ago, I put my kayak into water just deep enough to take it on a local river which originates in The Braes o' Fife, assuming that the water would be safe for a good few miles at least. It's surprising what you see from the perspective of river-level with regard to farming activities, field drains and other more sinister looking pipework. But the sightings of good sized trout and the odd early salmon , two different otters along the way, the orange-blue streak of kingfishers flashing past and the sheer variety of birdlife on the river, not to mention my wee basha and a couple of nights beside the fire, made the trip well worthwhile. On my second day, however, as I paddled past the land of a company involved in intensive crop growing for supermarkets, the smell of sewage in the water became quite apparent, the river-water extracted by multiple suction hoses, returned by multiple field drains convinced me not to take from the river until I reached a tributary a few miles downstream. But that also runs through farmland, and on the way I remembered an incident many years ago of the prosecution of a farmer for dumping insecticide in the stream.

I don't own a filtration system and have only recently considered their benefits. But I'm lucky enough to have a number of places to camp with safe drinking water running from disused reservoirs or piped supplies for livestock.

A little historical research goes a long way, as I have at least a dozen named wells from the medieval pilgrimage routes within a 5 mile radius. But the research is also valuable in identifying just how much industry was in your area prior to the keeping of Statistical Accounts or any reliable record keeping.

You do have to put some careful thought to the possibilities of where your water is coming from, but I'm still confident that with consideration, a little research and local knowledge, you will more than likely be able to identify water sources where a few minutes boiling will eliminate any risk... in all but industrial wasteland!

Cheers,

Pango.

 

[Jimmy Bojangles]

Thanks everyone, for your thoughts and advice, I guess I'll just have to do a bit of research depending on the areas I'm planning to visit.

Or get a good filter, hmmm, more kit, the wife'll like that! Lol

Cheers

Mat

 

[Jimmy Bojangles]

Sorry still mulling it over! Lol

So Pango, do you tend to go off the river, steam, etc looking healthy, ie not obviously industrially polluted, then just boil to sterilise? That's what I was hoping to do.

Cheers

Mat

 

[pango]

Hi Mat,
The rivers of my childhood were heavily polluted, so we never drank from any of the rivers or large streams in all of the miles we ranged as children... and I'm astonished today to think of the miles we covered as bairns... and these activities certainly worked up some fearsome thirsts.

I'm also astonished at just how savvy we were when locating the streams and springs we used in the absence of a friendly farmhouse or cottage; "Can I have a drink of water, please?" usually produced a jeely piece (jam sandwich) and very often a glass of milk:

As a 7 year old, I was already developing quite a sophisticated knowledge of hydrology! The springs from long extinct volcanoes and volcanic plugs are safe to drink from, as are those from the area's limestone capped hills; never drink from a stream running through farmland; never drink from slow water; when in doubt, go up! These are rules I stand by today, although like many others, I have drank from mountain puddles and made tea from questionable sources.

If you're anything like me, then time loses all meaning if someone sticks a map in front of you. An OS map carries an incredible amount of information and to borrow a long used adage, that information would need a fair sized book to lay down in print.

The 1:50,000 Landranger series indicates all significant running water. A trickle of water coming from a crag or bluff probably originates in a spring. Go take a look before drinking though.
The 1:25,000 series indicates springs and wells (blue "w") and will also give a name where applicable. Something like "St Margaret's Well" is a dead give away to a well on a medieval pilgrimage route, the site of a monastery or chapel, and the names of many wells predate Christianity, like Trissel's Well not 2 miles from where I'm sitting, which local mythology links to one of numerous Pictish kings, Drust/Drusten, who would certainly have passed here on his way from the Caterthuns in Angus to sort out those pesky Gaels who had settled on an old British hillfort in Galloway known today as Trusty's Hill. He left an elaborately carved Pictish boar as a reminder and must have made quite an impression, as they still remember his name at least 1500 years later. (Does the name Tristan come to mind?) But it should be borne in mind that much industry has been pursued over the last 500 years and some knowledge of industrial history in the area, particularly over the past 200 years, can tell you a lot about the potential dangers of seemingly clean water running from a defile in the ground.

In all cases, walk upstream paying close attention to the plant-life along the watercourse, absence is always bad, and the presence of livid green or grey algae should cause you to spin on your heel and walk away.

The larvae of the humble stonefly exists in every healthy waterway in Europe and their absence should be taken as a sign of danger. The mayfly is also an indicator of good water quality as are those of various dragonflies and damsels, while some caddis species can tolerate moderate pollution, although any stream with an absence of fly life is something to be wary of. If it looks healthy with a wide biodiversity, its probably safe to drink. What's going on upstream from where you are is obviously of great importance, so always go and take a look.

There's a dizzying array of websites saturated in academic gobbledygook, usually in abstract, much of which are of little value to anyone without a pocket laboratory. I was about to post a link in sensible English until I realised it had been nicked from Wikipedia, but if you wish to search for information, try water/river bioindicators.

Best of luck,

Pango.

 

[Jimmy Bojangles]

Thanks for your time and advice, Pango, it really is a great help to hear how someone else goes about finding water. And you're quite right an os map can easily keep me as absorbed as a good book, though it never occurred to me to use the to find water. sounds like I've the perfect excuse to spend some time with my head buried in one! Lol

All the best

Mat