A guide to drinking water in the wild

For the outdoorsy types, this summer's issue of Wilderness Medicine magazine might be worth a read.

It includes a report (with a lengthy title), "Wild Water Everywhere: But Is It Safe to Drink (or Play in?) Better Safe Than on the Run from Waterborne Illnesses in the Wild" by Nancy Pietroski, which examines the risk of contracting waterborne illness outdoors.

When diagnosing an illness that was contracted from water, ascertaining a source of water exposure (play: backcountry traveling, kayaking, swimming, fishing, water-skiing; or work: fishing for a living, logging, farming, military) is an essential part of the history. Knowing the length of symptoms is vital as well, as the incubation period for diseases caused by waterborne pathogens varies. You may be able to enjoy your fun in the sun, but be on the run (to the bathroom) days or weeks later.

The report lists common waterborne pathogens and includes different methods for disinfecting water in the wilderness, and what the advantages and disadvantages are. For example, boiling water is the most reliable method for killing pathogens, but is time-consuming and inconvenient. Filtration can be lightweight, but not very effective against viruses. Chemical disinfection kills bacteria and viruses but doesn't work against giardia or cryptosporidium, and it makes the water taste like blech bleach. And so on ...

-- Tami Abdollah

Photo: The La Jolla Canyon trail in the Santa Monica Mountains takes hikers across a stream and past a waterfall. Credit: Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Ellen Hilburn]

So let me get this straight. If you're out in the wilderness you can drink water as long as you boil it or lug along some infiltration unit? Why not just lug your own bottled water? What are the chances you will forget that but remember the infilitration or essentials for boiling? I don't feel comfortable with drinking water out in the middle of nowhere. No way.