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Re: (nothing to do with) Youth & Coffee / Safe Water
Richard C. Ickler (icklerr@SOCA.COM)
Mon, 2 Nov 1998 11:01:23 -0800
Ed Dunn wrote:
>
>R.F. Locke wrote:
>>
>> Someone wrote -
>> > It has been noted that only a few decades ago remote water sources were
>> > pure enough to drink, and now they're not.
>
>Runoff from farming is the largest contributor to water pollution, but
<SNIP>
>This is why it is more dangerous to drink untreated water than it used
>to be.
>I still do high in the Rockies, or deep in West Virginia hills, places
>that farming is not possible. It tastes far better fresh than from a
>tap or bottle, which is another thread.
>
I have to take issue with your premise. I don't think farm runoff has ever
been a primary reason for filtering or purifying water in remote
wilderness areas particularly the mountains. It IS a major concern for
municipal water treatment systems or farm and ranch drinking water systems
(even those using well water). The hiking guides and Forest Service
literature I have read all recommend filtering/purifying water even in the
most remote areas of the Rockies and Sierras because regular testing has
shown serious levels of bacterial/viral contamination in even the highest
lakes and streams. I have not seen specific sample results but have seen
this testing mentioned in both commercial hiking books and Forest Service
literature. Collecting water samples and basic bacterial testing is
simple, requires very little equipment and is easy even for a backcountry
ranger on his normal rounds. The reason for most of the contamination is
that it is carried by fecal matter via the wild animal (and human hiker)
population. The wild animal population has always had its own set of
parasites and microbes and with domestic animals interacting more and more
with wild animal populations, the common communicable diseases have grown.
Richard Ickler
Scoutmaster, Troop 14
Long Beach Area Council (CA)
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