[pct-l] Aqua Mira Question

[brick@fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

All the questions of purification aside, is Sierra water really a problem?

Robert L. Rockwell, PhD, says "NO" and backs it up with data:

http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Giardia.htm

Excerpts

"San Francisco water can contain a concentration of 0.12 cysts per liter, a
figure now seen to be higher than that measured anywhere in the Sierra. San
Francisco city officials go to great lengths to assure their citizens that
the water is safe to drink, and if true=97as it most assuredly must be=97th=
is
comparison alone is quite revealing."

"Given the casual approach to personal hygiene that characterizes most
backpacking treks, hand washing is likely to be a much more useful
preventative strategy than water disinfection!  This simple expedient,
strictly enforced in health care, child care, and food service settings, is
rarely mentioned in wilderness education materials."
--
Brick Robbins                       mailto:brick@fastpack.com