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[pct-l] filters ? who needs 'em !!!



There was a great article in the December 2003 issue of Backpacker
magazine regarding water and the nasty stuff that can be found in it.
The most surprising thing in the article were some of the statistics
that were thrown out:

"4 (%) percentage of positive tests for viable crypto(sporidia) cysts in
a 2003 study of 600 water samples from six municipal watersheds by
America Water"

".0068 average concentration per liter of crypto in positive samples"

And my favorite:

"1,500 average number of liters of the CONTAMINATED water you'd need to
drink in 24 hours to ingest an infectious dose"

Another quote from a doctor: "The risk of coming down with a water borne
infection from backcountry water is almost nil. ..."

Of seven rivers (nation wide) Backpacker magazine tested on their own,
two got a grade of "A", three got "B"s our Merced Rive scored a "C" and
the Chatooga (North Carolina) got a "D"

Scores were based upon "A" having no positive tests for giardia and
crypto.
"B"s tested positive once, "C"s got two positive tests, but with no
viable cysts and "D" tested positive twice WITH viable cysts.

I recommend that you all track down this article and read it.

So what does it all mean?
It would suggest what we all suspected all along: it's our own personal
hygiene that determines how safe our intestines are.
BUT- microbes, bacteria and pathogens are out there! Check out some of
the hair-raising micro-photos of some of the bugs in the article!
There's still a possibility of being infected by non-treated/filtered
water. Being "loose" on the trail could make a long hike seem a lot
longer and would certainly make any hike less enjoyable. I'd rather pack
a filter as an additional safeguard to keep my trips fun.


M i c h a e l   S a e n z
McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners, Inc.
A r c h i t e c t u r e    P l a n n i n g    I n t e r i o r s
w  w  w  .  m  v  e  -  a  r  c  h  i  t  e  c  t  s  .  c  o  m


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Verber [mailto:verber@gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 10:16 PM
To: Craig Milo Rogers
Cc: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] filters ? who needs 'em !!!

>        Here's an interesting paper on the topic.  It focuses on
> giardiasis, but also discusses other intestinal parasites:
> 
> http://www.ridgenet.net/~rockwell/Giardia.pdf

Just keep in mind that the data from the sierras is from 1984.  A
question to ask is if giardiasis and other friends is the same, more,
or less common in the sierras today.  I don't know the answer to this.
 I think it would be facinating to study the same lakes today than
were surveyed in 1984.

--mark
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