[pct-l] Not treating water on the PCT

[Tom Bache]

Austin,

This subject comes up every year ‹ you can see past exchanges about it in
the archives.  While others may see it differently, my summary of this
discussion is that hikers generally fall into two groups: (A) Those that
always or almost always treat water, and (B) Those that seldom or never
treat water.  People in Group A cite examples of themselves and other hikers
catching giardia or other nasty bugs and point out (very reasonably) that
this will ruin or severely degrade your hiking experience.  People in Group
B suggest (and irritate) by saying that these stomach disorders are more
likely caused by poor personal sanitation than by water-borne critters.
They point to studies showing that the density (PPM) of giardia cysts in
backcountry water is less than in many city water supplies, etc.  Some good
articles summarizing the scientific basis for the seldom-treat attitude may
be found at http://www.sdicbsa.org/highadventure/wisdom.htm

A middle ground position is that susceptibility to stomach disorders varies
widely among individuals, just as it does for flu, blisters, sunburn, and
just about every human ailment. The only way to see where you fall on this
spectrum is to drink the water and see what happens.  A variant on this
argument is that some people are asymptomatic carriers ‹ that is, they have
the critters in their gut, but they don¹t get sick.

Full disclosure ‹ I¹m a scientist by profession and a Group B hiker.  I
drink the water untreated unless I see signs that I shouldn¹t (see or
suspect people or stock upstream), and I¹ve never been sick in 2000 miles of
the PCT, or many miles elsewhere in the Rockies and California deserts.
Maybe I¹m an asymptomatic carrier, or highly resistant to the bugs, or maybe
the bug density is less than people think it is.  All I know is that
drinking backcountry water as it comes works fine for me (and for my sons).

Tom Bache
San Diego




> Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:26:49 -0800
> From: Austin Williams <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Not treating water on the PCT
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Scott Williamson doesn't treat his water on the PCT.  I understand the
> dangers of  not treating water (read about it a gazillion times).  I'm
> familiar with all the disclaimer advice.  I just want to know: has anyone
> here ever caught any 'bugs' by drinking untreated water *on the PCT*? (I'm
> not concerned about other trails).
> 
> If so, what part of the trail did you catch it in?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Austin