Where in Oz do you need to filter water

[fiftyeight]

Hi, I am doing bushwalks in oz, and I have heard some conflicting claims regarding whether you need to filter water and where. I am wondering if there is a good source of information regarding whete in Oz you should filter water when bushwalking, and the hazards associated with certain areas/water sources. Is there anything like that which someone could recommend?

TCheers

[Mark F]

I always filter around and down stream from known camp sites and tracks/roads, farms etc. If the catchment is relatively pristine I usually don't bother.

[Strider]

I always filter on multiday walks regardless of location. Filtering is easy to do and it's just not worth the risk (albeit it very very small) of ruining a trip IMO.

I don't bother on daywalks.

[Bubbalouie]

I always filter on multiday walks regardless of location. Filtering is easy to do and it's just not worth the risk (albeit it very very small) of ruining a trip IMO.

I don't bother on daywalks.

Agreed, I always filter my water, though I take the extra paranoid step of adding some Micropur drops too.

I had giardia poisoning once before, it was a pretty rotten experience all round. It isn't much trouble to filter water.

For day walks I just take all of my water (though my day pack has treatment tablets for emergencies).

Having said all of the above it's my understanding that no hiking filter removes the liver killing gunk that some blue green algae leaves behind. The following might be worth a read:

http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/ ... fact-sheet

[fiftyeight]

Hi guys, thanks for the answers.
I am wondering if there is a particular list of tracks/locations and the quality of water in them.
The problem is I don't really know for every stream whether there is a fram that it goes through, or a town etc.
I am not sure how I can make sure whether there are such things (e.g farms, towns) upstream at a particular location.
Does anyone have advice on how to check such information?

[DaveNoble]

Hi guys, thanks for the answers.
I am wondering if there is a particular list of tracks/locations and the quality of water in them.
The problem is I don't really know for every stream whether there is a fram that it goes through, or a town etc.
I am not sure how I can make sure whether there are such things (e.g farms, towns) upstream at a particular location.
Does anyone have advice on how to check such information?

The easiest way is to look at a map - preferably a recent map! And that should show houses, farms, industrial plants, nuclear reactors etc... that are upstream from your location.

I very seldom filter or treat water in either NSW or Australia. Even in built up areas it is not too hard to get water out of a side creek that has a catchment that is completely natural. Eg in the Heathcote National Park area - walking down the creek from Waterfall - the map shows the creek on the right side (east) has houses upstream, the creeks to the west - none - so thats where you get water from. The exceptions are when there is a drought and these small side creeks dry up.

Dave

[Gadgetgeek]

What I've been told.... so take this with a grain of salt, or several, is that the safest water is water that is clear, flowing, in the sun and bubbling over a rock. the combined action of the UV from the sun and the oxygen will help kill stuff.

As for trying to find a map, it would be tough as local conditions can change quickly. water courses change, run-off can get into streams.

Dave, I have a friend who grew up in northern canada, and never boiled or filtered water. She thinks she may have gotten something once, but isn't sure. She thinks that because she grew up on it, and so did her parents that perhaps she is just unaffected by it. As for luck, she was working a bushfire line with a pack-pump, and was drinking out of it thinking that the tanks they were pulling from was bore water. turns out they were filled with a trash pump out of the "cleanest" patch of swamp next to the line. I guess the pump pureed all the minnows and leaches. She said after that she never worried about water as it couldn't ever get worse. So who knows?

[FatCanyoner]

As for trying to find a map, it would be tough as local conditions can change quickly. water courses change, run-off can get into streams.

Water courses change eh? Maybe over millions of years, but unlikely since the latest topo map was printed. Likewise for run-off. Water flows downhill, so if the whole catchment (i.e. the entire area upstream) is pristine bushland, it's pretty hard for runoff to get there.

I don't treat water. Like Dave, I do my best to avoid anything with urban runoff. Sometimes I drink from rivers / streams with farms or houses upstream, but only if there is no other option. Dehydration is a bigger risk than a belly upset in my books. Still, except during very dry times this can usually be avoided.

[Empty]

Here's a slightly different perspective on water treatment. 10 Years ago we moved from Sydney and bought an old farmhouse on acreage in central Vic. We are not connected to the mains and rely on rain water only. We have 10 tanks of varying size which hold a total of around 70,000 litres and they are a combination of gal and concrete.

The house was built in 1976 and the tanks would have been installed around that time. When we moved in I noticed there was no filtration on the tanks or water supply. Not even strainer baskets. Everything just went straight in from the roof. Even as a city slicker with no experience of rain water tanks I thought this was a bit ordinary so, after about 6 months, when the water level in a couple of the smaller tanks was low enough, we could justify cleaning them out.

Well what did we find inside? The sides of the gal tanks had a nice coating of flaky rust and the bottom was covered with around 50 to 60mm of sludge. In that sludge was the carcasses of decomposed possums, rats, lizards and some creatures yet to be classified. Some of the skeletons still had fur attached. There was also a sizable army of slaters and other bugs crawling around in the sludge -they had obviously descended when we drained the tank.

It was an unpleasant experience and we were somewhat concerned for our health. We fitted strainer baskets and then sought advice about filtration but, because of the the way the house was set up, filtration was going to be difficult and costly. One bloke we spoke to about filtration said, "look mate, these filters we sell are aimed at toffs who don't like the taste of chlorine. Noone has ever died or got real crook from drink'n tank water. Don't waste ya money mate!"

So, with that sage advice we did nothing. Other than fitting strainer baskets to keep leaves and rats out we are still drinking water straight from the roof. We only ever managed to clean two of the tanks so the other 8 haven't been touched since 1976.

Just recently I cleaned out one of the down pipes that was clogged with a birds nest complete with seriously stinking, rotten eggs. Yes, any water flowing past this mess was going straight into the tank and there after into my coffee and onto my toothbrush.

Now, as I state that we have never been ill I can almost here the budding immunologists amongst you saying, "mate you've only been drinking it for 10 years. Wait another 5 and you will be the lead story on Today Tonight as 'that family with two head & three bum holes'.

Who's to say. To be honest I would prefer I our water to be filtered but, it isn't and we don't seem to be suffering any ill effects. Clearly our tanks don't contain the nasty water borne diseases that really hurt people but it is interesting that rotting animals, bugs, bird poo and wrigglers don't seem to cause much of a problem either.

As an aside, years ago my wife and I were caretakers on an historic property in Tasmania. The water was pumped straight from the Macqaurie River through lead pipes and had been since the house was built in 1817. All the members of the family that lived there died in their 90's.

Maybe you should only filter water if you've got crook genes!!

[MickyB]

I always treat water no matter where I am in the bush. A few years ago we set up camp beside a river. We hiked up stream to a waterfall and near it's base we found a dead wallaby (in the water). It had been there a while and the smell was so bad I dry retched. If we had have collected water from the river at camp we would have picked up who knows what nasties from that animal. Since then I have treated all my water.

[Jaala]

I boil everything. Everything! Boil boil boil. Never been ill even when being forced to drink from questionable sources. A lot of people whinge about the time, but that's their choice. I'd rather spend 30 mins boiling all the water I will need for the day while I'm packing camp than risking having to pull out.

[Jag]

i used to use a nifty zapper thing with a blue light that instantly sterilised water but it no longer works . it did its job .now i boil the water .it does not take long with but i have to carry an extra cannister.of gas. i have a little green filter for physical particles but i have hardly ever used it .

[Gadgetgeek]

As for trying to find a map, it would be tough as local conditions can change quickly. water courses change, run-off can get into streams.

Water courses change eh? Maybe over millions of years, but unlikely since the latest topo map was printed. Likewise for run-off. Water flows downhill, so if the whole catchment (i.e. the entire area upstream) is pristine bushland, it's pretty hard for runoff to get there.

I don't treat water. Like Dave, I do my best to avoid anything with urban runoff. Sometimes I drink from rivers / streams with farms or houses upstream, but only if there is no other option. Dehydration is a bigger risk than a belly upset in my books. Still, except during very dry times this can usually be avoided.

Been there and seen it, its not common, but rivers do change. Maybe rivers in Canada just like to wander
Yes if its only virgin forest from you to the watershed, then knock your socks off. I guess I've always been where someone is always upstream. The only time I got sick was the one time we were on a boil water protocol and missed it once. Its all personal risk, trek your own trek.

[Strider]

I am wondering if there is a particular list of tracks/locations and the quality of water in them.

Filter all of them. No water source can be guaranteed.

[Strider]

Delete me

[puredingo]

Never boiled, sterilized or even strained through my teeth and knocking on wood as we speak ever had a problem.

I often wonder how much a persons childhood exposure to the bugs that knock you around have to do with how susceptible you are to falling ill later on in life.

I personally surfed nearly everyday and we all know everything ends up in the ocean, and if I wasn't in the surf I was playing in the local creek which had a MASSIVE stormwater pipe emptying into it.

I don't ever really go out for more than 2 days straight now so if I'm thirsty it's a risk I'm willing to take...plus I'm fat so I can afford to lose some body mass, right?

[GPSGuided]

I often wonder how much a persons childhood exposure to the bugs that knock you around have to do with how susceptible you are to falling ill later on in life.

There's obviously a distribution of susceptibility within a population. Normal distribution is commonly quoted. However, given your history, you've probably also been filtered through natural selection. Those "weaker" kids who did what you did probably have already learnt the lessons and avoided certain behaviour or worse.

[puredingo]

Yep the certain behaviour they chose to avoid was outdoor pursuits. I unfortunately didn't have much choice so to speak, I also drank out of a rusty old water tank for a good part of the first 12 years of my life.

Nobody ever got crook, particulary anyone over 18...but that was due to the main diet being Toohys new and champion Ruby and very little water. Yep, it's all about the genes....