I think BZH sums up this entire issue spot on in his last post, but I'll chime in anyway...

I drink water straight from springs here all the time, and I've never got sick.

Now that you know that you still don't know near enough to find a good source of water here unless you've had some teaching and experience.

You can't tell someone that the water along the AT is safe to drink and do them any good. You teach them how to find water that is likely to be safe, and how to make water safe that might not be otherwise.

So I'm not at all swift to ignore the personal experiences of Lori, or OM, or OM's son, because I know they wouldn't offer them if they didn't believe they were relevant to the conversation at hand.

I am sure that Lori has taught many newbies how to source good water, what not to use, and why, and how to treat water to make it safe.

Teach and learn is what we all try to do here.