Berserker wrote:


Brumfield wrote:
Hey, Norse Warrior! Before moving to Mexico I treated water while hiking in the southern states regularly. Louisiana is known for brackish swamp water and even the streams are not pure. Same thing in Florida, warm water tends to breed disease, just like leaving food out on a warm day, versus a cold day, does the same. Or as another example... would you prefer to store your open can of tuna cold or warm? YUK!

When hiking the colder climates in the states I sometimes drank out of the streams with no treatment, especially if near the origin or if I knew for sure there were no industry, towns, or resorts upstream.

I must admit, as a child I regularly drank out of the Louisiana creeks we were swimming in. I don't recall any major illnesses from doing that. Now, as I sit here writing this, I'm recalling that I also played barefooted in cow lots on the farm back then. When I was around five years old I got caught using half of a huge watermelon rind to scoot down the incline of a small, shallow cow barn drainage ditch . I thought my mom was gonna kill me with the hot water and chlorine bleach she used to scrub the leeches off of me. Maybe due to constant exposure I was immune to most everything coming out of the ground or water. Today, I tend to stay away from cow barn drainage ditches and homemade watermelon rind boats that don't float.

So that you'll know I'm not totally anal about filtering and treating drinking water, I'll share this with you... My mom lives about 70 miles north of New Orleans right next to the unspoiled Bogue Chitto River and the wild and beautiful Honey Island Swamp. She uses water from a well located on her property with zero filtration or treatment. The water comes up cold enough to mist a drinking glass.

I helped put the well down with a leased drilling rig. We drilled to a depth of 450 feet, and the last 100 feet were in pure white Sparta Sand. We stopped drilling while still in the Sparta Sand, which is also known as the middle Claiborne aquifer, then cap-sealed the well, and set the pump. The well has since produced quality potable water for the last 25 years, without fail year round. About a year after putting the well down I had the water tested at LSU, and found it to be of a better quality than many treated city water supplies. My children drank the water while infants and had no ill effects.

Due to the infamous Mexican Amoebas, I ALWAYS chlorinate and filter the water here when away from my home water supply. UV treatment is an extra step I take since the sunshine is free. If I need water at night that I've just chlorinated and filtered, I'll drink it without UV treatment. Brum