18,519
edits
Potability of backcountry water: Difference between revisions
From ScoutWiki, For Everyone, Everywhere involved with Scouting and Guiding...
m
Robot: Automated text replacement (-\[\[(Giardiasis)\]\] +\1)
m (Robot: Automated text replacement (-\[\[(Giardia lamblia)\]\] +\1)) |
m (Robot: Automated text replacement (-\[\[(Giardiasis)\]\] +\1)) |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
Large rivers may be tainted with [[pesticide]] runoff and industrial pollutants from sources far upstream, but water in the backcountry, where people usually go for [[hiking]] or [[Backpacking (wilderness)|backpacking]], originates nearby and is free from these hazards. The most common danger is [[microbe|microbial]], and this may come from natural or human sources. | Large rivers may be tainted with [[pesticide]] runoff and industrial pollutants from sources far upstream, but water in the backcountry, where people usually go for [[hiking]] or [[Backpacking (wilderness)|backpacking]], originates nearby and is free from these hazards. The most common danger is [[microbe|microbial]], and this may come from natural or human sources. | ||
In most parts of the world, water may contain bacterial or protist contamination originating from human and animal waste, or sometimes from dead animals in or near the water. ''Giardia lamblia'' and ''Cryptosporidium spp.'', both of which cause diarrhea (see | In most parts of the world, water may contain bacterial or protist contamination originating from human and animal waste, or sometimes from dead animals in or near the water. ''Giardia lamblia'' and ''Cryptosporidium spp.'', both of which cause diarrhea (see giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis), are common pathogens. Viruses may also be found in water, but are not common in developed countries.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} | ||
== Is giardiasis a threat in outdoor recreation? == | == Is giardiasis a threat in outdoor recreation? == | ||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
Robert Rockwell, an engineer by training, quotes James Wilkerson's Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities. (The Mountaineers, 4th edition, 1992): | Robert Rockwell, an engineer by training, quotes James Wilkerson's Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities. (The Mountaineers, 4th edition, 1992): | ||
:"In recent years, frantic alarms about the perils of | :"In recent years, frantic alarms about the perils of giardiasis have aroused exaggerated concern about this infestation. Government agencies, particularly the U.S. Park Service and the National Forest Service, have filtered hundreds of gallons of water from wilderness streams, found one or two organisms (far less than enough to be infective), and erected garish signs proclaiming the water hazardous." | ||
Rockwell also quotes two researchers who surveyed health departments in all states and scanned the medical literature looking for evidence that giardiasis is a significant threat to outdoor people: | Rockwell also quotes two researchers who surveyed health departments in all states and scanned the medical literature looking for evidence that giardiasis is a significant threat to outdoor people: | ||
