What's In The Water Now?

- Liquid Diarrhea
_____________________________________________________________________________________ By Michael - http://www.liquiddiarrhea.net/ Almost everyone that drinks backcountry water knows there are microscopic organisms in untreated water that can make people ill. Unfortunately, there is lack of agreement about how common the problem is, or what people should do about it. It is not unusual to see articles in outdoor magazines that combine correct with incorrect information about how to deal with backcountry drinking water. The problem here is: outdoor magazine editors don't have to have science degrees, and the writers submitting articles are generally only partly informed about microorganisms in water and their safe removal. Learn More About How To Deal With Diarrhea On A Tropical Vacation

The information contained in this report has been compiled mainly from web-pages available online from the US Center For Disease Control (CDC) and the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Other sources are available on the internet and credited at the end of the report. I have done my best to be un-biased, relative to information I have read, or know from practical use (I also have a Forestry degree from the U. of Idaho with a minor in Biology). My inspiration has been the best ever report on "What's in the Water?" by Mark Jenkins in the December 1996 issue of Backpacker. That article hit a journalistic high for articles in outdoor magazines on problems with outdoor H2O. In

the last 13 years things have changed and a new report on "What's in the Water" is needed. This is my much-researched attempt to amend the Mark Jenkins report. There are three general classifications of waterborne disease-causing microorganisms. From largest to smallest, they are: Protozoa, Bacteria, and Virus. Very few of these microorganisms naturally occur in outdoor water ----- they instead are primarily introduced into H2O from animal and human feces. Protozoa are by far the most common disease-causing microorganism in back-country water. Protozoa are also the largest and easiest microorganism to remove with microfiltration, but the hardest to kill with chemicals.

Articles on microorganisms in backcountry water usually warn about two protozoa: Girardia and Cryptosporidium. Both these protozoa are common worldwide and in North America ----- a 1992 study found that 97% of US rivers and lakes contain one or both of them. Besides being carried in the intestines of many mammal species, a significant percent of humans also carry these protozoa. Testing of human feces found in archaeological sites has revealed both Giardia and Cryptosporidium were carried by Native Americans over 2,000 ago. Giardia was first identified under the microscope in 1681 (from human feces). The prevalence of Giardia in human stool specimens submitted for examination ranges from 2% to 5% in industrialized countries, and from 20% to 30% in developing countries. From 1979 through 1988, an estimated 4,600 hospitalizations per year in the United States resulted from severe Giardiasis (the disease caused by Giardia) and its complications. The CDC reports during 1991

2000 Giardia was identified as a causal agent of 16.2% of reported drinking-water associated outbreaks of gastroenteritis of known or suspected infectious etiology. Cryptosporidium may be just as common as Giardia. US FDA-Bad Bug Book Direct Human Surveys: indicate a prevalence of Cryptosporidium in about 2% of the population in North America. In 1991 two studies found Cryptosporidium present in between 65% to 87% of US surface-water samples.

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