water at far camp at cochrane lane

[tgnyra]

hey, so i heard there is water at the second camp. do you just need to boil it or do you think that you need to use UV/iodine or other nasty things? wondering cause we're spending some time there and don't want to haul 30L of water in.

Thanks!

[Dom]

I drink it straight up without treating it and know others who do the same.

However, in one of Fred's previous guidebook, he mentioned something about coliform bacteria.

So there you have it, the choice is yours.

[F Côté]

I have always been cautious and used chlorine tabs before I had a filter. Now I filter it so I don't have any gross taste. However, if I were to choose a water source to drink out of without any purification it would be this one because it just springs out of the ground so I think contamination would be unlikely

[F Côté]

If the choice was between hauling water in or drinking out of the spring, I would definitely just drink out of the spring.

[austinconrad]

I have drank from that spring and the waterfall at waterfall wall a few times and nothing has ever happened to me. That being said if all you are worried about is bacteria why not just use a charcoal/ceramic filter? I'm no scientist but my scientist freinds as well as the instructiosn that come with the filters tell me that charcoal/cermic filters have the ability to filter out things like coliform bacteria, giardia etc. Another cheaper/lighter option would be something like "Aquatabs" which have the ability to kill viruses as well. I have used them countless times and don't find that they alter the taste of the water at all (they are about the size of your smallest fingernail!!!!!!). They don't contain iodine so you can use them long-term. The only downside is that you have to wait 30 minutes for them to dissolve and do their thing. Boiling water is probably the least convenient/efficient method of purifying water and is usually a last resort/backup plan. If you are planning to be there for awhile why not just bring a few tabs to be safe?

http://www.mec.ca/product/5017-746/aqua ... q=aquatabs

[*Chris*]

Speaking generally, giardia is unpredictable and it sucks. On a Fundy trip two years ago my friend and I shared an old filter. We drank the same water. He got sick and I didn't. It wasn't pleasant for him.

In the grander scheme of things the exfoliated campground is a 15 minute hike. If you can't be bothered to lug water that far than go ahead and roll the dice. As Dom said, the choice is yours.

[Shawn B]

Last year a large group that was camping left behind human waste right on the trail. So obviously not everyone practices LNT nor considers that people drink water from this spring. Take that into consideration when making a decision. Also tablets take 4 hours to break down some nasties and some tablets don't even treat all. A filter with a size less than .2 microns is your safest bet in North America...and filter and tablets in countries where viruses exist. I have the Sawyer squeeze filter and it works great and weighs 4oz and good for a million litres. The Platypus gravity filter also gets great reviews.