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> The real thing to worry about is giardia parasites Is boiling water an effective safety precaution?

• loeg 7y ago
  > Is boiling water an effective safety precaution? For giardia and most other disease-causing microorganisms, yes. Boiling (for a few minutes) is enough to kill them. But it doesn't fix everything (e.g., heavy metal contamination, botulism spores).
  • mrob 7y ago
    Has a healthy adult ever been harmed by ingesting botulism spores? You're not supposed to feed honey to babies less than 12 months old because it can contain botulism spores, but for people older than that honey is considered safe. See http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa142 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa142
    • loeg 7y ago
      Sure, and there is a pretty low background rate of botulism anyway. But I don't want to say "this is a completely safe way to make water potable" when I know some additional corner cases apply.