3 ms·

I might be wrong but I don't think boiling would work for chemical toxins ether. Unless it's life and death you should avoid collecting drinking water from stag

I might be wrong but I don't think boiling would work for chemical toxins ether. Unless it's life and death you should avoid collecting drinking water from stagnant sources always look for flowing water. If you have to collect water try and collect it from deep bellow the surface and far from the bottom.

hangonhn 5y ago
Is the idea behind this recommendation that these algae blooms have a harder time to grow on moving water? Or that moving water upstream will dilute any concentration of toxins? Thanks!
- iudqnolq 5y ago
  Broadly speaking algea wants to be stationary. You see it floating on the surface in stagnant water, or sometimes attached to rocks in moving water. Dilution is also a factor, but if at all possible you want to avoid taking from anywhere with significant algea even if the water is flowing. Prominent algea likely indicates high level of agricultural runoff (maybe fertilizer, maybe manure). If you have to and you can afford to spend ~$30 buy Aquamira. It's mainly advertised for reducing the oder of stored water, but it's also commonly used by backpackers to purify water. Anecdotally I've used it to drink stagnant water (when no better options, of course) repeatedly with no issues, whereas I and others I know have gotten sick from clean moving water we put through a filter (Sawyer squeeze). Aquamira is just a way to make bleach on the spot in the right concentration. If you can't afford Aquamira or don't have access to an outdoors store that sells it you can get the same effect with household bleach. It's crucial you buy bleach that only contains chlorine, not any scents or additives (for example to make it thicker and stick to walls). See https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/making-water-safe.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fhealthywater%2Fdrinking%2Ftravel%2Femergency_disinfection.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/making-water-safe...
  - shkkmo 5y ago
    AFAIK, neither bleach nor boiling help with cyanotoxins in the water from algea.
    - iudqnolq 5y ago
      After more research it seems you're partly right. Depending on the PH of the water and the type of cyanotoxins bleach might not be effective. It is effective in some cases, but not reliably.
- baybal2 5y ago
  They simply have no time to accumulate in a moving water. A water in the pond will be there for months.
  - iudqnolq 5y ago
    Not entirely true. You can have toxic algea in moving water if the situation is bad enough. If you go hiking on agricultural land you'll see this.
derefr 5y ago
How about distillation? There are emergency water-distillation kits that people bring on desert hikes. (I guess it would depend on whether the toxin forms an azeotrope with water.)
- jannes 5y ago
  Drinking too much distilled water is bad for you because it is hypotonic (it's missing salts), so it pulls salts out of your cells.

hangonhn 5y ago

Is the idea behind this recommendation that these algae blooms have a harder time to grow on moving water? Or that moving water upstream will dilute any concentration of toxins? Thanks!

iudqnolq 5y ago
Broadly speaking algea wants to be stationary. You see it floating on the surface in stagnant water, or sometimes attached to rocks in moving water. Dilution is also a factor, but if at all possible you want to avoid taking from anywhere with significant algea even if the water is flowing. Prominent algea likely indicates high level of agricultural runoff (maybe fertilizer, maybe manure). If you have to and you can afford to spend ~$30 buy Aquamira. It's mainly advertised for reducing the oder of stored water, but it's also commonly used by backpackers to purify water. Anecdotally I've used it to drink stagnant water (when no better options, of course) repeatedly with no issues, whereas I and others I know have gotten sick from clean moving water we put through a filter (Sawyer squeeze). Aquamira is just a way to make bleach on the spot in the right concentration. If you can't afford Aquamira or don't have access to an outdoors store that sells it you can get the same effect with household bleach. It's crucial you buy bleach that only contains chlorine, not any scents or additives (for example to make it thicker and stick to walls). See https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/making-water-safe.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fhealthywater%2Fdrinking%2Ftravel%2Femergency_disinfection.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/emergency/making-water-safe...
- shkkmo 5y ago
  AFAIK, neither bleach nor boiling help with cyanotoxins in the water from algea.
  - iudqnolq 5y ago
    After more research it seems you're partly right. Depending on the PH of the water and the type of cyanotoxins bleach might not be effective. It is effective in some cases, but not reliably.
baybal2 5y ago
They simply have no time to accumulate in a moving water. A water in the pond will be there for months.
- iudqnolq 5y ago
  Not entirely true. You can have toxic algea in moving water if the situation is bad enough. If you go hiking on agricultural land you'll see this.

derefr 5y ago

How about distillation? There are emergency water-distillation kits that people bring on desert hikes. (I guess it would depend on whether the toxin forms an azeotrope with water.)

jannes 5y ago
Drinking too much distilled water is bad for you because it is hypotonic (it's missing salts), so it pulls salts out of your cells.