Lomond MC ccalled out to walkers suffering from contaminated water despite filtering. Presumably the ones that needed to call the MRT are the tip of the iceberg and there are other unreported caes.
Similar story one year ago.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg729jkdv8o
Hmmmmmm
Seems like a completely unrealistic expectation
Urge people to boil stream water before drinking
Err no. Been drinking stream water in the mountains for forty odd years along with a huge proportion of the population. Will continue to do do ( very carefully)
Obviously this doesn't apply to certain rivers that the WHW crosses in it's southern reaches.
what they filtering with and was the filter being used correctly would be my first reaction.
there are plenty of filters on the market that when you do some digging are not worth the plastic they are made from. - there are a couple of others than once dirty - are ineffective but rely on nothing more than user diligence to clean - no indicator etc.
and for that reason I've mostly decided not to bother with the false security of a filter and just carry a couple of extra soft flasks for long days OR if I'm in areas i know ill happily drink from streams - but not near bothies and not near livestock for obvious reasons.
That said ive been in dire straits in the past in northern canada and have drunk some very questionable water boiled and filtered through a coffee filter (with coffee no less to hide the filth) and survived with no ill effects - I have also in the separate past past ended up with giardia from a tap marked drinking water on the side of approach - the twin head tap was not drinking water on the other side but equally wasnt marked up such - This was in New zealand.
Great for weightloss though.
in the mountains
I think this is the key - in the mountains you have a good chance that the water is drinkable. A lot of the WHW is not in the mountains, it's in farmland. Never mind that a lot of people are walking the WHW and, frankly, crapping not very far from it.
If you're drinking from streams, chlorine tabs are simple enough to carry/use.
Seems an unneeded risk to drink from streams on that part of the WHW when you are never more than a few miles from shops, pubs. or the Scottish Water taps.
I have never had any issues drinking water but on a day walk I'll carry a couple of litres if needed and at bothies it is usually boiled with coffee in it.
I spent 30 odd years drinking water high on mountains.
After spending a couple of days supporting Dundee university researchers around southern Highlands testing water, I now boil and have an old Katedyn filter (that I need to change, thanks for reminder).
It feels like a couple of hundred years of depleted hills, higher grazing rates and more human activity have come to roost....
Seems an unneeded risk to drink from streams on that part of the WHW when you are never more than a few miles from shops, pubs. or the Scottish Water taps.
Rowchoish bothy (N bound) - last human habitation would be at Rowardenen (about 5 miles before). There is a SW tap at the end of the road (assuming not vandalised!) the one before that is at Balmaha (same distance again?). Probably you can get water at hotels/camp sites too but I'm sure they don't want every WHW walker dropping in for water! Its fairly easy to misjudge how much water you might need (especially if its hot) so I'm not aghast at people drinking from streams. At the lochside you would feel far from anyone/thing that might contaminate it. Southbound you are less well served.
I am a little bit cynical that water is the problem here though! Probably the biggest "risk" is cryptosporidium and coliforms, which would usually take few days to make you sick (and certainly sick enough to call a rescue team). Exceptionally it can be sooner than that but it would be unusual, especially in people fit enough to walk the WHW. I think there's probably more risk in some of the public toilets on the route than the water. You can get symptoms very similar to food poisoning just through "extreme exertion" especially in the warm, and extreme here means extreme for you not necessarily ultra marathons!
