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Portable Water Filters Protect From Water Borne Bacteria, Parasites, and Viruses
Imagine for a moment a father and his sons go camping in a remote area of the United States and decide to go for a hike. After some exertion, they come upon a crystal clear stream with a small pool of water large enough to swim in. Stripping to their underwear, they dive in and enjoy a refreshing swim. The stream is clear and the water supply unlimited, so the children decide it is safe to quench their thirst. However, this camping trip gets cut short because of violent vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. How could such a clear and remote water source be contaminated?
Fresh water can look very clean, but actually be very dangerous. Water borne bacteria, parasites, and viruses are invisible to the naked eye, but may times are dangerously present. One reason for this is that streams are the water supply for a variety of animals. Upstream, deer, bears, and other animals may bathe and defecate in the stream. The bacteria ultimately floats downstream, contaminating what appears to be clean water.
So what could have caused the sickness in these camping kids? The symptoms are characteristic of amoebiasis, a protozoan contamination caused by human or animal waste. But, it just as easily could have been bacteria such as giardia, cryptosporidium, or e-Coli.
If you could advise this father on how to handle this situation in the future, what would you tell him? Of course, you would tell him to not let the children drink any water source that is open and susceptible to contamination. But what if they only have a limited supply of safe drinking water for their camping trip? Boiling water for twenty minutes will get rid of most diseases, but it is not always practical.
A practical solution to this problem is to take a gravity fed berkey water filter to the camp site or carry along a portable water filter such as the Berkey sport bottle. Both Berkey products can be filled with questionable water and purified to a clean drinking state. They are extremely effective at removing the harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses while also leaving in the beneficial minerals needed for the body. Once the water has passed through the Berkey filter, this family will know that their water is safe to drink and won’t have an impact on their vacation.
