This will also make water planning more important. Remember you will have
access to treated water at most staffed camps, so no tablets needed. You
don't have to purify cooking/cleaning water since you boil it. It should
work out ok.
With respect to treatment times, the EPA and federal government make you
test and put the directions for the worst case. If you read the directions
circulating they refer to very cold, very dirty, turbid water. Most water at
Philmont is not real turbid ( lots of stuff in it that makes it dirty or
cloudy) Thus a shorter time. The longest time is for the baddest bugs, which
likely are not in the water, ie the cryptosporidium, while the giardia is
present in some streams and ponds.
Most all of the staffed camps and wells have chlorination systems on them
now, since they qualify as public drinking water distribution systems under
EPA rules. Philmont is going to err on the side of caution, for liability
reasons and public perception if nothing else. Isn't it interesting you
never see or hear that the water has been tested and it is ok to drink
without treatment? That's because they have no control over peoples dirty
hands, or the diseases they bring with them. If you do get sick, you can't
say you were not warned.
People can be carriers of gastrointestinal bugs and not be sick, including
giardia. That is why it is so important that people wash their hands after
using the bathroom and when cooking. Most people who get sick in the back
country, probably do so from other people or themselves, rather than water,
unless you know it is definitely contaminated.
As part of your training I recommend that you read the instructions on the
bottle of hand sanitizer and practice them. The bottles have a recommended
time to rub your hands together, and it is very important that you clean the
ends of your fingers and under the fingernails. That's where the bad guys
live, and most kids don't pay enough attention to.
Filters are not really that useful at Philmont, but are a most for Double H.
There is a place where the possibility of some real nasties could be, unless
you can get the water from a flowing wind mill.
YIS
Hiking Czar a.k.a.
Fred Mussler, Scoutmaster
Troop 357 Raleigh, NC
Eagle Class of 75
Philmont 1990,98,00,02, 2006 801-I
Double H Ranch Charter Hiker 2004 -717AA
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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Tue May 3 22:16:35 2005
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