Safe Drinking Water

Other than health care, nothing gets people in BC going more than a good discussion about water.

Here, we act as if no water is safe to drink.  I've written about the precautions we take.  Last night, the guides boiled up water to fill our bottles.  At supper, we were given 1 litre bottled water.  I've seen a lot of that in the past days; large pallets and piles of water.  As everywhere, it contributes to the general litter.  I think some are collected for recycling but given the amount of litter, I'd say its a program that needs some work.

So, why is the water so unsafe?

In a few words, poor sanitary practices.  Dishes are washed outside under running taps, people wash themselves the same way and it appears toilets (where available and used) drain downhill to the nearest stream or river.  None of this would be easy to fix and with poor government resources, any change will be slow in coming.

To be fair, there's a lot of surface water, it's warm, lots of animals and people around. Animal dung is simply everywhere.  As a result, the 3 of us who were here first are prepared to filter, UV treat and chlorinate all our water.  So far the process is working.

To answer a question I'm sure you've been wondering about... In KTM the toilets were the regular sit type.  (One brand name is "hindware").  On the trail they are the Asian squat type.  A tap and a small bucket are used after to flush.  And you know where that's going.