Travel Tips

Is it safe to drink the water?

This is one of those questions that should always enter your mind when you are planning a trip. You have just spent months planning your trip to Patagonia, Romania or Nigeria and having spent big money for airfares and transfers, so getting sick ranks high on the list of things you don't want to do while you are travelling. Amoebic dysentery, diarrhoeal diseases, giardia and parasitic worms among others are all associated with the poor quality of water and food in many countries. In any area where water quality is in question, make sure you treat all water before drinking, brushing your teeth or cleaning and preparing food. It pays to understand what you can do to disinfect your water. Boiling kills organisms that make people sick. In fact, the time it takes water to reach the boiling point, even at high altitudes, kills organisms. So by the time water has reached the point of boiling, it is safe to drink. Filters and Purifiers differ greatly in their ability to disinfect water. Some filter out only protozoa, such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Some filter out protozoa and bacteria. While others have an iodine-resin within the filter to eliminate viruses. All Purifiers should have an EPA approval as "purifiers," that means that they can eliminate everything that causes disease in humans: Exstream's Mackenzie and Orinoco are examples of these. Be sure you know the type and effectiveness of a filter before you buy. Chemicals can be added to water to kill harmful organisms. Iodine, silver and chlorine are safest and most effective, but no chemical guarantees water safe from Cryptosporidium. In most cases, iodine is the preferred chemical because it stores better and reacts less with organic compounds in water. Iodine is commercially available in several forms including easy to use tablets. If someone has povidone-iodine solution in a first aid kit, it can also be used to disinfect water. The solution is best measured with a dropper. Eight (8) drops of povidone-iodine solution in warm clear water, and a 15 minute wait will give you a safe drink. In cold clear water, double the drops and double the wait (16 drops for 30 minutes). In cloudy water, double the drops and triple the wait. Use of a non-purifying filter plus an iodine tablet gives you an excellent opportunity to create clean water.

A few more reminders:

Avoid milk, butter and other dairy products, and watch bottled drinks being uncapped before accepting one
Make sure all food is well-cooked and served hot
Eat only fruits with intact skins that are peeled shortly before consumption
Consuming bad water is not the only route to illness. Don't go swimming in lakes, ponds, and streams where there is any chance of acquiring the fluke that causes schistosomiasis. And you can't look before you leap - ask