How do I know if I can drink the water?

[BobMcBob]

I read a lot on here about people filling up water bottles from burns and lochans. This is something I've always avoided doing, as I'm not sure how I know if the water is safe to drink - I worry about sheep urine, dead things... tetanus?
It always looks beautiful and some days I'd just love a nice fresh drink of pure mountain spring water without the plastic bottle wrapped round it. How do you know if the water's clean? Or don't you worry about these things?

[rocket-ron]

am not to keen from drinking from lochs. I will only drink from streams if its fast flowing. Not had any problems so far

[Matthew C]

am not to keen from drinking from lochs. I will only drink from streams if its fast flowing. Not had any problems so far

Like wise & I've spent the last 30 + years drinking from fast flowing streams with no problems (apart from second head ) , if doing a longer walk which requires water to be bottled, I just drop in a chloine tablet & give it ten min

[mrssanta]

as a general principle, never drink from water below human habitation, including bothies. The faster flowing the better, and if you can check upstream for dead sheep or deer so much the better. never drink from still water such as lochans. In general a burn coming down a hillside will be fine. some people dont drink unfiltered or untreated water on principle. I've never had a problem with it. I would also be a bit wary on very popular hills like Ben Nevis because there are a lot of people on them who may not have read the code for "going" outdoors.
you cant catch tetanus from water and if youve been immunised you shouldnt get it anyway. the main worry would be bugs such as giardia and tummy bug viruses, so also you should make it a principle not to go off into the hills if you have a tummy bug.
There's nothing so refreshing as cold burn water and it tastes so much better than stuff out the tap.

[brodiedillon303]

I read a lot on here about people filling up water bottles from burns and lochans. This is something I've always avoided doing, as I'm not sure how I know if the water is safe to drink - I worry about sheep urine, dead things... tetanus?
It always looks beautiful and some days I'd just love a nice fresh drink of pure mountain spring water without the plastic bottle wrapped round it. How do you know if the water's clean? Or don't you worry about these things?

the water can give you problems. there may be something dead lying further up or there may be other bugs. yeah chosing a really fast flowing part is recommended but me i dont take chances. my water bottle has a built in filter. i fill up from any source; can even be manky and from my bottle i can drink direct as it kills everything and the water taste is unaffected. tastes as it was meant to taste.......mountain fresh.

[BobMcBob]

Thanks all some interesting info there. I'll digest all that and use it to make a decision next time my water runs out

[sloosh]

Agree with advice above although I've been caught out before and so desperate for a drink I've drank some pretty rank looking stuff.

You could always go for something like this water bottle with a built in water purification filter:
http://www.drinksafe-systems.co.uk/

[dunirie]

i would be interested to hear from anyone who has actually been unwell from drinking the water in the highlands, don,t know if its just luck but ive drunk the water in the river tilt, river etive, the one at corrour bothy, plenty mountain streams all without treatment, not had any problems, but don,t fancy lochans or any still water!

one good tip though is to drink plenty whisky before bed, its sure to kill any bugs you might have!

[Tinto63]

Sometimes high on a hill you can find a spring or well where the water is bubbling out of the ground - I have always found these particularly good, refreshing and safe sources of water.

[mrssanta]

I've been drinking burn water for pushing 50 years and never had any problems.

[rocket-ron]

I've been drinking burn water for pushing 50 years and never had any problems.

Well said

[KeithS]

I've been drinking burn water for pushing 50 years and never had any problems.

Well said

Me too, as long as sensible precautions are taken you can't beat the refreshing taste of a fast flowing mountain stream high up on a hill.

[basscadet]

I've been drinking from burns since I was weaned and have never got sick.. I have even taken water froom pools on ridges and been alright, but I wouldnt make a habit of it..

In fact, I always take a couple of litres home for drinking.. way tastier than the cooncil pop they feed through the taps

[sloosh]

i would be interested to hear from anyone who has actually been unwell from drinking the water in the highlands

It does happen on the odd, rare and unlucky occasion. One that sticks in my mind from a previous life working with Environmental Health was of a couple of hillwalkers who were unlucky enough to contract EColi 0157. They had happily drunk from streams for years and did as they had always done, drinking deeply from a stream on a mountainside and filling their water bottles. As they followed the stream up the hillside, to their horror they found the carcass of a dead sheep lying in the stream. They got pretty ill but didn't die or suffer any long-lasting effects, luckily for them.

I have also heard of cases of cryptosporidium and giardia said to have occurred due to drinking water on the hill but if memory serves, on those occasions the people concerned had filled their water bottles from pools rather than fast flowing sections of water.

[Cairngormwanderer]

On the other hand, I've druunk water from a stream and later found a carcase higher up - and suffered no ill effects whatsoever. So just cos you find a dead beast doesn't mean you're going to die horribly. Like so many others, I've drunk water from streams all my life (or at least for the 46 years since I was nine) and don't recall any bad episodes (touch wood). That includes regularly filling my water bottle outside Bob Scott's, which is about a hundred yards downstream from a popular 'wild' campsite.