AI6YR BenGizmodo: The Dangers of Drinking ‘Raw Water’ https://gizmodo.com/the-dangers-of-drinking-raw-water-2000557494
*** CHOLERA IS BACK, BABY! (ps. cholera, historically, has killed millions and millions of humans; if there's a cholera outbreak in the next 4 years here in the US, I will not be surprised in the slightest).
Wikipedia page on Cholera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cholera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cholera
Dave Spector@ai6yr Because we were too lazy to vote in our own interests..
MsMerope
Dan@ai6yr related: with the deregulation already enacted and what's certainly coming, getting home water filtration sorted is a very good idea. Shaula had a good thread earlier in the week:
Demian@dank @ai6yr Consumer Reports also has a helpful guide: https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/water-filters/
deewani@dgodon @dank @ai6yr Many libraries now offer free access to Consumer Reports. ex. https://ccclib.org/resources/consumer/
JennyHome water filtration
nshrubs@ai6yr Seriously debating booking a trip to East Africa & the canceling it just so I can get all my shots (cholera, yellow fever, typhoid) for the shit that's going to be popping up here soon. (Travel clinic requires airline ticket proof).
@Nshrubs LOL I actually had the same thought... at the rate of stuff migrating northwards and the de-evolution of the US public health governance, seems like those all may meet at some time.
simonbp
Anne Ominous@ai6yr havent read all the replies
but this is your periodic reminder that we are currently living in the midst of the SEVENTH cholera pandemic.
but when it affects poor folks in the global south, there just isnt much attention on it.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02305-5/fulltext
KanaMauna@ai6yr Except you won’t know about it because the CDC won’t tell you. Win win (except for those who got sick or died)
From Robin with Love@ai6yr omg. Hope they’re all stocked up on toilet paper.
James Hubbard@ai6yr Lot of people in rural areas with springs and wells drink raw water. Not suggesting that it's a good thing but I know people that have gotten cryptosporidium from it.
I looked at refrigerator filters recently. You have to buy very specific filter types to remove E.coli and the fridge needs to accept it.
j2dumfounded 
@jameshubbard @ai6yr I’m old enough to remember playing Oregon Trail and having my characters die of dysentery.
@ai6yr Here's a map of well usage in the US (15% of population). Quick scan of the link at the bottom provides interesting tidbits.
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/people-using-domestic-supply-wells-square-kilometer
https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/people-using-domestic-supply-wells-square-kilometer
@jameshubbard That's a well done map!
Gemma ⭐️🔰🇺🇸 🇵🇭 🎐@ai6yr @jameshubbard Don't worry, the administration will soon take it down and gut USGS, too.
@gcvsa @jameshubbard Almost certainly.
me_valentijn@ai6yr
I got an E. coli infection from highly regulated Dutch tap water that tests pretty much everything every 3 months and publishes all of their results online. All it takes is a cracked pipe at the wrong place, and suddenly you're drinking small amounts of someone's (or their cow's) feces.
Bypassing all the protections of a sanitized system to deliberately drink more animal poop is just unhinged. It doesn't make you stronger or healthier or more resistant to whatever. What it can do is leave you with permanent damage, including the complete dairy intolerance I developed as a result.
But on the plus side, more of them might become physically unable to drink raw milk ever again 🙄
Hiker Geek 🌲💻🌲I have traveled to a fair number of rural areas in the US for backpacking. I hate to say but the locals will get insulted if I ask is this potable water. Then they say it is fine we drink it all the time.
It has made me have diarrhea. Sorry if that is TMI but I think besides the big ones mentioned in the article there are other bacteria possibly growing in their wells. They do drink it all the time and have gotten used to the bacteria's toxins is my theory.
@HikerGeek I've heard the same theory from people traveling to their hometowns in India, LOL. (i.e. it takes a few weeks for their gut to readjust to whatever the local mix of crud is in the water and/or street food)
Kelsey Jordahl@HikerGeek @ai6yr a significant fraction of the world's population just lives with giardia all the time. It is not great.
jberry@HikerGeek @ai6yr
I’ve got a portable water filter I always bring hiking, mainly longer overnight hikes.
If you have that ability it’s well worth its space in the pack. I in so cal, wouldn’t drink any water around unless top of Sierras, maybe, without filtering.
I’ve got a portable water filter I always bring hiking, mainly longer overnight hikes.
If you have that ability it’s well worth its space in the pack. I in so cal, wouldn’t drink any water around unless top of Sierras, maybe, without filtering.
gz@jberry @HikerGeek @ai6yr
I always take a filter when backpacking or camping as I'm very wary of waterborne nasties
I always take a filter when backpacking or camping as I'm very wary of waterborne nasties
As you can see my alias is HikerGeek. Right now I have 6 different water filters as well as a set of Aqua Mira.
If I can filter my water I do. My main filter right now is a Sawyer Squeeze. One of the things I like about the system is that part of it is having a "dirty" water bag as well as a clean one. I can fill the dirty then filter later and not slight my generous hosts.
I recommend the Squeeze. Not too expensive and works well:
Joyce Bell 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽🇬🇱🚫🧊@ai6yr ‘Raw’ water—ugh! First thing I thought of was Milwaukee’s 1993 cryptosporidium outbreak. Believe me, that was no fun! BTW Milwaukee’s tap water is decent (we have to let the cold water run for a while because of lead pipes), and they’ve invested a lot of money to make it better. #Milwaukee #cryptosporidium #waterfiltrationsystems https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199407213310304
Pete Prodoehl 🍕@joycebell @ai6yr Oh, good grief! "Raw Water"? I learned as a kid who went camping that you had to clean/boil any water you got outdoors.
After the cryptosporidium outbreak and the cleanup Milwaukee (supposedly) had the cleanest water in the country.
(And yes, I have lead pipes as well... we just let the tap run for a while. Sadly the chance of our lead pipes being replaced just dropped dramatically as of Jan 20th.)
@rasterweb @ai6yr re 1993: I thought I had food poisoning from an event. Soon the news reported about cryptosporidium. Though I didn't get tested, I'm pretty positive that's what had.
@joycebell @rasterweb Milwaukee had cryptosporidium in their muni system?
@joycebell @rasterweb Wow!
"We estimate that 403,000 people had watery diarrhea attributable to this outbreak."
I suspect that must have been eye opening, industry-wide.
@ai6yr @joycebell Oh yeah, it was bad. All water fountains were shut off at uni and they added signs everywhere. 69 people died as well.
@joycebell @ai6yr I feel like that's the thing... people *do* forget, or somehow never learn about how bad things were, or how bad things could be in the future if we stay on the path we are on with the current administration.
@rasterweb @ai6yr Yes it was awful. Agree with you about people forgetting and not learning (or not caring). Here’s one more article about what happened and how they upgraded the water system. https://archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/milwaukee-marks-20-years-since-cryptosporidium-outbreak-099dio5-201783191.html
author_is_ShrikeTron🔠💉x7@ai6yr I'm of the opinion we need regular "graphic and viral" examples of people with deathly reactions to raw milk/water just like in driving-license courses that show the gruesome results of not wearing seatbelts.
Here's a story to not eat raw pork: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/parasites-raw-pork-image/
People have been so coddled (survivor's bias) that they no longer appreciate the millenia of science around topics like this.
@ShrikeTron I'm not even going to click, I just had breakfast (not pork) LOL
@ai6yr Pictures is for about ~13 years of consumption.
But a graphic example that immediately triggers people's survival instincts is a messaging success, lol.
Robert Burgholzer@ai6yr I feel silly even boosting this it this movement is so absurd. It's like "hey I'm a pretend naturalist!"... anyone who has ever done any extended time in the wilderness knows the first thing you need is ability to purify water (tabs, boil or sterile filters)
kaipyroami@ai6yr aren't these the generations that all grew up playing Oregon trail? 3/4 of the game was you drank water and died.
@kaipyroami LOL I think these folks came after.
@ai6yr so what I'm hearing is the potential downfall of civilization was because everybody stopped having an old dusty Mac playing Oregon trail in the back corner of their classroom. It's all starting to make sense