One thing to keep in mind about his show, he's trying to teach survival, not camping. He doesn't carry a BOB with him or have any gear (that they let you get a good look at anyway). His survival is based on the premis that you don't have any gear to survive with and have to make it entirely off of what you can find or make. In a perfect situation, a person would have the gear they need to filter water, make fire, and set traps to find food. In his "scenarios" he is without gear most of the time.

Granted, declaring water safe because there are living things in it is just plain stupid (parasites are living things!) and running water isn't always safe. The one thing I've found in nature is, there are no rules. Whatever rule there is has an exception and you never know where that exception will show up.

It's best to always take the proper precautions if you're able to, and after watching his show, I've noticed that he doesn't take ANY precautions. My guess is, it won't take him long to do himself in. However, I see the point of making do with what you can find also. Often as not, a tummyache can be fixed, but dead is dead. I'll take questionable water over death by dehydration anyday but I can always stack the odds in my favor by taking some simple precautions.