New fad: drinking raw water

Pay extra for untreated water! Who knew being in a survival situation without a water treatment method means you may have the luxury of taking part in the latest Silicone Valley craze? I really should get out more!

What to know about the “raw water” trend: A new Silicon Valley craze could make people sick by Jen Kirby

What's not to love? It grows the economy! Hospitals, lawyers, undertakers ...

I can see how people making untold fortunes in a too-virtual world would be thirsty for the tangible, unfiltered world. Diarrhea is a sure-fire reality check.

Incidentally, I'm starting a side business. I ship magic sticks, blessed by a shaman, that people can poke themselves with to prove they're alive.

And, according to the article, it sells for only $14.80 a gallon. Such a deal!

I have imbibed a lot of "raw water," especially in my youth, hiking in the mountains of Arizona, without subjecting the water to any treatment whatever. This was in infrequently traveled country, quite distant from most contamination. Never had a problem.

Not sure that would work today, along the Pacific Crest Trail, or the Appalachian, with their thundering herds of hikers.

As an old time desert rat, water is water, and any water is better, and infinitely preferable, to no water.

Aside from the "sucker born every minute" aspect, I would say that some "raw water" sources are not a particular problem, provided that testing for contamination is done regularly.

Living in the country for most of my life, I have imbibed substantial quantities of well water and apparently survived. But that is "filtered" by the earth, and so perhaps not "raw" enough to qualify.

Can you speak to the mouth feel of the Arizona mountain water? Does it have an overwhelming taste profile? Perhaps it has a floral note with a bit of oaky aftertaste?

I know of a couple of potentially good sources for this water, I can guarantee it has a significant bouquet. You can detect the bouquet from quite a distance!

One summer, as a teen, my family vacationed at a resort near a river or stream in Colorado. Using a tin cup, I scooped up some water as is and drank it. It was cool and tasted good too. I don't understand why anyone needs to pay money for that. You just need to be at the location.

Granted, that wasn't as fun as drinking water straight from a garden hose.

Jeanette Isabelle

A couple of years ago Mom and I went to St. Augustine here in Florida and drank from the Fountain of Youth. It doesn't work as advertised.

Jeanette Isabelle

These "raw water drinkers" remind me of a group from Boulder, Colorado a few years back. They were called "The Breathians". They believed they could get all the nutrients they needed to live from the air they breathed.

They aren't around any longer...

This seems to be a version of a traditional spiritual belief from the East. If you're truly transcendent/enlightened/in general totally awesome, then you no longer need typical human food. You can survive on air, dew, and other environmental stuff. It's not clear to me whether this was some sort of symbolic/allegorical ideal, or whether people meant it literally. According to tradition, people who can do that are hermits or saints who shun society. They disappear to their caves in the mountains and meditate until the cows come home. I doubt they'd live in Boulder, Colorado.

But we still think you're 18. So maybe it does work, just not in the way you'd expect. It's like the monkey paw version.

Arizona water is quite variable, from the effervescent high altitude water of the San Francisco Peaks to the musky, full bodied H2O of the low desert hills. My favorite source is the spring on Lion ledge, Baboquivari Peak, in southwest AZ.

It is robust and hearty, with notes of grandeur and solemnity, followed by a lingering, flirtatious aftertaste. It goes quite well with dates...

If I were eighteen, I would have been a member since Age 7 and I would be younger than Melody (my youngest cousin). Eek! My baby cousin is turning twenty-one this year.

Jeanette Isabelle

Amazing! The Fountain of Youth does work! I am envious!

I'm from a small town in Oregon whose water was "raw" -- from springs on Mt. Hood.

Could hardly abide Portland's tap water and thought it hysterical when a company began bottling Portland's water in the 1980s.

Maybe I should move home and start bottling from the kitchen sink.



.

Meh, an idiotic fad sprouting from extreme entitlement. After after a few raw water hipsters wind up in the hospital with Giardia the trend will cool off.

Hmm, all info from one article by New York articleist
about some shop that is not in the Silicon Valley
selling some refrigerated Oregon spring water
...
and it qualifies as a fad?

There are quite a few publications following the 'story', it does seem to be a growing trend/movement. It reminds me of the old joke- I'm not saying we kill stupid people, I just say remove all the warning labels and let things sort themselves out.

Hmm, google news lists 157 "articles" in the past week,
all quoting the same single solo one new york times article,
that doesn't make this a growing trend/movement (bigger than a fad)


Like I said, not sure what qualifies as a fad,
there are no numbers attached to the vague definition,
but I'm pretty sure if the local local news
doesn't report on a "fad" in their own back yard ,
it can't possibly be considered a fad by anyone anywhere
...
ok maybe its a fad in that one store that sells the water
..
and then spam got re-posted 157 times

Good point -- it's possible that we've all been "had."

Well fad or not I'll not gonna throw away my Sawyer Mini anytime soon. The company pushing this stuff exists and you buy from them right now so it's not a fabrication.

I should have realized I'm the baby of the group, the youngest whom everyone dotes over.

Jeanette Isabelle

Ethan Linck, "Actually, Backpackers, You Don’t Need to Filter Your Stream Water," Slate 2/1/2018.

I think the Slate piece fires wide to the left. It's certainly true that in some places the water is safe but there are plenty of places where it's not. But I suppose each person can decide for themselves if the water is safe without further treatment.

I don't find the referenced article very convincing. I have been hiking in back country and wilderness for more than sixty years, and drinking untreated water for much of that time, less now than then. The woods are more crowded now, and the variety of means for rendering water safe to drink has increased considerably. The most reliable and simplest is usually boiling, often done anyway - what is the point of drinking, if not tea or coffee (maybe beer?).

I have a filter, which I use occasionally. It wasn't that expensive, not that heavy. I have never contracted a water borne illness and I want to keep that record intact. I will still drink from a pristine source, but they are harder and harder to find.

I also rope up on exposed terrain, and wear seat belts....

Me neither. Seems like it relies on one rather dated study, from one area in California. I'm highly suspicious that other areas, perhaps below the alpine, or in places with significant wildlife populations would show a different story.

Outside Online has a nice rebuttal: Actually, Slate, You Really Should Filter Your Water. As Outside notes in their Pt #4, it is quite easy and inexpensive to kill bad critters in your water, even without a filter. Outsides Point #5 is also right on, in that there was apparently no control group.


A wise man. No doubt that has contributed to your longevity and achievement of esteemed geezer status!

One more comment - As a confirmed desert rat, with a lot of time logged in the Arizona desert, if I had to drink from a questionable water source when dehydrated, I would do so (and have done so a time or two). If you don't drink, you won't get back to town. Once back, your ailment is treatable, but you have got to get back to town first.

https://www.summitpost.org/drinking-water-in-the-backcountry/789170

Just ran across the above article which treats the subject very well (so to speak). I like his concluding statement - "If all else fails, just boil it."