Do you drink the water?

[Mellow]

Just curious... do you drink the water when at a State or National park?

I'm always so careful about water...

[Trailace]

Just curious... do you drink the water when at a State or National park?

I'm always so careful about water...
Joe I aways drink the water. Most of the time it real good. I do let it run for a while first.

[Trekker]

I have always drank the water. Like Rick said, let it run for a little. I filter the water when it's a souce not to be trusted, like streams, rivers, ponds & lakes. I use the Sweetwater filter pump.

[sandman]

I try to have a couple of bottles of water on the bike at all times. Usually name brands to kinda keep my body used to the same mineral content...etc.

Gordon

[motomac]

I have never had any adverse reactions to water at any of the State or National campgrounds I've camped in. I do have PUR filter that I take when I go out in the boonies but have never used it.

[LandRover]

Truth be told, I'm sure the water is fit to drink, but I really don't like to take chances like that. Imagine if your system had a bad reaction, and you've still got 3 or 4 days on the road ...

No sir, for a buck a bottle, I'll carry my own ....

[Big Bandit]

Maybe I am just cheap, but I do not buy bottled water. I might buy two or three a year when I am really thirsty and that is the only way to get a drink. But truth be told, even in those situations I will usually buy Gatorade. I do not understand buying water. The stuff coming out of the faucet is certified safe. One of the bottled water companies, if forget which, was pumping water out of the houston ship channel, filtering it and selling it. That is better than what comes out of the faucet? Yes, I drink from the public water supply system wherever I go.

[max]

yes, I drink the water.
most water supplies in the us are safer than anywhere else in the world.
Im in the plumbing business and know how it is installed and how and how often it is tested if they stick by national standard guidelines.
we literally go all over the us doing installs and I nor any of my crew have ever gotten sick from tapwater in any of the literally hundreds if not thousands of places we've been. it may not taste like the water at home and may have different mineral concentrations making your coffee taste funny but by and large it is safe to drink.

now mexico is a different story, there are protozoa and other stuff in the water there that are filtered out and treated in the us. the locals have adapted to it and can consume it without worry but your system will not be used to it and will react badly. it may not kill you, but it can make you sick for days till your body adapts to it(the famous mexican revenge diarrea)
be very wary down south, even as far as local beers or other stuff that you would normally think of as purified and safe may not be. If im going into mexico I make sure to carry several days supply of clean water with me.

[BAGR]

I usually freeze a gallon jug of water from home and toss in the cooler. I use this for drinking once it starts melting. It is the water I'm used to. If needed I use bottled water. No use in taking a chance of shocking my internal system and having to pull over every 50 or so miles. It also keeps the sloshing in the cooler down to a minimum.

[GoldWingGL]

Little late getting into this one...lol
But we usually, well always carry bottled water in our coolers, so the answer would be no we don?t drink the water?.anywhere?lol

[Phartz]

I usually carry a bottle or two of water on the bike but I have been known to refill them from the campsite spigot. I don't mind spending a buck and a half for a good sized bottle of water but I don't mind the savings from reusing the bottles and filling up from the campsite supply either.

[JCS]

Nope. I travel a lot in my work and found out a long time ago that my system will not tolerate some of the changes. Most in my field are the same way. The local water is usually perfectly safe to drink but there are always some local stuff in it. If you are used to the local stuff, no problem. If not, you could have issues and always at the worst time.

There was one area that I worked in occassionally and got sick every time I went there. I quit drinking the local water and would not use ice that came from the local source. Problem solved. A few years later I moved into the same area and became used to the local water. Does not bother me at all now.

[SidecarMike]

Not unless I have some Old Potrero to add to it for flavoring.

[DAD]

I have a exstreme system, hell you can drink any water anywere with it, it takes out everything!

[Motocentaur]

Last summer I camped at a remote site on one night in the George Washington Nat'l Forest while riding the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was low on water, so I took a chance and got a potfull from the river I was next to. I boiled it pretty thoroughly, but two weeks later I had some textbook giardia symptoms. My best guess is that some unboiled water must have splashed onto something that went into my mouth.

I have a Pur filter, but I rarely pack it. In the future I plan to pack some recently acquired Aqua Mira drops for these situations.

[wwells]

When on a short trip, a couple of nights, we always buy water. On our 17 day trip last July, however, we took a 5 gallon collapsable water container and took it to refill during the day. The temps in the South were so hot (100+) that we figured this was worth a shot. We stopped about every 1-1 /1/2 hr (more often when above 98) and drank at least 1 quart each to stay hydrated. Didn't use a Camelback because we wanted to move around anyway. Old people are like that. We had no problems, but we only filled out 5 gallons at a the KOA's (etc) we stayed at.

Hope this helps.

[STscarlet]

Unfortunately it doesn't matter where I drink the water other than at home, I get sick. I try, I really do. For some reason my system is really sensitive and can't take "foreign" water. I have purchased a Steri-pen and hope that this will alleviate any problems I might have. It is inconvenient to buy bottled water all the time with as much as I drink in a day. We will be checking this out next week as we head out with our Aspen trailer for the maiden voyage.
P^

[motomac]

While we were at the campground in Crestline at CreSToc, there was a spring that had some of the best cool right out of the ground water I've tasted for a long time. And it made good coffee too.

[VFR]

While we were at the campground in Crestline at CreSToc, there was a spring that had some of the best cool right out of the ground water I've tasted for a long time. And it made good coffee too.



That was great tasting water. I used a lot of it. MileHigh however, wouldn't drink it. He said that in CO you don't trust the spring water. That would be a surprise for me as I always go for spring water.

[Suka]

I always drink the water as long as it taste ok in state and national parks. I really don't have a choice since because of space restrictions I only carry a few liters on the bike at a time. I have never had a problem, so far :D

[Capt_Gruuvy]

Having an apartment and 2nd work life in Mexico .... I now believe I can drink anything. It takes some getting used to but once you get past the initial "problems" it seems you are good to drink and eat anywhere after that.

I still use bottled water when brushing my teeth though ....

[rocket25]

Having ran a water system and plant for 30 years, if not the USA drink the tap water, most of the time it is better than bottled. Just look at the valve it is coming out of, if it looks nasty it proably is. Some water will not be to your taste because of minerals but is still save to drink. When in question use a good filter and clorine pills, you can make really nasty water drinkable. If you watch the news they are picking up on bottled water not being all it is cracked up to be. You can buy some really good water treating filters to cary with you for what a month of bottled water cost

[eggmandingo]

I don't drink well water or water from streams. I usually carry a bottle for water and fill up when I get gas or something to eat.

[Bug Dr.]

I contracted [I]Giardia[I] when I used to do a bunch of packpacking in the Ozarks when I was in college, not a pleasant experience for sure. I made the mistake of thinking I was drinking from a spring when I was actually drinking from an underground stream - BIG difference.

I've never had any problems with water from parks though. Our state parks in Arkansas tend to have tons of iron in the water and can turn cooking vessels and containers orange over time.
Mike

[ImRubicon]

I have a camelbak backpack and only use bottled water in it . But when not using that I do drink bottled water most the time on the road. Now camping in US parks I will cook with their water and drink it .Just on the road its easier to buy a bottle or two to carry along

[Aldawg]

It's been my experience that any tap water unfit for drinking is usually labeled. That said, I always ask a ranger or official if it's ok to drink when I check in, so far so good. I never drink water from a stream or lake or river.

[dray]

ill drink water from river,springs,well,lake, but never city water

[G wizz]

ill drink water from river,springs,well,lake, but never city water

Yah ... And I'll bet you turn the color of your avatar too ...

[Indianscout]

Yah ... And I'll bet you turn the color of your avatar too ...



:lol2

[ImRubicon]

I have refined it a bit as I have been places that I was unsure and was out of bottled . no beer either so now I have one of those MSR filters that the military use and it seems to work pretty well as I have tried it on some unknow water and the taste was good and I never noticed . Less than $100 and I can drink out of any semiclear water source or so they say

[Motorsyko]

Me, too. Bottled water ONLY, however I do carry those purifying tablets in case of an emergency.

[kdf9511]

I try to carry water from home with me but do use the local water to refill bottles and for coffee/cooking and washing depending on how long I'm out and how much I have with me. Usualy for a weekend I can carry enough on the bike as long as it's not too hot. I like to grab a nice cold glass of iced tea when I make a drink stop. I did just recently pickup a couple of camel back type systems off the clearence rack at Wally World for $10.00 a piece. I haven't tried them on the bike yet though.

[dray]

Yah ... And I'll bet you turn the color of your avatar too ...

true but I do know the areas i drink from and I never drink water that smells like a swiming pool so city water is out

now up north I can show you a lot of places that are safe to drink from and if you turn green like my avatar it will be with envyP^

[Aldawg]

I just recently purchased the new Brita personal water bottle http://www.brita.com/products/filtering-bottle/brita-bottle/ ,Now I can enjoy filtered water out of just about any tap, like rest stops, water fountains, gas stations, etc, etc...Maybe I'll do a review after I've used it a while. :cool: