UKC

I'm heading up to the far north of Scotland for a wander in a couple of weeks. I'm planning to walk for Forsinard (south of Thurso) to Cape Wrath. My backpacking experience is in areas like the Cairngorms, scottish west coast, and the Lakes, so this will be a little different - the landscape being flatter and boggier.

Does anyone know about availability and quality of drinking water in the flows? In other parts of Scotland I normally take chlorine tabs to sterilise water if required. Would I be advised to take a filter on a trip like this?

I'd be grateful for any advice -- Andy

In reply to andyjohnson0:
If you can bring some back south I will gladly buy it from you better than the London muck I get here.
I would not think twice about drinking it .

In reply to Name Changed 34:

Personally, I would always use chlorine tablets when drinking water from unknown source. Weil's disease is carried in rat and cattle urine and can have disastrous effects on humans. With sheep being pretty much everywhere, I would not take my chances.

Cheers.

In reply to andyjohnson0:

As in much else, I know I'm fighting against the tide of fashion and modernity on this issue, but I'd simply take sensible precautions rather than filters and chemical treatments. In fifty years of walking and camping in the Scottish hills I've consumed untreated hill water in large volumes without noticeable ill effects. Perhaps liver fluke or giardia are about to do for me, but they've taken their time.

Unless you get a quite exceptional drought, you should be able to find plenty of actively flowing water among the Flows. I hope you enjoy the trip - the first section at least seems likely to be a bit heroic.

In reply to Pietrach:
I think this is it, ''Personally'' It comes down to risk we accept I drink un-treted cows/ Goat Milk If available and will eat the same cheese.
If we are not got by the wash cycle or spin dryer we all get hung on on the line in the end
I have not knowingly suffered any ills from them of hill or fell water,
I understand what your saying about the flatter parts, though it is seeming to be a trend not to drink mountain water also, I love my collapsible cup, and the look on the faces of some as I drink &drink.

PS A good clean out with the sh1ts, is no harm.

I have even drank water from the spring by the top on Ben Nevis on a July evening ----- tasted fine but must have bean 20% piss

In reply to andyjohnson0:

If you feel the need for chlorine tablets elsewhere in Scotland then you'll need them here as well.
Personally I can't think of anything worse than ruining some of the best drinking water available by making it taste like a swimming pool!

In reply to Name Changed 34:

I too have drunk hill water all my life, when on mountain marathons I rely on the small streams.

However, I have been made very poorly on one occasion and it was my own stupid fault. I was (semi wild) camping in a valley off the North side of Pen-y-Fan, there's a stream running through the field, a stream that I've drunk from many times. Last year I ran the horseshoe then ice-bathed in the river and drank lots of it. I knew there was a farm upstream but just didn't think about it... cue 3 days on the lav. yuk

Lesson learnt. I still wouldn't hesitate to drink water from fast moving hillside streams though - I take the risk of dead sheep as calculated.

In reply to Pietrach:

Not sure Weils would be that big an issue, I would be more worried E coli, any experts

Ps always drink from beck when on fell

In reply to John Kelly:

Weil's disease will only affect you if it gets into your blood stream as far as i know, but drinking it increases this risk a lot. I work in construction/railway industry where this is one of the top importance site risks. Ok, it does not happen often, but when it does it gets pretty dramatic. If you have strong nerves, you can watch a video made by one of the global civil engineering consultants which shows the real life case.

http://www.atkinsglobal.co.uk/en-GB/media-centre/news-releases/2013/uk-and-...

PS - I myself used to drink water directly from streams until i became aware of the risks. I then made a decision based on my understanding of risks involved. I fully understand when someone else decides otherwise. Personal choice.

In reply to andyjohnson0:

Personally, for a trip like that I would take my filter. Getting the sh*ts whilst out there solo does not appeal to me and filtered water tastes a lot nicer than the chlorinated stuff.

I am happy to drink from fast running high mountain / fell streams but always take atleast chlorine tabs just in case I need them lower down.

Have a great trip!