LindaPeterson wrote:Hi all,
I've searched the forums here and haven't found an answer to this yet.
Is it safe to drink cave water if you're judicious about where you draw it and you filter it with a hiking water filter?
I ask b/c I hear that the cave water can have a lot of contaminants like ag runoff, biological bad stuff, effluent from sceptic-tank fingers, and some chemicals I wouldn't have thought of -- like Mg and Fe oxides. (kidney stones?)
So, I've been filtering my water in the cave instead of brining in gallons... and I'm wondering.
I use an MSR ceramic filter that I take hiking with me. It sure is nice to carry a 6 oz filter and an single water bottle and just filter more water when I find water sources (I'm in southern IN, lots of water).
Will the ceramic filter be fine? (It is rated as a "purifier") Should I be looking at a carbon filter instead to bind those ions?
I think you're on the right track. Stream water in a cave would be seriously suspect. Every bit as bad as drinking from a surface stream. The water that drips/runs from speleothems, would presumably be more pure as it gets filtered by flowing through tight rock spaces. Still, I wouldn't drink it straight! I'd use a purifier for bacteria and so on. Drip water ought to be be less toxic from the chemicals, but I don't know. In Indiana, you probably have a lot of those and cow poop! I doubt Mg or Fe oxides would make any difference to you. The Ca would be high and if you have trouble with kidney stones, it might be an issue. But if you don't have a problem with them, just drinking higher Ca water won't cause them out of the blue. I have WAY more Ca in my water here in NM than I had in VA. So it's "normal" sometimes to have high Ca.
My take away is that so long as you filter for bacteria and the link, you're good to go. I mean, overall, how much cave water do you drink as a part of your overall life?
I'd be interested to hear any more information if anyone has real data.