Raw water is the latest health craze. Heres why drinking it may be a bad idea.

[RandySF]

Hold your canteen under a natural spring and you'll come away with crystal clear water, potentially brimming with beneficial bacteria as well as minerals from the earth.

That's what proponents of the “raw water” movement are banking on — selling people on the idea of drinking water that contains the things they say nature intended without the chemicals, such as chlorine, often used in urban water treatment processes. In some areas of the country, including the West Coast, it has become a high-dollar commodity — water captured in glass bottles and sold straight to you.

By shunning recommended water safety practices, experts warn, raw water purveyors may also be selling things you don't want to drink — dangerous bacteria, viruses and parasites that can make you sick.


“We're glad people are so interested in water quality and the value they're placing in safe water,” said Vince R. Hill, who heads the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “But I think it's also important for people to know where their water comes from, what's in it, how it's delivered and whether it’s safe to drink.”



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/03/raw-water-is-the-latest-health-craze-heres-why-drinking-it-may-be-a-bad-idea/?utm_term=.23d724a94ff5

[handmade34]

1. oh gawd... really? "raw water"

fad...

[Iggo]

7. I wonder if I can see it with my high resolution sunglasses.

[Bantamfancier]

2. Not may, IS a bad idea.

Travellers’ Diarrhea
Giardia and Cryptosporidium
Dysentery
Salmonella
Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (E. coli)
Typhoid Fever
Cholera
Hepatitus A
Hepatitus E
Campylobacter

Just my short list of why I don't drink from a ditch.

[Docreed2003]

5. I contracted Giardia after drinking from a spring in the Smokies on the AT, and I knew better

It’s no joke....neither are any of the others on your list. Raw water shouldn’t be taken lightly for sure!

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. What about bear poop upstream?

[csziggy]

10. As Dad used to say, it's in the water!

But that was for bear whiz, not bear poop.

[democratisphere]

4. There is another sucker born every minute.

Scam!

[sl8]

6. Not me. I'm a Beaver Fever believer. n/t

[VOX]

8. Quench your thirst with a tall, cool glass of anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasites.

AKA Giardia. Because stomach cramps never felt so natural.

[Demoiselle]

9. As the great PT Barnum is credited with saying:

"There's a sucker born every minute."

And just think of all the little suckers who could be living in that raw water!

[Xolodno]

11. I see new Darwin Award candidates in the near future...probably some winners to!

Love hiking....always carry plenty of water, clean the camel back on a regular basis and if I know I'm getting out there a bit, bring a purifier....after I test it at home.

I drank off a waterfall once, only because I didn't plan correctly, didn't get sick, but guarantee you I will never do that again.

[jmowreader]

12. Y'know, this may not be as bad as you'd think

Just a supposition here, but if we can get Fox News to talk up raw water as the life-enhancing miracle that it is (come on, haven't YOU always wanted to be able to shit through a keyhole?) then Glorious Leader might change from Diet Coke and chocolate malteds to raw water. This sounds like the perfect tipple for Alex Jones of InfoWars, who knows modern water treatment plants are nothing more than a nefarious plot to force Government Indoctrination down all our throats.

[womanofthehills]

13. So is the water coming up from my well - RAW

[RandySF]

15. Arent wells periodically tested?

[SamKnause]

14. I guess I drink raw water.

I collect rain water in my cistern.

I have been drinking raw water since I was 10 years old.

I am now 64.

I haven't had any issues.