Water quality
Remote rivers pose few problems. Urban paddling is something else again. That is why I rarely paddle near cities or urban waterways. Seattle is a good exception.
Salt water too?
Never thought much about this. For those who know, is this as much of a concern in salt water? I paddle a lot in Western Long Island Sound. No one has any illusions that the water is clean. They close beaches fairly often around here. Strong tidal movement does help some. Any thoughts on whether exposure to these kinds of waters can cause illnesses?
Sorry if this is hijacking a thread, I can start another if preferred.
Mark
just wait till you come down with a good
case of giardia and we’ll see how ya feel about remote streams then.
You have to ingest the water to get
Giardia…
Except if you touch giardia infested waters and then fail to wash your hands. Humans are efficient at giving themselves giardia.
all kinds of nasties in the water
– Last Updated: Sep-28-14 1:12 PM EST –
Sinus infections are frequent and recurring. While "inner tubers rash", trench foot, and athletes foot occur from prolonged exposure. Giardia can occur from just swallowing a few mouthfuls. It helps to shower after getting off the water and little alcohol in the ears promotes evaporation. Doing a sinus rinse helps keep me on the water and out of the drs office.
The only place I practice rolling is in the pool.
perforated ear drums
I don’t have them, but when the Ocoee River started flowing again in the mid 1970s as a result of TVA having to rebuild the flume that had diverted the water from the river bed since 1916, whitewater paddlers quickly starting running the river.
Unfortunately, the entire watershed had been polluted by copper smelting operations that had been conducted in the Copper Basin upstream for many years. High concentrations of sulfur dioxide had devastated the vegetation over a wide area and leached into the soil resulting in rapid, acidic runoff.
A number of whitewater kayakers who spent a fair amount of time upside down eventually developed tympanic membrane perforations and middle ear disease as a result of the acidic water.
The area has now been reforested and the water is no longer dangerously acidic but I’m sure the same phenomenon could occur elsewhere.
I lived in northeast Pennsylvania for over ten years and paddled Nescopeck Creek quite a few times. The original surface drainage of the entire Wyoming Valley area was largely destroyed by anthracite coal shaft mining operations and now a good deal of precipitation soaks directly into the abandoned mine shafts.
In the 1890s a massive mine drainage tunnel, the Jeddo tunnel was built to drain ground water from the mines. The Jeddo tunnel drains 4 large mine basins over around 33 square miles and carries an average of 40,000 gallons per minute and up to 100,000 gpm. Since the Nescopeck usually only runs during periods of relatively high rainfall, the tunnel drainage is probably toward the higher end of that range during those times. The tunnel drains into Little Nescopeck Creek which flows into the Nescopeck and eventually the Susquehanna River.
The Jeddo Tunnel drainage is also quite acidic and high in metal concentrations including aluminum, magnesium, manganese, and iron as well as zinc, chloride and sulfate.
The tunnel drainage has been getting less acidic and metal concentrations have been dropping. Although I never became sick after paddling the Nescopeck, I had friends and acquaintances who claimed they had.
Sad commentary.
What have we done to our most precious resource?
Time to move north, eh?
Good suggestions…
…thanks, Katabatic! I wouldn’t have thought to bring antibacterial gel with me.
This is definitely on point…
– Last Updated: Sep-28-14 1:50 PM EST –
... so you're not hijacking the thread at all, Mark. One of the articles linked a little higher up (by Kocho) leads to a story about someone who almost died after being in Chesapeake Bay. That's salt water, right?
Von
Noseclips for rescue practice, rolling
Our kayak club uses a large reservoir in central NC. It has a lot of algae, and our genius state legislators killed some new rules to prevent yet more urban runoff from entering this lake. So I am adamant about using noseclips anytime I practice wet exits and reentries, also rolling. And I try to get paddlers in rescue practice sessions to do the same. No sinus infections yet! Fingers crossed. G in NC
Catawissa - Loyalsock
The Cat is acidic, water’s clear.The Sock is acidic an clear, so salty from snow melting the trout are restocked for tourism. The Sock’s drainage holds giardia…so far my liver’s ok.
Never problems swimming there. absent fecal material, acidity works against bacteria and algae. Perrier adds acidic flavor to the bubbly water. An opened Perrier will not ‘go bad’ for several days in hot weather.
The Upper Delaware may be acidic still. Roebling’s bridge led to small coal mines on the western hillsides, today a park with past times interests…like the shovel strip mine of the Dutch.
Once I suffered from ‘rumbly gut’ leading to diarehahaha. Discovered the responsible bacteria dwell in the crevice between knife handles and knife blades.
Isopropyl knives and sporks.
Canadian water
Is swimmer’s itch common in Canada…home of the Goose, or is the water too cold ?
https://www.google.com/#q=Canadian+lake+water+goose+itch
Norovirus is in every ocean/sea
There are other pathogens, but this is the one I’d be most concerned about avoiding, because it is incredibly contagious.
nope
In Maine and Ontario and further north, weed problems and blue green algae blooms are almost unheard of.
Giardia… dont drink shallow depth lake water where animals might have pooped. Most people here use a water filter when camping.
In deeper lakes the UV rays from the sun do a nice job of killing bacteria in the top layer… I’ve drunk right from my lake many times. Its 35 feet deep. You can see down 22 feet.
I used to kiss fish
until I learned about nice little critters like giardia. I always boil my water on float trips.
Lake Wylie, SC
Two ear infections and one eye infection in one year trying to learn the roll. I now use this lake with great caution. Darn shame
Anti bacterial ointment, yes!
The two articles made me realize that I need to carry a small tube of anti-bacterial in my tiny first aid kit (for day paddling). I’m not an alarmist about small scrapes and raw insect bites, but it’s sobering to read that some PNetters – not just people in news stories – have had infections.
it’s here in MI
in inland lakes all across the state, so I’d assume the same for Canada.
be aware of the water quality
Where you paddle. I am a volunteer water quality monitor in Tx and my areas to test are on the Trinity in Dallas. Water quality can vary greatly from section to section and from day to day depending on a lot of variables.
We test for e coli as do most states and use it as a meter for the suitability for fish consumption and contact recreation. If you paddle on rivers lakes or streams in most metropolitan areas, chances are that there are elevated levels of bacteria to contend with.
If city storm drains empty into a river or stream, chances are that human and animal waste and fertilizer run-off will end up in the river. Thats where a lot of the bacterias get started.
Most states keep some records on bacteria levels, so its not too tough to find the info.
All that being said, you can still enjoy urban rivers if you take some precautions, like not practicing your rolls, keeping any cuts or sores covered and dry and definitely showering as soon as possible especially if you have been sitting in your kayak in a puddle of water. The Vagisil is a great idea for ladies. Having been hospitalized for a bacterial infection courtesy of the Trinity, I take it pretty seriously, especially since I got mine on a section that is considered ok.
recreational water borne illnesses
I get them all the time. Mostly I suffer from workitis, restless bad pad syndrome, and I can’t waititis as in the next trip.