Drank water from a waterfall - guess who’s now sick

[Mynewparasitefriend]

Me. It’s me obviously

Was hiking with enough water - got around half way through and realised my backpack was dripping.

Stopped and opened it and most of my water had leaked out. I was miles from anywhere and in stupid heat. Decided to finish my hike and then take a detour on the way back to a village. By the time I got 3/4 of the way round I was so thirsty and hot and still miles out from the village.

Came across the waterfall and I know (I know) not to drink from outside water but in my defence it was really fast flowing and completely clear.

Probably drank 400-500 mls

5 hrs later and my stomach is like a washing machine. Exactly how sick am I going to be?

I hope it wasn’t Aysgarth Falls?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7vln9n15zmo.amp

Do you have anyone else at home with you? Evidently it could be just an upset stomach but you should take your symptoms seriously if you worsen. Fingers crossed for you.

I’m camping

Chapmans pool in Dorset

Lake District about 10 years ago used to do this , however I once held up the drink bottle and saw lots of little swimmy things in there so never again !
Hope your ok .

I cupped about 5 handfuls of water and didn’t see anything

it was completely clear

evidently not

I know someone who did and was fine and didn’t get sick. So just keep monitoring

Apparently sometimes swimmy things might be ok and clear water not so you can’t tell by looking at it!

For the future buy a bottle with a filter, brilliant things. If you are still ill tomorrow call 111

I got dysentery from the River Dee ( cleaned my teeth I. It)

Good luck OP.

If you don’t recover completely very quickly do seek medical help. All sorts live in even unpolluted water, and you can get liver fluke from sheep too.

Could it be heatstroke? This can also cause an upset stomach.

Isn't Chapman pool sea water?

Looking clear isn’t enough. For all you know there could have been a dead sheep upstream or a variety of other issues that could cause you to be ill from drinking the water there. Hiking 101 surely?

There’s a waterfall which runs into it

They say to drink flat coke after river swimming so you could try that.
Not much in way of scientific evidence but popular with triathletes.

Hiking 101 yes

Hiking 100 is take enough water (and don’t spill it) then don’t collapse from dehydration

It was a balance of risk

I drank a pint of Coke the second I got to the village pub!

Probably not much consolation OP, but if you hadn’t drunk from the waterfall you might have suffered very badly from heat stroke/ dehydration. Not sure which is the best of two evils though, and obviously not recommended 😕Fingers crossed you’ll feel fine soon.

No good now, obviously, but for future trips get yourself a water bottle with in-built filter.
Wishing you the best 🤞

A pint of coke isn’t going to do you much good either. I’m really out off ever drinking water on a walk now from rivers or streams. I would have been cavalier before reading this .Hope you feel better soon.

I did this once, it wasn’t a sheep but a very decomposed deer

For the future Sawyer filters are great pretty lightweight you can attach them to bottles but they also have a bag bottle thing, which is great backup for if you have a leak or broken main bottle. also aquatabs for an even more lightweight solution.
you might not be too ill it could also be dehydration, sip lots of (clean!) fluids for both situations and if still ill pharmacy or other medical help.

I don't mean to be an asshole, but the water in this country is absolutely fucking disgusting. Be careful to look after yourself and seek help if needed. My teen DD was puking like an animal after accidently ingesting a tiny quantity of river water in the UK whilst doing paddleboarding.

Must be a bit like roulette. I’ve swam in various bodies of water over the last 12+ years and I find I end up drinking it through my nose (don’t ask) 🤣 and fortunately it’s never made me ill. Even sea swimming.

Is your water bottle now able to hold water? If so I wonder whether it would be worth getting a sample of it just in case.

ooo, do you have preferred suppliers for the Sawyer Filters?

Also, I went lake swimming recently. In a lake I’ve swum previously. All fine before, this time I was ill for ages. Water quality is shit this year