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?

Where I am, central UK, it was 31 with almost no air movement.

Have to admit that the detour was a bit of a "Why the hell?" for me

ETA unless I have misunderstood and the detour was to get to a village that wasnt the village where the hike started in order to rehydrate. But I read it as...."I was on the way to the village but took a detour".

Hope you feel better soon op. Lots of shoulda woulda coulda comments on here but probably better to drink it at the time than risk dehydration/heatstroke. Lesson learned I guess!

The temperature on that trail was close to 40 degrees celsius when the family died. Its extremely unlikely that environmental conditions similar to those encountered in California would ever happen in the UK.

SEconding this. I carry one in my bag in an emergency pouch. Get one of these OP. They're really lightweight.

Not that this helps but I was in Portugal and drank from a little water fall in a village it was the most coldest tastiest water they have it checked every couple of months to make sure its ok. But that's because its in a village not out in the wild so to speak.

It depends where the water's coming from. I don't know anything about Dorset but where I live in Yorkshire there could be a dead sheep in higher up or farm run off etc. Being clear doesn't mean anything!

Also the Op was next to a river and a waterfall!
It may be 31 degrees with no air movement as a PP mentioned but there’s plenty of running water and it’s Dorset. Poor Ops dehydrated dead body would be found in 20 mins by the next passing farmer/ dog walker.

Hope you are OK OP.

It sounds like you would have been in trouble if you hadnt had drunk the water so it was probably the best thing to do to risk it.

We dont walk a lot but Ill make sure we get a little filtration thing to carry just in case because that's a really good idea.

coke acts as. Stimulant during triathlon due to its perfect ratio of caffeine to sugar.

.

Could it be the effects of heat rather than the water?

It might not be the water - it could be dehydration or a tiny bit of heatstroke. Hope you recover quickly either way!

It’s really unlikely to be leptospirosis in a large body of flowing water
If there are sheep grazing where the stream feeds the water fall then it’s probably E. coli. Unpleasant but only lasts a few days usually. Sheep also carry liverfluke which humans can catch and the liverfluke survive in the water and can be caught by drinking water. Most farmers treat for liver fluke as it harms sheep considerably but sheep do catch fluke from water bodies

Hope you are ok, OP. Unpleasant to be ill when you’re camping.

And yes, you were in a sticky position. Everything has risks, you could have twisted and ankle or been nipped by an adder.

If it were me my stomach would be roiling from the power of my imagination, having read this thread! In fact, it is!

Years ago we visited the house of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus in Turkey . There are 3 fountains meant to bring health and fertility etc. We had a drink from them all . The following day we were both sick and blamed it on a restaurant we visited . It was months later we realised it was probably the water from the fountain!

I don’t think it is, the waterfall runs into the sea, I am surprised there is much running through it at the moment.

I hope you are ok OP. My friend got unwell after we paddle boarded in a river in Dorset last year, we swim in the sea a lot and haven’t got sick. Hopefully it was just the heat that caused you to be unwell, it was pretty hot yesterday.

As kids we paddled and picnicked by the river -sick all night. But the water levels were low -spose it gives a chance to the bugs to multiply.

Oh lord I hope you’re ok op.

How are you this morning OP?

This was my thought. You should seek medical attention.

I remember last year at Henley there were high levels of e coli in the water-crews were told not to splash, throw in their cox, jump in etc and signs all over althetes changing room telling them to shower asap etc but a lot of crew still were ill.

Thames Water needs holding accountable but they never are 😡it is disgusting and unacceptable

Hope you are okay Op. Possibly the sickness is a combination of too much sun, dehydration followed by a coke on an empty stomach.

I hope you’re ok, op.

Not necessarily the water. When I was a kid I regularly drank the water from the stream running through the bottom of our garden and had no ill effects. As an adult I’ve drunk from waterfalls in the Scottish Highlands and Islands with no ill effects.