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Are you treating water for Cryptosporidium?

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Top 10 Contributor
Posts 112
Rick Curtis Posted: 07-16-2008 11:54 PM

I'd like to hear from programs about their water purification techniques and if/how you are dealing with Cryptosporidium. We've used iodine for years but it's not effective against crypto and chlorine-based products take 4 hours to kill the stuff. Is this an issue you are dealing with? Also, what part of the country are you operating in.

--------------- Rick Curtis CEO OutdoorEd.com Director, Princeton University Outdoor Action Program
Top 25 Contributor
Posts 10
On a related note:
 
How many programs have had participants (or staff) who contracted either Giardia or Cryptosporidium while on one of your events or programs? Very importantly: was this condition specifically diagnosed by a physician who tested specifically for that protozoan (usually by testing a stool sample), or was it diagnosed more broadly and treated with a broad spectrum antibiotic? Were you able to determine with certainty the source of the infected water? Where?

_________________________________________
John Jacobs
Adventure Risk Management
PO Box 1160
Idyllwild, California  92549
www.adventureriskmanagement.com
jjacobs@adventureriskmanagement.com
951.659.4090
951.659.4091 fax

Adventure, Smarter.

_________________________________________ John Jacobs Adventure Risk Management PO Box 1160 Idyllwild, CA 92549 951.659.4090 Adventure, Smarter.

Top 50 Contributor
Posts 6

I'd like to second Rick & John's request for more information on this issue. We have an accredited program here in Colorado that is dealing with a difficult issue with their county dept of health. As a child care provider, they are required by the county to both filter and chemically treat the water their students drink. Obviously, this method is both expensive and time consuming. However, these county officials recognize it as the most complete treatment method. Is anyone else out there dealing with this issue?

Henry

Henry Wood Association for Experiential Education Director of Accreditation 303.440.8844 x 16 accreditation@aee.org

Top 100 Contributor
Posts 2

We also have used iodine for decades, before that we did not treat the water in Killarney Provinial Park where we are either training staff or running our 18 day program for a month each year.  We have had a couple of Giardia problems but we always assumed they were from using some untreated or improperly treated water.

 

Tom Breznau

LandSea Director, Kalamazoo College

Top 25 Contributor
Posts 10
On a related note:
 
How many programs have had participants (or staff) who contracted either Giardia or Cryptosporidium while on one of your events or programs? Very importantly: was this condition specifically diagnosed by a physician who tested specifically for that protozoan (usually by testing a stool sample), or was it diagnosed more broadly and treated with a broad spectrum antibiotic? Were you able to determine with certainty the source of the infected water? Where?

_________________________________________
John Jacobs
Adventure Risk Management
PO Box 1160
Idyllwild, California  92549
www.adventureriskmanagement.com
jjacobs@adventureriskmanagement.com
951.659.4090
951.659.4091 fax

Adventure, Smarter.

I'd like to hear from programs about their water purification techniques and if/how you are dealing with Cryptosporidium. We've used iodine for years but it's not effective against crypto and chlorine-based products take 4 hours to kill the stuff. Is this an issue you are dealing with? Also, what part of the country are you operating in.




_________________________________________ John Jacobs Adventure Risk Management PO Box 1160 Idyllwild, CA 92549 951.659.4090 Adventure, Smarter.

Top 25 Contributor
Posts 10
Henry,
 
 YES! I/we are dealing with a similar problem at NCOBS. We were told this season for the first time ever to both filter and chemically treat our water (or boil the water at a rolling boil for a minute). Teaching fourteen to fifteen year olds about time management with water runs that take sometimes up to two hours because of the filtering process hinders our educational objectives at times... 
 
KMS

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