this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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When in a trip to Europe when I was 16, my grandpa and I visited Switzerland for a week. We got e-bikes for our time there and would take them everywhere we went around the country (absolutely gorgeous countryside, with bike trails literally all over the place). One day we went up into the Alps to visit and check things out. Our plan was to ride from one town on one side of the mountain, ride up over the mountain, then catch a train ride home.
I rode on ahead because I was impatient, ended up getting lost so I had to make that ride myself (and it took literally all day). At one point I stopped to take a break and I saw a large tub filled with water, which I assume(d) was for some animals or something. Well anyway I was tired and thirsty so I just went right up to the tub and dunked my face in for a drink. I could see bits of grass and whatnot floating in it but I didn't care cause I was so thirsty.
I've been fine ever since.
That's a great story, and it sounds like an amazing trip.
It's not a "will", it's a "might". It's a game of Russian roulette; 5 times you might be fine, but is it worth it if the 6th isn't, and you spend the rest of the vacation puking and crapping your guts out?
For me, the question is: are there any such parisites in the Alps? Maybe not. Giardia in the new world is spread largely by beavers, as I understand it, and those don't exist (much) anymore in Europe.
I mean I absolutely wouldn't do it again lol. Nowadays I carry a water bottle with me anywhere I go
Good habit! I'd settle for even one of those filtering bottles; the biggest concern in streams is parasites, and those filters are fine for those. Cautious, not paranoid!
You can absolutely 100% safely drink water from the spout in a trough in a field in Switzerland or France. If it's not drinkable it's labelled "non potable". If there's no label it's fine
Not everywhere is the US
I wish you'd shared this anecdote sooner. Think of all the money that could have been saved on water treatment if people had only known that one time you drank from a semi questionable water source and didn't get sick.
There's nothing questionable about a water trough in Switzerland. It's safe unless otherwise labelled
NOT SAFE FOR DRINKING