In some places, the Swedish Lappland for example, it's perfectly fine and even recommended to drink water directly from streams.
Is it also recommended whilst hiking in the Alps, and if so is it only in certain areas?
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5I once was in Tromsø, North of Norway. Got on a mountain close to the city, saw a spring. I thought: if I can't drink safely the water from a spring on a mountain at the North pole, I don't know what else I can. Drank a handful. Tasted like freedom, the real one.– Stefano BoriniCommented Jan 25, 2012 at 0:13
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There have been scientific studies of water samples in the Sierra, which showed that there were no concentrations of Giardia capable of causing disease. I haven't been able to find anything similar for the Alps. However, I did find this: smw.ch/content/smw-2012-13683 . Although the levels of Cryptosporidium are high enough that they could theoretically cause disease, this was in a farming village in Switzerland, not in the wilderness areas of the Alps. That makes it seem extremely unlikely to me that there is anything to worry about in wilderness areas of the Alps.– user2169Commented Apr 30, 2013 at 23:07
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@Ben Crowell - sadly, you are being over-optimistic. The montaine zone is heavily farmed and is often a sea of dung. It's very risky to drink untreated water until you are well above the farmed areas, and even then there are often big herds of chamois and ibex– TullochgorumCommented Apr 12, 2018 at 21:57
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7 Answers
In the core alps (Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Austria), you can drink water almost everywhere directly without filtering. There are only two exceptions: If there is a thing or something like this that forbids drinking it, or if you can see an obvious reason not to drink it, like for example a strange smell or abnormal color.
In the other countries in the Alps (France, Italy, etc.) I would only drink water unfiltered if you can drink it directly from the source, i.e. glacial lakes or the source itself.
answered Jan 24, 2012 at 21:28
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7Most contamination by bacteria, protozoa, and viruses are both tasteless and odorless, so going on smell or color is a poor way to determine if water is sanitary. Do consider what may have died or pooped in the kilometer upstream and choose to treat water you cannot be sure is from the ground or other sterile source.– bmikeCommented Jan 31, 2012 at 23:46
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3Actually, those signs "not drinking water" are often there for legal reasons, and posted even if the water is perfectly safe to drink. Only when you know you are below agriculture I wouldn't drink from the streams.– gerritCommented Jan 18, 2013 at 21:46
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2@RoflcoptrException If unexperienced, one might be wise to obey those signs. From personal experience, those signs have quite suddenly and quite recently appeared at places where people've been drinking forever. Sometimes I suspect it's for the benefit of the local mountain hut selling bottled water for 3€ for half a liter...– gerritCommented Jan 18, 2013 at 22:15
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3I don't think the list of countries is very helpful here. You can find large plains, industrial activity or middle-altitude agriculture in Austria and relatively remote high-altitude areas in France and Italy (including the highest summits in the Alps). I would think that human activity or geology matter more than geopolitical borders.– RelaxedCommented Oct 17, 2013 at 11:17
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1(!) I'm Swiss and this answer is dangerously untrue: large parts of the Alps (at least in Switzerland) are still heavily used for livestock (cows, sheep, some goats). You have to be make very sure that the water you're drinking from doesn't come from some up-mountain pastures, and there are many of them.– fgysinCommented Nov 13, 2017 at 9:57
If you're on an extended trip away from civilization, I wouldn't recommend it anywhere except directly from a spring coming out of rock. If there are animals in the area, you can be sure they some have died, or done their business in the water and it could be contaminated. While water in the alps is likely safer that rivers or lakes in most areas, I wouldn't risk it.
answered Jan 24, 2012 at 21:20
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7I have never heard of anyone treating water in European high mountains.– crenateCommented Mar 9, 2012 at 14:02
My understanding is that anything above 4000 metres you can drink due to there being a low chance that anything living will affect the water i.e. animal faeces and bacteria etc.
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2How has this so many upvotes? It is nonsense. Of all the thousands of peaks in the Western Alps, the UIAA only recognises 51 4000ers. And at that altitude, they will almost certainly be under permanent snow with no running water. Even mountaineers will be spending 99.9% of their time in the Alps at under 4000 meters. Commented Apr 12, 2018 at 21:54
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@Tullochgorum It may not be applicable very often but it is true, isn't it? Commented Jun 3, 2021 at 8:24
I suppose you mean outside of village, so you are talking about streams and sources. In any alpine areas (France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria) I drink water unfiltered when I assume that there are no alps (place with cattle during summer) upstream, which worked for me. Of course you usually cannot be 100% sure about it, but almost so. If there is cattle upstream, you have a quite a chance of getting diarrhea. I did it twice until now when I was just too thirsty and once came to regret that decision :)
Many people attribute diarrhea to glacier water, which I cannot confirm. Unless you drink it constantly, the lack of minerals is not a problem either.
For dwells in towns in Switzerland you can drink always unless there is a sign telling you otherwise. Sometimes such a sign is present as the water is not officially tested, that also very often the case in alpine huts, while the water is fine. But you cannot know, so unless you have somebody trustful to advice you, keep away.
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In some Alpine huts, I suspect the sign is there too because they sell bottled water at great profit.– gerritCommented Jul 4, 2018 at 15:34
I'm Swiss and I've been drinking water from mountain streams all my life, without any altitude restriction, while observing three basic rules. You can drink the water if:
- the river is small enough to jump across it
- there is no cattle (alpage) above, where cows, goats and sheep may poo into the water
- there is no human settlement above
Drinking this water is one of my favourite things when hiking and I mostly go hiking carrying only a minimal amount of water to drink on the peaks where there are no rivers or sources. I hike often (in Ticino) and managed to survive for 44 years :-)
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If the river is small enough? Why? I think it shouldnt be too small because of pollution.– WillsCommented Nov 28, 2015 at 8:00
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1@Wills just guessing here, maybe because small streams empty into large streams which means smaller is closer to source and less chance for contamination Commented Nov 29, 2015 at 14:29
At a water faucet?
I would filter any untreated water in the Alps, and filter or boil melted snow.
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3At least in Switzerland and Liechtenstein you can drink water from every source, if a sign does not forbid it. Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 21:28
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2Ah I see, so I have to rephrase it. You can drink water from every source, well or faucet, if a sign does not prohibit it. Commented Jan 24, 2012 at 21:33
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Sometimes you can drink it even if a sign forbids it. Sometimes they put "forbidden" signs close to mountain cabins hoping that hikers will buy the overpriced bottled water from the cabin...– gerritCommented Jul 10, 2012 at 15:25
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I am sure you can drink water even if a sign forbids it. Question is: Is it safe? Is it allowed?– RelaxedCommented Oct 17, 2013 at 11:20
Back in 1987 I bicycled over Fluela Pass in Switzerland. A young man chose to ride with me for a time and had me try water from a fresh Alpine stream. It tasted good and did not smell. More than 24 hours later I began to not feel well, feverish, tired, not hungry/but hungry. Four hours have having dinner I had gastrointestinal problems, every 20 minutes for about 3 hours. I wanted to die. It started as vomiting and ended up as diarrhea. I blamed my dinner; wonder if it was the water, after all?? It took days to get my strength back, but I continued biking....
