Severe tummy bug

[wanderwoman]

hi peregrinos,

I'm walking the camino France's at the moment and have come down with a very bad tummy bug. I'm pretty sure I got it from drinking in the fountains between Puenta la reina and Azofra somewhere. Of course it could have been from food somewhere too but I tend to think it's from the water. I've lived in many developing countries and travelled very extensively and so have a pretty sensitive gut after years of nasty bugs but this one has been terrible. I only ever drank from the proper drinking fountains, never from non potable. There may be a bug in the water somewhere at present. So be forewarned. I will have to skip the meseta after three days of being barely conscious it will be a few more days before I can walk again. We all get the camino we are supposed to get so I'm fine with this being mine but will certainly drink bottled water from now on.

Buen Camino!

Amanda

 

[Kanga]

Very, very sorry to hear you are ill @wanderwoman but it is most unlikely there is anything wrong with the water. The Spanish water supply is first world and their water engineers second to none. It may be that your system is unused to the balance of minerals in the water, but more likely you have picked up an illness from another human being - which is the most common cause of stomach upsets. Sleeping in close quarters with others and sharing kitchens and bathrooms has to be a factor.
Whatever the reason I do hope you recover. Remember that you will get excellent care for minimal cost if you need to use the Spanish healthcare system.

 

[scruffy1]

We are all somewhat cavalier about conditions in the albergues. Communal cooking and sharing meals is a lot of fun sharing a bottle of wine at dinner or a picnic with no glasses just a wipe of the bottle before a healthy slurp are very common every day occurrences. Someone's pocket knife (rust-crud-sweat-dust-fingernails-callouses) is always sharper than the cutlery in the albergue. There are many who are willing to help in the washup after dinner but it's always always a good idea to give everything you will be using before cooking/eating a good scrub before as well. Lastly we are always eating cans of something, tuna-tomato paste-sardines-vegetables of all sorts-what about that can opener (?) all sorts of lovely corners and places for crud to collect. And alas, our fellow pilgrims, always somebody greeting us in the shower room with an especially juicy sneeze or a long coughing or snore session in bed at night. Microbes are everywhere! Water sources in Spain are usually marked sin agua potable or agua potable and can be trusted. Hope you feel better soon!

 

[naplesdon]

Pepto Bism0l and hours of walking under the sun on the Meseta surely will cure your ills.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

My son got sick from the fountains when we walked in 2013. I was constantly reminding him not to drink from the fountains but.........
(no one wants to listen) Regardless of the area, in the states, Canada, Ireland or Spain water quality is a concern. Water is more than just adding chlorine. Animals drink from town fountains, people fill water bottles under these spigots, touch the fountains with their water bottle and even was there faces from these fountains while walking. Even in the states we can only say the the water we provide is safe for consumption, we can not control where you get your water from. This has been a topic before and everyone comments on how safe the water is.... maybe but do you want to risk it when you are living from bed to bed? An ounce of prevention can save many many days of sickness.

Plenty of fluids , bottled water and Imodium . It will pass, sorry

 

[wanderwoman]

Thanks, been to the doctor now in burgos. He said it could be the fountains and warned me not to drink from them....some people are more sensitive than others. He said it could be a virus too. Got rehydration salts, drugs and he gave me fluids to help with dehydration which had gone a bit too far. Good to get professional advice, he said its so common amongst peregrinos!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

This has been a topic before and everyone comments on how safe the water is

If you run the statistics of those who do not get sick from the water, and those who do (allegedly), it is clear that the water is safe. There are too many things that can upset a stomach to blame it on the water. Post hoc, ergo sum hoc. Just because a problem occurs after drinking water does not mean it came from the water. Drink bottled water if it eases your mind, but watch out for the food, the stomach viruses, and dehydration (which has similar symptoms to water or food poisoning).

 

[Scott Sweeney]

I agree that water is an easy target but again knowing the conditions of the sanitation in rural Spain and water shortages along with high the high cost of water does not let me feel good about potable water faucets along the streets. Most of those are spring fed and are susceptible to many possible contamination points. If a local doctor is warning people not to drink from them I would think that was a pretty good indication of possible issues with water quality.

Just where would one get statistics on stomach issues of pilgrims annually?

Its bottled water, cerveza or wine for me.

 

[alexwalker]

Its bottled water and wine for me.

What's wrong with beer? It is soo much more than just a breakfast drink...

On the serious side: I always drank from fountains and never had any issues. Of course I avoided those marked "No potable".

 

[Scott Sweeney]

I shall correct.

I guess part of my apprehension or precaution is it is the field I work in. Much of the areas that the Camino passes through do not have proper sanitary collection systems. So where does it go? Cost for water in Spain is a premium, so of course I think about who pays for public fountains (potable spigots). You have to assume that the areas are being supplied by ground water systems, shallow wells dug or drilled to provide water to a population of several hundred. So.........


You are European so perhaps your bellies are better suited to drinking local water. Remember when the Spanish came to the new word.......Montezuma's revenge?


I will continue to use caution.

 

[Tincatinker]

The topic of water sources as potential sources for bouts of illness was thoroughly discussed last year, here https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/drinking-water.21781 Its interesting to note that the same general geographic area is reported on and at the same time of year.

My sincere sympathies @wanderwoman may this soon pass.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

potable water faucets along the streets. Most of those are spring fed

The taps in villages and cities almost always are from treated water sources. The country pipe at an animal trough, not so much!

 

[Scott Sweeney]

think about it, really how many facilities have you seen? And remember, chlorine only kills bacteria not virus. Virus is easily transmitted in water systems in farm regions.

 

[jmcarp]

I never had a problem with intestinal virus, but my wife suffered through a couple of brief episodes. While we can't prove it, we're pretty sure that both episodes were caused by eating tuna empanada which had been sitting out on the counter at the bar where we had lunch earlier in the day or the day before. Needless to say, we quit eating tuna empanada.

 

[Kanga]

If the water is contaminated then all the locals and all the other pilgrims would be sick too. When we get a tummy bug we assume it is caused by food or water. It is not logical unless everyone who ate that food or drank from that source also got sick. There may be a few with immunity but they will be exceptions that prove the rule. So when the local bakery here had a problem with contaminated food there were 23 admissions to the local hospital and multiple others who visited their GP. Then you know something is wrong!

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

unfortunately water from the public drinking fountains do not have the health standards tap water does, anywhere in spain. tap water is quality, fountains along the camino (even the ones that say 'potable')... i would not trust.

thanks for the warning in any case, hope you get better and buen camino!

 

[Scott Sweeney]

If a local doctor recommends to never drink out of them, that's good enough for me.

I think it's better known as traveler's diarrhea, regardless Ill stick the bottled water.

With close to 35 years in water purification and waste water disposal experience, for myself I'll trust bottled water.

 

[Luminaria]

I think there's a difference between contaminated water and running into a few microbes that don't agree with your particular body. My own experience is that moving or traveling through or to a different region in the US and drinking the tap water has sometimes given me significant trouble. Mexicans don't get sick off their tap water, although many tourists will. They're acclimated to their regional microbes and you're acclimated to yours. Different bodies respond in different ways. I've read about people who are so sensitive to water differences, they drink Evian water everywhere they go, because it is always drawn from the same source, no matter where in the world it is sold. Maybe it's the water and maybe Amanda ran into that same Camino stomach bug I've been reading about for the last week.

 

[Bajaracer]

I think there's a difference between contaminated water and running into a few microbes that don't agree with your particular body. My own experience is that moving or traveling through or to a different region in the US and drinking the tap water has sometimes given me significant trouble. Mexicans don't get sick off their tap water, although many tourists will. They're acclimated to their regional microbes and you're acclimated to yours.

I've become acclimated to water in Mexico, I can order a Coca Cola on ice and not get sick, the hotel I stay at has a couple of courtesy bottled water (with the hotel label on it) at the bathroom sink, after staying there several times, I noticed when the bottles got delivered on large pallets, they were empty, that's when I knew they were filled in house. So far, no problems with the "in house bottled water" for me.
I also saw one of the fountains after Roncevalles being tested by the local health department which made me feel better, I've also been through some fountains where local townspeople were filling up racks of bottles with fountain water.
If you have to drink bottled water because your body doesn't agree with the local tap water, make it cheaper on yourself and buy it from the supermercados for €.50-.75 for the 1.5L bottles, and less than €.25 for the .5L bottles.

 

[natefaith]

Amanda, so sorry you feel so ill. Get well soon and may the kindness of others during this time be a cool story you can tell us all later!

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

I've become acclimated to water in Mexico, I can order a Coca Cola on ice and not get sick, the hotel I stay at has a couple of courtesy bottled water (with the hotel label on it) at the bathroom sink, after staying there several times, I noticed when the bottles got delivered on large pallets, they were empty, that's when I knew they were filled in house. So far, no problems with the "in house bottled water" for me.
I also saw one of the fountains after Roncevalles being tested by the local health department which made me feel better, I've also been through some fountains where local townspeople were filling up racks of bottles with fountain water.
If you have to drink bottled water because your body doesn't agree with the local tap water, make it cheaper on yourself and buy it from the supermercados for €.50-.75 for the 1.5L bottles, and less than €.25 for the .5L bottles.

What has Mexico got to do with Spain? Townspeople have running taps in their homes with treated water, why they would fetch water outside seems pointless.

 

[tararrr]

I'm not the only one! I got food poisoning last Monday, on the walk to Sarria. I thought it was food poisoning but my hostel owner said it was most likely the mountain water, he said it happens quite frequently. I was so glad he was so nice, I ended up projectile vomiting out the kitchen door as both bathrooms were occupied! Trust my luck to get sick when I stay in a small hostel with only 2 toilets.

Luckily the guy moved from our room so me and my boyfriend who was looking after me had it to ourselves. I had severe stomach pain and was vomiting all night, and had to stay in bed the day after. My system is only getting back to normal today a week later.

I will be avoiding the mountain water next time! Though maybe I just have a sensitive system, or who knows how I picked the bug up? These things happen, I was just unlucky I guess!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I ended up projectile vomiting out the kitchen door

My walking partner had that from eggs. We knew because we were greeted in Praza do Obradoiro with "Hello. Did you get sick from the eggs at the restaurant?" No buen camino; no casual conversation. Another pilgrim had admired the eggs, and ordered the same thing. Within two hours, both were vomiting.

There is plenty of anxiety that comes with a camino. I see no reason to create additional false anxiety with tales about the water. Two hundred thousand walk without a problem. One gets sick and thinks it is the water. Spain is not Mexico or India. Tap water is fine. Avoid the non-municipal sources; or buy bottled water because it reduces your anxiety, and avoid comments that increase the anxiety of others.

 

[DurhamParish]

Sorry for your illness Amanda. And also yours tararr.

After all the money I invested in clothing, equipment, and airline tickets, I didn't mind spending a little more on bottled water. It doesn't cost very much from the supermercados, and sometimes I refill the bottles from the tap in the albergues. After seeing a pilgrim on the trail near Burkette with uncontrollable diarrhea, I didn't want to take any chances on the fuentes . . . . . except for the fuente at Bodegas Irache.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

I do not suffer from false anxiety be it in Northern Spain or be it in the Costa Brava , or Quart, or Girona, or Ceret, Fance or the Hostal Burguete in Navarre if I am warned about the water, I will head that warning.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

"Two hundred thousand walk without a problem." you do not know that, you have no data that supports that statement. So to throw that out as scientific proof that potable water fountains are safe is a falsehood. Why not error on the side of precaution and admit that there is no data on the collection of bacteriological sampling for these fountains and you should error on the side of precaution. Bottled water is not hard to find and it is not expensive, if there is any doubt about the safety and water quality of public potable water sources than buy water, buy potable water. I walked with a church group that lost over a week because of intestinal problems within their group, by the way all drank water outside of Carrion.

I know how careful I am, I try my best to eliminate those things that might cause me problems,
caution on drinking water one of those precautions

(my parents were from Ireland. My fathers used to tell a story about his father when they were growing up. Seems his father chewed tobacco and would often fall asleep on the couch with a mouth full of tobacco. On many occasions my grandfather would swollow that tobacco as he slept on the couch. One day the entire family got food poisoning from canned tuna fish.......all except my grandfather. The doctors could only assume that my grandfather swallowing so much tobacco over the years prevented him from suffering from the same food poisoning that the family suffered from................. so is there an upside of this story? )

 

[Kanga]

Fear marketing wins every time. No matter that the world's oceans are filling up with plastic and no matter that financial resources are wasted while many starve.

In Australia bottled water was unheard of til about 20 years ago. Now it fills the supermarket trolleys. Ridiculous.

 

[Bajaracer]

What has Mexico got to do with Spain? Townspeople have running taps in their homes with treated water, why they would fetch water outside seems pointless.

When it comes to water, some people are used to the water they drink when they are home, anything else may not sit well with them when they travel outside of their home country. I've never gotten sick from tap water outside the US, maybe for me, my body adapts to local tap water sources without getting sick.
I saw what I saw when I saw that guy filling bottles of water, maybe it was somebody who was passing through, I'm not sure.

 

[wayfarer]

Hope you are feeling better Amanda, enjoy the rest of your Camino, do what suits you best. I wish the same to you tararr.
Buen Camino.

 

[NicoZ]

The water in the bottles. Why do people think it's safer then tap water? Or a running fountain?

Bottled water ranges from tap water to those nasty wells people are scared of.

If you're really worried follow the advice above and drink beer or wine.

 

[Geo]

Fear marketing wins every time. No matter that the world's oceans are filling up with plastic and no matter that financial resources are wasted while many starve.

In Australia bottled water was unheard of til about 20 years ago. Now it fills the supermarket trolleys. Ridiculous.

With the horrible reality of Ebola on the horizon...I think one validate this person got sick and she's just telling you her experience. Water is a pretty important part of our lives. Some people get sick. Some font but to discredit those that do is just rude imo. There's no reason for arrogance 'I never got dock', 'thousands who live here don't'. Well we all have different sensitivities and immune systems. I start Saturday. I will rethink the fountains. It's not fear mongering at all. I not dissing the country... Or putting crime scene tape around fountains, I just want to be safe for myself. Thanks for the post.

 

[Geo]

With the horrible reality of Ebola on the horizon...I think one validate this person got sick and she's just telling you her experience. Water is a pretty important part of our lives. Some people get sick. Some font but to discredit those that do is just rude imo. There's no reason for arrogance 'I never got dock', 'thousands who live here don't'. Well we all have different sensitivities and immune systems. I start Saturday. I will rethink the fountains. It's not fear mongering at all. I not dissing the country... Or putting crime scene tape around fountains, I just want to be safe for myself. Thanks for the post.

Sorry for typos. Silly phone changed it all.

 

[Al the optimist]

Hope you are feeling better.

 

[basquelady]

hi peregrinos,

I'm walking the camino France's at the moment and have come down with a very bad tummy bug. I'm pretty sure I got it from drinking in the fountains between Puenta la reina and Azofra somewhere. Of course it could have been from food somewhere too but I tend to think it's from the water. I've lived in many developing countries and travelled very extensively and so have a pretty sensitive gut after years of nasty bugs but this one has been terrible. I only ever drank from the proper drinking fountains, never from non potable. There may be a bug in the water somewhere at present. So be forewarned. I will have to skip the meseta after three days of being barely conscious it will be a few more days before I can walk again. We all get the camino we are supposed to get so I'm fine with this being mine but will certainly drink bottled water from now on.

Buen Camino!

Amanda

Just finished second CF and am surprised that more of us do not suffer D and V, given the lack of proper hand-washing facilities available. Most of the (so-called) "tummy"bugs are spread by the "faecal-oral" route and the only way to break the chain of transmission is to be vigilant about washing hands with soap at all the obvious times. Norovirus is spread the same way, in the main and is HIGHLY contagious. Hand gels based on alcohol do not kill it--- soap is needed. More info on http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/overview.htm
So many bars, restaurants, albergues, will have a soap dispenser, but no soap, unfortunately. (The majority, in our experience) In many cases, the staff use the same toilet as customers, so we can only trust that soap is used in the kitchen by those preparing our food!
I believe this is an enormous public health issue, much more than that of drinking dodgy water.

 

[DurhamParish]

'I never got [si]ck', 'thousands who live here don't'. Well we all have different sensitivities and immune systems.

Geo, you just said the most important words in the whole thread.

Our church is in a very rural area of Maryland. It has an artesian well that many of the people in the area use for drinking water with no problems at all. But I would warn someone from Northern Spain (or anywhere else) that the water, although potable here, might not be appropriate for them.

 

[Kanga]

@Geo I'm not making a comment about those who are out of their normal environment and using bottled water - but that in a place like Australia with excellent clean municipal water supplies, and absolutely no need or justification for bottled water, people buy it almost as a matter of course. It is ridiculous. Next I expect we will get talked into breathing bottled air.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Kanga stop and think about this one example. When you began your Camino and you left Saint Jean Pied de Port and you crossed over the mountains of green farm land, sheep and horses along the slope. Once you start down the other side into Roncesvalles, just before you enter into Spain you come upon the fountain of Roland. Now you really think there is municipal or treated water to that fountain? You just walked along a tar and chipped road with sheep poo all along the sides of the road, the horses do not have a special place to go potty but yet half way down the mountain is a fountain, a spring fed fountain. Where does the run off go from the top of the mountain? Where is the source of the water? It is fed by surface water or spring fed supplied by surface water. I am not saying to anyone that they shouldn't drink that water. I am just saying don't be surprised when you do if your stomach hurts. Just like all the farm communities along the Camino, they are farm communities, animals everywhere. These municipal systems, if they exist are ground water sources, shallow wells. If they are chlorinated, if they are, I am sure does not have a residual high enough to just support the small amount of usage from pilgrims to turn over that water. Again I would not tell anyone to not drink from the fountains but I surely would not tell anyone they are safe to drink from. I am pretty well safe in saying that regular bacteriological sampling is not done on those fountains.


Maybe Ivar could help with water source quality.

 

[alexwalker]

Once you start down the other side into Roncesvalles, just before you enter into Spain you come upon the fountain of Roland. Now you really think there is municipal or treated water to that fountain?

I drank fresh & cold water from that fountain and had no problems. I am not Spanish. There's a pipeline leading water to that fountain.

But I agree with you on the dangers of drinking from insecure sources like streams, etc. There's lots of shit, literally, out there. Use common sense, and at sea, we sailors have a saying "If in doubt, act as if there is no doubt.".

Buen Camino! (may I suggest shoes & pack off and a cold beer in the sunshine outside a bar...?)

 

[Anniesantiago]

I suspect the water in the fountains along the Camino IS sampled regularly, considering the amount of cash pilgrims bring along that route.

I also suspect MOST stomach problems are more likely to come from crowded albergues and unwashed dishes. I can't tell you how many times I've watched a pilgrim take a drink from a cup, rinse it out in cold water, and set it back on the shelf. I even watched a clearly-ill hospitalero do that, AFTER I had eaten breakfast there and drank juice from the glasses. That was one time I DID get sick on the Camino, 5 days later. The other time was when a woman with the flu and a high fever stayed in an albergue and infected 30 people - her family refused to take her to a private accomodation. That year, I met people all along the way who were sick and had stayed in the same place that night.

If the water in the fountains is NOT potable, it's clearly marked.
If it has been raining hard, I probably would drink beer or wine or orange juice and skip the water for a day or two.
Although the fountain water is more often SPRING water and probably safer than anything coming out of a tap.
It is not, as someone has said, RUNOFF - for goodness sakes!
If that were the case, pilgrims would be constantly sick.
Spain is NOT a 3d world country.
Their infrastructure is better than ours, in my opinion.

I'm pretty confident that the water in Spain is cleaner than anything we have in the USA, where our water is laced with flouride, chlorine, and prescription drugs people have flushed down their toilets.

Access to water supply and sanitation in Spain is universal. 98% of the urban population and 93% of the rural population is connected to sewers, while the remainder is served by on-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks.

Besides, bottled water is not necessarily clean or safe.
Most bottled water is glorified tap water.
If it comes from a spring, then it's no safer than the springwater on the Camino.
If it comes from a tap, then it's no safer than the tapwater in the albergue.
Also, bottled water samples can contain phthalates, mold, microbes, benzene, trihalomethanes, even arsenic. And only recently did the FDA start regulating bottled water for E. Coli, thanks to advocacy by the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's the FDA, USA folks, not in Spain.
On top of that, bottled water contributes to the trash piling up along the Way.

There will always be people who are more vulnerable to getting sick by drinking water in a new place.
For them, maybe bottled water is the answer.
But in general, I believe the fountains in Spain are perfectly safe.
People have been drinking from them for centuries and continue to do so.

 

[alexwalker]

Spain is not a 3d world country.

I wholeheartedly agree with your excellent post, with one exception: Your "not" should be spelled "NOT"!

 

[Mark Lee]

Two Camino Frances walked and countless liters of water from the public drinking fountains consumed and not one single problem. I tend to doubt any stomach problems are from the water. In all likelihood it's from bad food. Minor food poisoning. I even drank out of one fountain marked "non-potable" my first day on my first Camino (Valcarlos route) because I was just too damn thirsty not to, and had no ill effects.
Believe me, I'm a bit familiar with what kind of water to consume having worked and lived in Afghanistan and the Middle East for many years, as well as numerous trips to SE Asia. I have gotten food poisoning from those parts of the world, and it ain't no fun, especially when they got to run an IV on you. Those are the only places I drink bottled water. Otherwise I try not to contribute to the enormous mass of empty, plastic water bottles which will one day completely cover planet earth. Besides, you may not realize it, but water from the plastic bottles contain toxins from the plastic itself, especially if the bottles have been improperly stored in a high heat environment. It was a problem we had in Afghanistan where in some places it reached up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 Celsius) outdoors, and the bottles were stored in metal conex boxes where the temperature got even higher. We had to destroy countless bottles of water due to the toxins from the plastic. You could literally taste the plastic in the water.
So I'll take my chances with fountain water in Spain.

 

[Mark Lee]

I suspect the water in the fountains along the Camino IS sampled regularly, considering the amount of cash pilgrims bring along that route.

I also suspect MOST stomach problems are more likely to come from crowded albergues and unwashed dishes. I can't tell you how many times I've watched a pilgrim take a drink from a cup, rinse it out in cold water, and set it back on the shelf. I even watched a clearly-ill hospitalero do that, AFTER I had eaten breakfast there and drank juice from the glasses. That was one time I DID get sick on the Camino, 5 days later. The other time was when a woman with the flu and a high fever stayed in an albergue and infected 30 people - her family refused to take her to a private accomodation. That year, I met people all along the way who were sick and had stayed in the same place that night.

If the water in the fountains is NOT potable, it's clearly marked.
If it has been raining hard, I probably would drink beer or wine or orange juice and skip the water for a day or two.
Although the fountain water is more often SPRING water and probably safer than anything coming out of a tap.
It is not, as someone has said, RUNOFF - for goodness sakes!
If that were the case, pilgrims would be constantly sick.
Spain is NOT a 3d world country.
Their infrastructure is better than ours, in my opinion.

I'm pretty confident that the water in Spain is cleaner than anything we have in the USA, where our water is laced with flouride, chlorine, and prescription drugs people have flushed down their toilets.

Access to water supply and sanitation in Spain is universal. 98% of the urban population and 93% of the rural population is connected to sewers, while the remainder is served by on-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks.

Besides, bottled water is not necessarily clean or safe.
Most bottled water is glorified tap water.
If it comes from a spring, then it's no safer than the springwater on the Camino.
If it comes from a tap, then it's no safer than the tapwater in the albergue.
Also, bottled water samples can contain phthalates, mold, microbes, benzene, trihalomethanes, even arsenic. And only recently did the FDA start regulating bottled water for E. Coli, thanks to advocacy by the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's the FDA, USA folks, not in Spain.
On top of that, bottled water contributes to the trash piling up along the Way.

There will always be people who are more vulnerable to getting sick by drinking water in a new place.
For them, maybe bottled water is the answer.
But in general, I believe the fountains in Spain are perfectly safe.
People have been drinking from them for centuries and continue to do so.

Just had to throw that in there, didn't you......

 

[Stefania13/14]

Thanks, been to the doctor now in burgos. He said it could be the fountains and warned me not to drink from them....some people are more sensitive than others. He said it could be a virus too. Got rehydration salts, drugs and he gave me fluids to help with dehydration which had gone a bit too far. Good to get professional advice, he said its so common amongst peregrinos!

Hope your are feeling better now. Whatever you decide to do - be kind to yourself. The situation I am describing now is just a related FYI: I too had a bit of trouble at the beginning of my camino but my case was not caused by water. I found out that the café con leche can cause diarrhea in those not use to it but not because there was a problem with the beverage - it seemed to be just an adjustment issue to something different (I too have a touchy tummy). I cut back for a few days and had an Imodium and was fine. Clearly it was not severe like yours but it was a challenge.
Good luck, you will be in my thoughts.
Stefania

 

[backpack45]

We have walked a couple thousand miles on Camino routes with nary a problem with water from the fountains, but I assume that contamination is possible. Since I hate to see any increased use of plastic water bottles, I suggest that people bring their Platypus or similar water bladder with them and refill them in places they feel are clean. An option is to use the Steripen (there are various models--one at 5.7 oz.). They have worked well for us in third world countries.
Regarding food: there have already been helpful posts about areas of possible contamination. I would add that such practices as passing around a bag of potato chips or candy or whatever, with everyone scooping up a handful, is another way that germs can be spread.

 

[Mark Lee]

Also, I suppose one should not let the possibility of getting sick from food or water while travelling in a foreign country scare them off from the travel itself. One cannot travel in a totally insulated, safe bubble so to speak. Sure, take precautions. Use common sense. Be careful, but don't be afraid.

 

[Kanga]

I
Spain is NOT a 3d world country.

Most bottled water is glorified tap water.
If it comes from a spring, then it's no safer than the springwater on the Camino.
If it comes from a tap, then it's no safer than the tapwater in the albergue.
Also, bottled water samples can contain phthalates, mold, microbes, benzene, trihalomethanes, even arsenic. And only recently did the FDA start regulating bottled water for E. Coli, thanks to advocacy by the Natural Resources Defense Council. That's the FDA, USA folks, not in Spain.
On top of that, bottled water contributes to the trash piling up along the Way.

There will always be people who are more vulnerable to getting sick by drinking water in a new place.
For them, maybe bottled water is the answer.
But in general, I believe the fountains in Spain are perfectly safe.
People have been drinking from them for centuries and continue to do so.

@Anniesantiago if I could triple "like" your post I would!

 

[wanderwoman]

Thanks for the kind words from those who have wished me a speedy recovery. I'm nearly there.

Having lived in South America, much of the Middle East, South Asia including India and Afghanistan and traveled very widely across the developing world, I would consider myself somewhat of an expert on gastro problems from food and water bourne illness. I have also traveled extensively in the developing world and I have gotten sick from water in cities in the US, Western Europe AND Australia ......Aussies should recall the issues we've had with our water supply in Sydney over the years with cryptosporidium outbreaks etc. so to assume just because, lucky lucky you, you've walked the camino and never gotten sick from the local water supply, that this means it's absolutely safe,particularly in rural areas with less monitoring, is naive. My message serves to inform other current peregrinos there is a potential issue so they can make their own mind up. I would really encourage less generalisations on this important issue and allow for the possibility that there can be contamination issues. The other points raised about hygiene, close quarters with sharing of utensils, germs etc are all well taken and very important points. If peregrinos, like me, have a sensitive system ( after years and years of living in dodgy sanitary conditions!) then it's really important to understand all the potential risks and weigh up the risk/benefit of various approaches to the camino. I don't like to have to think about all this, and much prefer to travel freely and with few plans, but having experienced the downside of hygiene issues, would really recommend giving your best approach some thought so you can enjoy a healthy and trouble free camino!

Buen camino!

Amanda

 

[NicoZ]

It doesn't even have to be a virus. The mineral content can upset some people.

 

[Al the optimist]

It doesn't even have to be a virus. The mineral content can upset some people.

Too true and possibly often the case.

 

[sriyantra]

Pleased to hear you are feeling better. Hope the rest of your camino is trouble free. We are in Sarria and have used tap water since SJPP without a problem. We usually boil our drinking water when away from home but realised it wasn't going to be easy to do that on the camino.
In actual fact I have felt healthier in Spain than at home and the food has all 'sat' well in my stomach. Hope I haven't jinxed us now for the last week!!!!
While there has been a lively debate on this topic I do thank you for raising it because those planning their camino can make a choice of what they will do

Thanks for the kind words from those who have wished me a speedy recovery. I'm nearly there.

Having lived in South America, much of the Middle East, South Asia including India and Afghanistan and traveled very widely across the developing world, I would consider myself somewhat of an expert on gastro problems from food and water bourne illness. I have also traveled extensively in the developing world and I have gotten sick from water in cities in the US, Western Europe AND Australia ......Aussies should recall the issues we've had with our water supply in Sydney over the years with cryptosporidium outbreaks etc. so to assume just because, lucky lucky you, you've walked the camino and never gotten sick from the local water supply, that this means it's absolutely safe,particularly in rural areas with less monitoring, is naive. My message serves to inform other current peregrinos there is a potential issue so they can make their own mind up. I would really encourage less generalisations on this important issue and allow for the possibility that there can be contamination issues. The other points raised about hygiene, close quarters with sharing of utensils, germs etc are all well taken and very important points. If peregrinos, like me, have a sensitive system ( after years and years of living in dodgy sanitary conditions!) then it's really important to understand all the potential risks and weigh up the risk/benefit of various approaches to the camino. I don't like to have to think about all this, and much prefer to travel freely and with few plans, but having experienced the downside of hygiene issues, would really recommend giving your best approach some thought so you can enjoy a healthy and trouble free camino!

Buen camino!

Amanda

 

[DeadFred]

I haven't read through this whole thread sorry if what I say here is a rehash .

Ive been working in the food field in the US for the past 45 years. I am really taken back by the baguette sandwiches that are sitting on counters for hours unrefrigerated and uncovered . Chicken and cheese , ham egg and sauteed peppers ..on and on. I chringe seeing this . If i had to pick a reason for sickness this is hands down what i consider the highest risk .

 

[Thomas1962]

Good to read that you're feeling better Wanderwoman. Hope you are completely recovered soon and will enjoy all what the camino had to offer soon again.

I can imagine that you and anyone does do anything to avoid any stomach upset again after having suffered from it. I would do too and I know that only slowly I would start trusting things. Do what feels good in this.

At the same time I really do worry (now I do get into my fears) about a changing attitude towards feelings of safety in general and especially the role of commercial insurance business and some other business. They act on the feeling of safety, not on safety.

I live in the Netherlands. Was it about 35 years ago (?) that bottled water suddenly came into supermarkets. This was really not because of existing health issues but was sold as 'more healthy'. It was a marketing strategy which for some reason worked very well. All over Europe, in the US and I think in any country in which participants of this forum live, tap water supplies are very good with no existing health issues.

After these water sellers explored new markets, distrusting of tap water started for no real reason. What started too was the transport of water (our basic need which is everywhere already!) for hundreds or thousands of kms. The most stupid thing I have seen that a ' health' shop in Amsterdam is selling 'special' water from New Zealand because there is a special mineral in it. Transported here all along Asia and Africa, including the Sahel with a known shortage of water for decades. Besides this, there is this issue of the production of plastic bottles thrown away anywhere, also along the camino. Anyone will be known about what problem that gives.

Commercial interests do bring fear and huge pollution. My personal choice is not to go along that and not to use bottled water, except when it is bottled at the nearest tap
Places where you can buy bottled water are always in towns or villages. At these places there is also tap water to refill any bottle. In that way the choice is not fountain water or bottled water, but fountain water or tap water. There is really no health issue with tap water, not in Spain. If anyone knows about a health issue, I really would like to know. I like my health ;-)

"Two hundred thousand walk without a problem." you do not know that, you have no data that supports that statement. So to throw that out as scientific proof that potable water fountains are safe is a falsehood. Why not error on the side of precaution and admit that there is no data on the collection of bacteriological sampling for these fountains and you should error on the side of precaution. Bottled water is not hard to find and it is not expensive, if there is any doubt about the safety and water quality of public potable water sources than buy water, buy potable water. I walked with a church group that lost over a week because of intestinal problems within their group, by the way all drank water outside of Carrion.

I know how careful I am, I try my best to eliminate those things that might cause me problems, caution on drinking water one of those precautions

Scott: from what I read your presumptions are only out of fear and a safe falsehood. Indeed, we don't know if all of the 200.000 people drink without a problem. There is also not a scientific proof that anyone got sick because of drinking fountain water. We just know that potable fountain water is tested. Precaution in this field is because of fear and assumptions only.
If you don't trust fountains, please use tap water. Stop wasting and polluting.

 

[Arn]

The Dr is IN:
@wanderwoman, pleased to read all is mostly over and you are back on Camino.
Folks, sometimes our professional pedigrees can get wrapped around the axel when the masses can't see how right we are on any given topic. Information given without input from a specific location, season of the year or
Chemical/Bio analysis...is just that...information, not fact.
I am a graduate of the Spurrier Academe' du Vin in Paris and the Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The world over, if you stick with beer or wine you only get sick of you drink much.
un Saludos,
Arn
SdC

 

[Al the optimist]

Back in the harness Arn?

 

[Arn]

Back in the harness Arn?

Al,
Just dropped in at Pilgrim House and met Faith and Drat...lost that one.
Taking a break before departing for Finisterre tomorrow.
More later my friend.
Arn

 

[Al the optimist]

Walking to Finisterre? Have you before? I love the bit over the mountain before Hospital.

 

[Arn]

Al,
This is a first! Looking forward to it.
Arn

 

[natefaith]

Al,
Just dropped in at Pilgrim House and met Faith and Drat...lost that one.
Taking a break before departing for Finisterre tomorrow.
More later my friend.
Arn

Arn,
Danielle is her name. We both enjoyed meeting you today!

Wanderwoman, so glad you're feeling better. Take care of yourself and have a great rest of the Camino. Buen Camino!

 

[CaptBuddy]

Whatever the source of your problems, try to get some Buscapina from the Farmacia, and drink lots of Aquarius.
Good luck, it will pass.

 

[naplesdon]

Two Camino Frances walked and countless liters of water from the public drinking fountains consumed and not one single problem. I tend to doubt any stomach problems are from the water. In all likelihood it's from bad food. Minor food poisoning. I even drank out of one fountain marked "non-potable" my first day on my first Camino (Valcarlos route) because I was just too damn thirsty not to, and had no ill effects.
Believe me, I'm a bit familiar with what kind of water to consume having worked and lived in Afghanistan and the Middle East for many years, as well as numerous trips to SE Asia. I have gotten food poisoning from those parts of the world, and it ain't no fun, especially when they got to run an IV on you. Those are the only places I drink bottled water. Otherwise I try not to contribute to the enormous mass of empty, plastic water bottles which will one day completely cover planet earth. Besides, you may not realize it, but water from the plastic bottles contain toxins from the plastic itself, especially if the bottles have been improperly stored in a high heat environment. It was a problem we had in Afghanistan where in some places it reached up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 Celsius) outdoors, and the bottles were stored in metal conex boxes where the temperature got even higher. We had to destroy countless bottles of water due to the toxins from the plastic. You could literally taste the plastic in the water.
So I'll take my chances with fountain water in Spain.

I totlally agree with Mark, I think the only time I've had a problem on the Camino can be blamed on the tuna enpanada I had late in the day and not the "questionable" water.
Regarding his comment about plastic products, apparently the same thing is true about the all to present Nalgene bottles.
There are way too many plastic bottles for our environment to handle, just go to the beach after a major storm and it will make you puke.
Five years in West Africa and the only "tummy bug" I ever experienced multiple time was from eating fly infested street food, I clearly knew where the flies had most likely made there last visit but when there is no other food source, starvation is not an option.

 

[JGun87]

I am praying for your recovery! Each Camino is different and I know you will get what you need out of your Camino.

I am in Logroño today. Been raining since Los Arcos. Sending good wishes to all the wet and cold pilgrims today!

 

[Arn]

Blisters are now the source of the pain. Got some Betadine, gauze and tape. Should be good to go.
Faith, great to meet you and Danielle.
I dropped by PH at 17:00 met some super folks.
God bless you and all at Pilgrim House. A fantastic place to unwind or get solid info.
un Saludos,
Arn

 

[fernandezr]

I shall correct.

I guess part of my apprehension or precaution is it is the field I work in. Much of the areas that the Camino passes through do not have proper sanitary collection systems. So where does it go? Cost for water in Spain is a premium, so of course I think about who pays for public fountains (potable spigots). You have to assume that the areas are being supplied by ground water systems, shallow wells dug or drilled to provide water to a population of several hundred. So.........


You are European so perhaps your bellies are better suited to drinking local water. Remember when the Spanish came to the new word.......Montezuma's revenge?


I will continue to use caution.

I have had the experience of "Montezuma's Revenge" in Mexico and that is a real nightmare. I have made perhaps 20 trips to Spain and have never gotten sick from either water or food....now Mexico is another story. Even the people who live there do NOT drink the tap water in Guadalajara or Mexico City. I was in a nice hotel in Guadalajara and they provided bottles of water that said "Agua Potable", which I drank. I paid for that one with a fierce attack of Montezuma's Revenge. One also has to watch for ice in drinks that wasn't made from Agua Potable or drops of water on glasses that were not washed in purified water. Again, in Spain I have never had any such experience.

 

[Mark Lee]

I am praying for your recovery! Each Camino is different and I know you will get what you need out of your Camino.

I am in Logroño today. Been raining since Los Arcos. Sending good wishes to all the wet and cold pilgrims today!

Rain or no rain, it's a great experience and I wish I walking it again.
Buen Camino

 

[Mark Lee]

Whatever the source of your problems, try to get some Buscapina from the Farmacia, and drink lots of Aquarius.
Good luck, it will pass.

Oh, it most certainly will "pass".....ha ha

 

[sriyantra]

The water out of the tap at the pension at Portomarin last night was brown so we opted for bottled water just in case!

 

[Sweetwalker]

Note to self: bring some antibiotics!

 

[Kanga]

@Sweetwalker my first aid kit is tiny, but I do take two tablets of amoxicillin, two Imodium tablets, and two painkillers. I figure two tablets of anything is enough to get me to a pharmacy or other medical help.