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Water issue

elvee123

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Planning to walk the Camino in September 2018
Hi! I am Leani and planning to walk the camino in September. The problem is that I drink about 4l of water a day due to medication. What would be advisable - should I buy a bladder and carry it under my pack or should I just carry 2 2l water with me. Please advise as I am very unsure.

Thanks in advance!
 
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Hi Leani

If you're walking the CF then you certainly don't need to be carrying 4 litres all at once. ( I'm
thinking in terms of the weight here. )

On most stages you can get a water refill roughly every 5km. Northern Spain prides itself on
the quality of it's drinking water. Fountains which you can't drink from will be clearly marked.
They were few and far between. Regular top ups also give you the advantage of cool water.

The bottle versus bladder debate has many a thread on here so I won't add to it.

Buen Camino
 
Hi! I am Leani and planning to walk the camino in September. The problem is that I drink about 4l of water a day due to medication. What would be advisable - should I buy a bladder and carry it under my pack or should I just carry 2 2l water with me. Please advise as I am very unsure.

Thanks in advance!
It would be helpful if you said what camino you're walking.
 
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Hi, Leani and a warm welcome to the forum.

There are two camps to the issue of how to carry water; water bottles vs water reservoirs/bladders.

If you are walking Camino Frances, you will be able to continually resupply with safe and clean water frequently throughout the day; you will not run out of sources. Public fountains and all of the bars and restaurants can provide all the water you want.

This means that you do not have to carry a large amount of heavy water (2.2 pounds per liter) to get yourself through the day.

The big exception is from St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles. In this section, there are very few water sources, but even if you drink 4 liters of water daily, you can easily get by with carrying from 1.5 to 2 liters doing this section. Other days, 1 to 1.5 liters will be enough to get you from one water source to the next, with a reserve.

If you are hiking in hot weather, you will need to adjust these amounts to suit your needs.

As to which container to use, that is an individual choice. If you want to know why I prefer water bladders, then please let me know. If you use the search engine and plug in "water bladders" or "water reservoirs" or "water bottles", you will find a huge amount of previous discussion. :)
 
There are plenty of places to refill your water along the Camino. You don't need to carry all the water that you need for the day. Except along a couple of stretches you probably don't need to carry more than a liter.
 
Carry one litre with you in two, half litre bottles.
You will have no problem filling them up three more times throughout the day.
Or if you prefer to use a water bladder you don't need to fill it up. I have a 2 liter bladder that I usually fill just half way, except for areas like the stretch after Carrion de los Condes.
 
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As others have said, there is a huge amount of discussion regarding use of water bladders and bottles. But, here is a discussion that MAY be of use to you...

You mentioned taking medication that compels you to consume additional volumes of water daily. Does this situation also cause you to be concerned about water quality?

If you must ensure that you are drinking only the best quality water at all times, or have to be extra cautious to avoid water that could remotely cause your GI tract distress, consider this.

Water bladders have their advantages. However, not rinsing and cleaning them regularly could lead to problems with bacteria. Carrying the necessary supplies and chemicals to rinse and clean the bladder adds weight to your load. Plus, the empty bladder has a weight that an empty plastic water bottle does not.

Also, if you intend to try to use only bottled water (as I do) consider that each time you buy more water, it comes in a handy (and free) new bottle. Always recycle or dispose of used bottles properly.

You can refill both bladders and bottles. But, recycling a used bottle is easier than cleaning a water bladder. My practice is to use multiple usually four, .5 liter water bottles distributed about my rucksack and front harness to distribute the weight.

If I know in advance that I need to pack extra water to get across a specific stretch of Camino, for example the Meseta from Carrion de los Condes to Moratinos (31 km), I buy one or two 1.5 liter bottles of water and stick them in my rucksack mesh pockets, or lash one to the bottom using he sleeping bag pad straps or to the top using a boot lace or whatever I have.

For example, typically, I leave Carrion de los Condes carrying five or six liters of water. This would be 2 liters in my small bottles, plus another 3 -4 liters in 2 water bottles I just bought for the purpose.

This is not because I need it, but so I have extra to give to other Pilgrims who did not get the memo... Along this particular stretch, many public fountains / fuentes have been contaminated by decades of fertilizer and pesticide use, or by animal manure seeping into the shallow wells and springs from pasture above. Many of the affected fuentes are posted non-potable, but not all are so posted. I choose not to take the chance.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
.... Many of the affected fuentes are posted non-potable, but not all are so posted.....
How do you know the affected but not-so-posted fuentes?
Is it only the first day after Carrion de los Condes that you are so careful?
 
Having a large amount of experience with backpacking using both bottles and bladders, let me underscore and agree, to an extent, what t2andreo has pointed out about bladders. They can be a harbor to bacteria and molds that will affect water quality. The caveat is to define under what conditions such would occur.

When a reservoir is used on a daily basis and is being refilled and depleted of its water as it is used, it is no more susceptible to problems than a water bottle. At the end of the day, it is a simple matter to rinse out a bladder and either refill it and put it back into its spot in one's pack, or to keep it open and let it dry out as you would a water bottle. The opening on my Platypus Big Zip is simply propped open slightly with piece of a chopstick and hung upright. It dries out quickly this way.

The real problem occurs with storing a reservoir that won't be used for a while. When doing so, it is simple to rinse out, fill with water, add about 1/8th of a cup of household bleach, and then proceed to drain the bladder via the mouth tube. Set it aside to dry, OR, you can stash it in the freezer until you next need it.

If while on Camino, you wish to do more than a rinse and dry and periodically wish to do a formal sanitization, then there are inexpensive tablets one can purchase for this purpose at any outdoor store in Spain. Or even the equivalent of an Effedent tablet for dentures. Simple fill the reservoir, drop in a tablet, and let it sit for 30 minutes after running a bit of the water thru the tube. There is no need to carry even the minimal weight of these tablets since you can pick these up easily enough. This works well for bottle users, too.

If bleach is available at an alburgue, you can use a bit of that in a filled bladder instead of tablets.

Another method of sanitizing is to use the UV radiation of the sun. Fill the bladder with water and hang it exposed to the sun on the back of your pack or on a clothesline.

As I said, though, there is no real need to disinfect when the bladder is in daily use. The exception would be, just as with a bottle, if you accidentally put water from a potentially contaminated source into the bladder.

The weight issue was also rightly addressed by t2andreo. My 2 liter reservoir weighs in at about 4 ounces. A typical empty water bottle, like the 1 liter sized Smartwater bottle that is popular with backpackers, is about 1.3 ounces in weight. So the equivalent 2 liter weight would be 4 ounces for the reservoir vs 2.6 ounces for the bottles. ( 113 grams vs 74 grams).
 
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In my experience on the Camino Frances, it is only the segment from Carrion de los Condes until about Moratinos, before you find a cafe or bar. The water available at these places (bars & cafes) is safe to drink. There ARE some albergues or hostals at Calzadilla de l Cueza, and at Terradillos de los Templarios, where you might be able to obtain safe tap water, but no cafes or bars that I am aware of from Carrion until Moratinos, about 31 km.

As a general rule, avoid the fountains or wells along this stretch. Yes, I know that someone will chime in here as claim they suffered no ill effects. For any general rule of thumb, there are ALWAYS outliers. Good for you.

But, please pay attention when I suggest to you that short of actual physical death on the Camino, the worst thing that can happen to you is contracting a gastrointestinal illness. Just stop and think about what having "jelly belly" would mean with no ready access to facilities. At the risk of going to far....TMI...being too graphic, just say NO to unverifiable water sources on this segment.

Be careful out there...
 
In my experience on the Camino Frances, it is only the segment from Carrion de los Condes until about Moratinos, before you find a cafe or bar. The water available at these places (bars & cafes) is safe to drink. There ARE some albergues or hostals at Calzadilla de l Cueza, and at Terradillos de los Templarios, where you might be able to obtain safe tap water, but no cafes or bars that I am aware of from Carrion until Moratinos, about 31 km.
There are a couple of albergues, and at least two restaurants/bars in Calzadilla de la Cueza. I stayed there last year at Albergue/Hostal Los Canarios, where I had one of the best pilgrim meals of my Camino. And I can't remember the name of it, but I had a tinto de verano with a friend at another bar.
 
Okay, I stand corrected. Thank you. But this is still something like 20 km from Carrion. So, one would still need to plan to have enough water.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
...
Be careful out there...
So I can refill my bottles at any fountain on the Camino Frances or any other camino that is posted as "potable".
But from Carrion de los Condes until Moratinos it is safer to only refill at bars or albergues. So I should take enough water for the first 17km-20km after Carrion de los Condes, because there is no safe water fountain (with luck there may be a food truck in between).

Never use water of "no-potable" fountains or irrigation troughs for drinking.

What do you personally do with other posted fountains [ no post, "Agua no tratada", "Agua sin garantia", ... ]?
 
Short answer YES. Also, avoid ANY fountain / fuente ANYWHERE that is posted:
  • No-potable,
  • Non-potable,
  • Agua no tratada, (untreated water)
  • Agua sin garantia (water not guaranteed)
  • OR the international bad water sign...a red circle with a faucet inside it, and a diagonal red line through the faucet, crossing the circle...see inset image...
1526390123568.jpeg

If it does not say "potable," I would suggest not trusting it. If it clearly comes from a cafe or bar, church or private home, it is likely treated tap water. Treated Spanish tap water meets international standards for purity and safety and can be reliably consumed.

Personally, I avoid all fountains, restricting myself to bottled water to the maximum extent possible. It is a medical issue for me. I cannot afford to contract a GI illness. So, extra precautions must be taken. It never affects my Camino. If I must use locally sourced water, I am circumspect about my choices. It becomes second nature.

Hope this helps.
 
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