water

[excitedwalker]

Hi everyone,

Some question about water:

1. How much is recommended to carry on you while you are walking? About 2 liters? Or is one enough if you fill it up in the villages you walk through?

2. Is it safe to drink tap water, is it necessary to have some form of water purification system/chemicals/etc?

3. Bladder or bottle?

Thanks,
Excitedwalker and Artemisofephesus

 

[William Marques]

1. How much is recommended to carry on you while you are walking? About 2 liters? Or is one enough if you fill it up in the villages you walk through?

2. Is it safe to drink tap water, is it necessary to have some form of water purification system/chemicals/etc?

3. Bladder or bottle?

1. The amount of water you need to carry depends on the route you are on and the length of the stage you are on. In general on the Camino Frances you can fill up at the villages you pass through.

2. Yes it is safe to drink tap water. It is also generally safe to drink from the water fountains on the path. I always get a little tummy trouble on the early stages of any journey but it passes. Do not drink from the fountains marked "non potable".

3. Personal choice. I bladder most bottle.

Buen Camino
William

 

[Trudy]

1. The amount you take is really a matter of what you can carry - 1 litre of water equals 1 kilogram. I take two 600ml bottles, the type you buy water in, as I find any more is far too heavy for me.

2. Water is safe to drink, and it's OK to refill from village fountains. Any non-drinkable water is labelled non-potable. Forget the water purification tablets.

3. Most pilgrims seem to use bottles, and some use bladders. Keep in mind that bottles can be rinsed out easily and cleaned with a little soap, but bladders seem to require much more work to keep clean.

Trudy

 

[kubapigora]

I'm usually using an alu-bottle, which is very light and seem to keep your water cold a little bit longer; but this year I'm thinking to use plastic ones- as they are probably not much different from the aluminium ones (what is your opinion?).
And 1 litre is usually absolutelly enough- unless you want to stop in the middle of nowhere for a night.
Take care!

 

[excitedwalker]

Thanks for the tips guys

I think I'm going to take a 1 litre water bottle. My friend sells a bottle which is made from non-toxic materials and is lightweight, I'll get the name of it and post it here for anyone interested.

 

[kubapigora]

Have anyone of you been using those collapsable bottles? I can't really see the point, but I have found one on a supermarket shelf for around 1Euro.

 

[Arn]

I carried two bottles: one Katahydn filtering bottle which I drank from every time I passed a fountain and a 12 oz orange juice bottle that I kept in my pack. I never ran out of water (Spring run off) and because of the Kat bottle could drink from ANY water source.

Arn

 

[kubapigora]

Arn- can you say something more about those filtering bottles? How they look like? How heavy they are?

 

[Arn]

Hi, Here is the REI link to the bottles:

http://www.rei.com/product/720270

They weigh no more than a Sitz bottle or other brand..but they remove any concern about good water, Then are good for 1000 fillings ..way more that you'd get on the Camino...piece of mind is all important especially in the Summer months when water may be scarce... you can take water from the most disgusting source and drink..

Hope that helps!

Arn

 

[kubapigora]

Looks interesting, but the price... I think we will stay with our alu-bottles and buy some bottled water in a cafe if we need some.
Thanks!

 

[Javier Martin]

"My friend sells a bottle which is made from non-toxic materials and is lightweight" (ExcitedWalker)

In my opinion the best is to buy the 1/2 litre plastic bottles in supermarkets and petrol stations. Cheap, resistant, the lightest weight and, if you lose it, you can buy another one at the next town.

I use to carry two of those.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.

 

[notion900]

I took a 2 litre Platypus bladder and it was brilliant. All the water is drinkable unless labelled Non Potabile (rare) although weirdly there was fewer water fountains in rainy Galicia than elsewhere. Get into the habit of looking ahead in your guidebook for the day and planning ahead for dry patches - that is why I took a two litre bottle - I did not always need to fill it right up, but I sometimes needed to. Hosed bladders are great becuase they make you drink more because it is so easy. Be sure to drink some water before sinking a beer at the end of the day, drinking beer when dehydrated can make you very nauseous. By the end of my Camino I was glowing with health, which I partly put down to all the lovely fresh water i drank. i never treated or filtered it or bought bottled water, a waste of money and bad for the environment.

 

[Anonymous]

Get into the habit of looking ahead in your guidebook for the day and planning ahead for dry patches

Ha ha! I'm walking through France in the fourth week of rain... Yes, please let's have some dry patches. I'll happily suffer the thirst!

Please tell me when I cross the Pyrenees the rain will stop... :?

Gareth
http://whizz-kidz-pilgrim.blogspot.com

 

[sillydoll]

I must confess to being one of those pilgrims who bought Coke and water from vending machines!
I like drinking half coke/half water when it is hot (a hangover from my marathon days).
Like Javier, I carry two 500ml bottles. One in the bottle pouch on my waist bag and the other in the bottle pouch on my backpack.
I always threw the empties into garbage or recycle bins - promise! :wink:

 

[windeatt]

THREE TIPS:

1. In France you can get drinking water at the edge of every village and also even beside some isolated churches - the tap will be in the cemetery. My companion hated the idea at first but it is OK and you'll see all the French walkers queing up to refill their bottles. You can also ask people in any houses you pass - we did this once on a horrible day in 35 degree heat and the lady was very happy to fill our bottles - she said they did it frequently for passing pilgrims.

2. I carried a couple of 750 ml bottles on hot days and also one of those bendy 500 ml bottles which fitted neatly into the food bag and kept any food cool. If you have access to a fridge overnight you can put your bottles in the freezer and they then keep your water and food deliciously cool during the day.

3, I guess the amount you need is very personal - like the the boots/shoes debate - I need an awful lot if I have to go up steep hills in hot weather - and if I don't drink enough I get headachy. You also need to be careful on warm windy days because the wind chill factor means you often don't realise you are dehydrated until the headache or dizziness strikes.

Windy