“Raw Water” is the Hot New Thing

[Cleopatra7]

There are numerous criticisms one can make about bottled water, but at least you can be sure that it probably won’t kill you. The same can’t be said for “raw water,” the newest trend for the bright young things of the twentieth century:

 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2018/1/4/16846048/raw-water-trend-silicon-valley

”Raw water” is basically just untreated water. I suppose advocates think they’re getting fresh, clean waster from some picturesque stream out of a postcard, but more likely than not, untreated water contains numerous pathogens from both human and animal waste, not to mention parasites. In essence, the rich and useless are paying premium dollars to do what billions of poor people around the world must do because they have no choice (ie knowingly drink contaiminated water. It will only be a matter of time before we hear about some rich person dying of dysentery or an amoeba infection because they craved the “mouthfeel” of dirty water.

[adidas]

I know ‘raw’ is meant to mean untreated but my first thought was ‘raw’ because of sewage. Gag.

[HarryPotterFan]

I heard about this!! The stupidity of humanity never ceases to amaze me. 

[SilverBeach]

This is beyond stupid and hopefully will be outlawed. Some people must be saved from themselves.

My church partners with a Kenyan church to supply huge potable water tanks to some of their rural communities. If these Silicon Valley idiots could see real "raw water" (I have), and know how difficult it is to even get dirty water over there in many places, maybe they wouldn't be such snobbish fools. Kind of pisses me off really. 

[Ozlsn]

52 minutes ago, SilverBeach said:

This is beyond stupid and hopefully will be outlawed. Some people must be saved from themselves.

My church partners with a Kenyan church to supply huge potable water tanks to some of their rural communities. If these Silicon Valley idiots could see real "raw water" (I have), and know how difficult it is to even get dirty water over there in many places, maybe they wouldn't be such snobbish fools. Kind of pisses me off really. 

It won't be outlawed. Might issue advisories against giving it to children after some get sick and/or die but they won't outlaw it. I find it bizarre given the known risks - my Lonely Planet book for the USA has a section on treating 'raw' water if hiking in remote areas ffs - but some people will folliw any trend or prophet who throws out the word "natural".

[The Roman from Ipanema]

 Water can't be raw, it is one of the purest thing on Earth, it can be treated and made safe to drink but "raw water"?, isn't that an oxymoron?

Sounds like these people need an Darwin award for deciding that dirty river or ground water filled with animal shit and cancer causing pesticides is a trend worth following.

[ViolaSebastian]

Maybe this presidential administration has hardened me, but some dumb rich bastard wants to get cholera? Let 'em. 

[SuperNova]

Let them go for it. People who are dumb enough to believe "raw water" has health benefits are weakening the gene pool, pun intended. This is natual selection at it's finest.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

Ugh. Guardia, cryptosporidium, liver flukes, and on and on. Ick.

It makes me appreciate my nephew and his Boy Scout friends (a few years back) comparing the latest water filter systems that they each got for backpacking. I see the point of spending extra money on a fancy water filtration set up for backcountry hiking. I really don't see the point of paying extra to drink questionable water.

I've drunk untreated water from a mountain spring at church camp. But the spring was fairly isolated, protected, and was routinely tested for quality! "Raw water" sounds like a must-have for people with more money than brains. 

[adidas]

I once drank unfiltered water close to the spring - and still ended up in the bathroom (in agony) for a few days. Apparently I wasn’t close *enough* to the spring! Haha

When I was in Fiji recently I accidentally got a belly full of river water. While someone was telling me to go behind a tree and stick my fingers down my throat (which I absolutely can not do - my severe vomit phobia is for another thread) of the locals reassured me that they drink the water all the time and the spring was literally right above us (I was at the bottom of a waterfall) but I was still wary. I was petrified for days, because of the memories of the last time. I ended up being fine, phew. 

My point, through ridiculous stories: why put yourself through the pain of days-long bathroom visits? Just filter your water, idiots!

[Ozlsn]

3 minutes ago, adidas said:

I once drank unfiltered water close to the spring - and still ended up in the bathroom (in agony) for a few days. Apparently I wasn’t close *enough* to the spring! Haha

When I was in Fiji recently I accidentally got a belly full of river water. While someone was telling me to go behind a tree and stick my fingers down my throat (which I absolutely can not do - my severe vomit phobia is for another thread) of the locals reassured me that they drink the water all the time and the spring was literally right above us (I was at the bottom of a waterfall) but I was still wary. I was petrified for days, because of the memories of the last time. I ended up being fine, phew. 

My point, through ridiculous stories: why put yourself through the pain of days-long bathroom visits? Just filter your water, idiots!

Ooh which Fijian river do you know? I did the same thing in a pool below a waterfall above the river, which freaked my husband out totally. Fortunately I didn't know I was pregnant at that stage or I probably would have stressed out too! We were on a trip up to a village - river name escapes me but the village was Nakavu (I think). It does occur to me thst the whole concept of Fiji water is "pure, natural" - but it's also filtered and tested. This seems to be less so.

[nastyhobbitses]

I once drank from a mountain stream in Iceland, because I was an idiot and accidentally left my water bottle in my hostel when I went on a day hike, and I was so terrified that I'd just drank water filled with pathogens and parasites and other creepy-crawlies that when I came back from my hike (which was great!), I asked the front desk at the hostel if I'd just given myself god knows what from drinking from a stream. He told me "nah, we drink from streams all the time here". Well, I didn't poop and vomit everywhere after that, so I guess he was right. Still, that experience taught me to always remember my water bottle when I go hiking. 

I did get sick from the water several times in China, and my students constantly had diarrhea and other gastrointestinal issues from the water, even though people only drink bottled or boiled water (using boiled/bottled for washing your face and brushing your teeth is a massive pain in the ass, so I'm pretty sure they and I got sick a lot from using untreated water for those things). If people want to drink "raw" water in most of the world, they're more than welcome to spend their days wondering if they've forgotten what a mostly solid poop feels like, puking so hard that blood vessels burst in their eyes, or what I lovingly call the Double Dragon, aka shomiting. 

[Gobsmacked]

When I saw the title I immediately thought of Gwyneth Paltrow. That's sad really.

We used to hike a lot in the Scottish mountains. The streams look wonderfully clear and inviting. But don't be tempted, there is nothing worse than walking a mile up stream and discovering a dead sheep lying in the water. 

We always took water with us. Also purification tablets just in case. 

[SilverBeach]

8 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

It won't be outlawed. Might issue advisories against giving it to children after some get sick and/or die but they won't outlaw it. I find it bizarre given the known risks - my Lonely Planet book for the USA has a section on treating 'raw' water if hiking in remote areas ffs - but some people will folliw any trend or prophet who throws out the word "natural".

The FDA could indeed outlaw the sale of this product in the US, this agency regulates more than food and drugs.

Kenyan "raw water" is brown and debris filled. It's not just clear untreated water. People drink it anyway because there are no alternatives.  To take unnecessary health risks for the sake of being trendy...I just can't. I hope these misguided hipsters at least refrain from giving this mess to children. AARGH. 

[Beermeet]

Don't these people watch Naked and Afraid???!!!!

[Elegant Mess]

1 hour ago, Gobsmacked said:

When I saw the title I immediately thought of Gwyneth Paltrow. That's sad really.

I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't find some way to market this via Goop!  

[Jess]

10 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

It won't be outlawed. Might issue advisories against giving it to children after some get sick and/or die but they won't outlaw it. I find it bizarre given the known risks - my Lonely Planet book for the USA has a section on treating 'raw' water if hiking in remote areas ffs - but some people will folliw any trend or prophet who throws out the word "natural".

https://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm046894.htm

Wrong the FDA already regulates bottled water quality. If they are not meeting FDA standards then they are breaking the law and the FDA will get around to shutting them down. If they are meeting standards then they are just scamming idiot rich people and not risking physical harm to them. 

[FloraKitty35]

Raw water, gross.  How long before one the geniuses behind this gets cholera or typhoid?

[Hashtag Blessed]

21 minutes ago, Jess said:

https://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm046894.htm

Wrong the FDA already regulates bottled water quality. If they are not meeting FDA standards then they are breaking the law and the FDA will get around to shutting them down. If they are meeting standards then they are just scamming idiot rich people and not risking physical harm to them. 

Good. I’m glad to think someone will put a stop to this eventually. Adults who want to be idiots and drink their magical bacteria filled water that will cure whatever ails them is one thing, but there will always be people who feed it to their unsuspecting children. Kids who can’t say “No thank you, mom and dad, I’d rather not die of cholera while you desperately try to cure my CP/Cancer/ADHD/whatever.”

Also: is it just me, or is this a symptom of something very wrong with science education in this country? I mean, I have been reading a lot about flat earthers and I feel like... damn, something is wrong. But what more can anyone do for the willfully ignorant? 

[Beermeet]

@Hashtag Blessed. Nope.  Not just you. Anti-science,  anti-education, flat earth, anti-vax is actually happening.  WTF.

[HarryPotterFan]

1 hour ago, Beermeet said:

@Hashtag Blessed. Nope.  Not just you. Anti-science,  anti-education, flat earth, anti-vax is actually happening.  WTF.

And I’d bet there’s a lot of over lap between those groups. Like ignorant people shouting, “I don’t want anything unnatural in my body! Fuck vaccines, filtered water, modern medicine, and all that fancy science garbage!” Meanwhile, as @SilverBeach said, there are people who straight up don’t have access to safe water. Fuck, people in Flint and Puerto Rico still don’t have access to potable water. People in areas lacking proper medical care will travel for many hours and line up for hours to get their child vaccinated. 

[Bad Wolf]

The boy scouts sound smarter than these people. They carry water purification systems, because you can't backpack with gallons of water. Wal-Mart sells purification tablets quite cheaply. 

[Cleopatra7]

21 minutes ago, HarryPotterFan said:

And I’d bet there’s a lot of over lap between those groups. Like ignorant people shouting, “I don’t want anything unnatural in my body! Fuck vaccines, filtered water, modern medicine, and all that fancy science garbage!” Meanwhile, as @SilverBeach said, there are people who straight up don’t have access to safe water. Fuck, people in Flint and Puerto Rico still don’t have access to potable water. People in areas lacking proper medical care will travel for many hours and line up for hours to get their child vaccinated. 

The articles I’ve read about “raw water” indicate that the primary audience are highly educated yuppies, especially those in Silicon Valley and other West Coast enclaves, who are interested in raw foods and “natural living.” This means that these people are highly educated, at least in the sense of having advanced degrees, and many probably do have science backgrounds. However, they probably also have an inflated sense of their own intelligence and a strong believe in the power of the “natural” over the “chemical.” Never mind that water is a chemical. The same appears to be true of the demographic background on anti-vaxxers.

[Terrie]

Quote

As for the report, I was struck at one result not reported that is generally considered critical to determining if water is pure: The level of coliform bacteria (E. coli, and other bacteria commonly found in feces, certain strains of which can cause disease.)

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/raw-water-latest-dangerous-natural-health-fad/

Plus, the company recommends you consume it within on "lunar cycle." Or it will turn green. Oh, and it's about $15/gallon. What a scam.

[Zola]

I live next to mountains, and when I was younger (circa 1992), we'd go spend our summer days up there, right on top of the ridge. We used to dip our hands into the stream that feeds the water reservoir and drink straight from it - but we had basic rules. You'd want to get water from the middle of the stream to avoid drinking from the "shore" where animals like raccoons might have been sitting, and preferably from a spot behind a rock. Nowhere where the water was still, always a steady flowing area. Nowhere close to any deer trails. No more than a handful at a time. 

Thankfully, none of us ever got sick. Not even a hint of that. We were lucky. We assumed the stream must be clean as they test the water there for fish stocking purposes.

Nevermind that humans are not fish - we were invincible, immortal, untouchable at that age. I wonder if these people drinking raw water feel the same way.