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Yeah, I guess better safe than sorry. Giardia? Not sure what it is but it sounds rough!
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Giardia aka beaver fever is basically the one thing you have to worry about with Algonquin lake water and the main reason one treats it. It is a parasite carried mainly on beaver faces. I suppose it's not the ONLY thing, there could also be e. coli in the water from animal faces or carcasses, but giardia is generally the top concern.
Thing is, it's pretty much impossible to avoid consuming trace amounts of untreated lake water, especially if you go swimming. So I'm not too sure where to draw the line either.
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One more thing on water treatment, does anyone know if these types of filters can prevent illness from blue-green algae? I believe a sign I saw posted last year stated that filters won't prevent sickness. Perhaps because its a toxin not viral.
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Blue Green algae are not algae. They are a bacteria. Sure your water filter should filter them out.
E coli and giardia are also carried within you and you can contract Giardia by not handwashing well. It can be gotten at home quite nicely too. Its not just lake water. The poor beaver is much maligned. You can get it from a dog.
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I'm pretty sure no camping-scale filters will deal with blue-green algae, with the possible exception of any that use activated charcoal. While yes, blue-green algae is a bacteria, they emit toxins into the water that are water soluble, and your filter won't get the toxins out.
They put the signs out warning that your filter won't work for a reason.
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More likely you will get skin irritation. The article points out that large quantities of water need to be ingested/
I have only seen one algal bloom lake..of course one I had to teach canoeing on. and rescue class. No one drank the water though.
How prevalent are these in Algonquin other than Dickson and Laveille?
