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View Full Version : How good is Connecticut H2O?



texashiker
05-30-2004, 18:01
I am section hiking CT with a bunch of my family. I have a purifier but with the amount of people going I am looking into what extra I need (take way to long with only one purifier.).

1. Is it easy to find H2O along the CT section of the At?
2. How bad/good is it? Need a purifier? Tablets?
If yes... suggestions?

Thanks!
:-?
Texashiker

torch
06-01-2004, 11:42
Connecticut is probaby the state with the most frequent water sources along the AT. Most of the southern portion follows the river. You will need to take a filter, though.

Crash
06-01-2004, 21:32
Connecticut is probaby the state with the most frequent water sources along the AT. Most of the southern portion follows the river. You will need to take a filter, though.

Is the water from springs or streams?

thanx

cabalot
06-02-2004, 22:30
dont drink from the housatonic river, it is loaded with pcb's (mercury).
otherwise filter and treat water and you will be fine.

DebW
06-06-2004, 18:59
There are some wonderful springs in CT. Great one at Limestone Springs shelter, plus others you hike right past. Whether you filter or treat or drink it straight is your choice. Tastes good, though.

copythat
08-20-2004, 00:06
You probably won't have to drink from the river because there are springs (treat them! many are tagged for bacteria). If you do run out, the river's probably not all that bad. Yes, there are PCBs in the river. They are heavy and sink to the bottom. The river bottom is polluted, more as you go north, a lot in Massachusetts. (Right now they're diverting the river up there and scooping out the sediment.) And most things that live in the river (fish and Housy, the famous three-headed river monster) are polluted because the PCBs accumulate in their red meat (high-speed muscle). It's probably fine to dip, better farther from the Mass. line, but don't eat the fish and don't scoop anything out of the sediment, no matter how hungry you get. Or plan ahead and carry enough to get you to the next spring.

neo
09-12-2004, 23:20
i finished a section hike in early june this year,from delaware water gap to dalton mass,the water sources in ct and mass were great,much better than ny and nj.
all i carrried was a bottle of polar pure and a bottle bottle water filter,that only removes sediment,giardia and crypto,that basically what i have carried all the way from amicola falls in ga to dalton mass,i have been section hiking the AT since may 2001,the bota bottle of boulder colorado can be bought for as little as $ 12.99 and work great,first i filter my water then add a little polar pure to it,work great,its a chep light and effective combo:bse :clap :banana :jump :sun
happy trails to ya Neo

bearbait2k4
09-13-2004, 00:27
You will follow along the Housatonic River, and outlets of the Housatonic River (if I can remember correctly) throughout CT.

You will want to filter and/or treat water from this source, due to mercury poisoning. I mean, there are signs along the Housatonic that warn people of eating fish, etc. from the river because of this.

The water sources look much better than NJ/NY (clearish vw. brown water), but I'd still consider treatment, esp. if your filter doesn't remove all viruses.

You just have to be smart about water filtration. In the south, you have to worry about agriculture. In the North/North East (at least until you get to VT), you should worry about residential/factory runoff...especially if you are in lower elevations.

eyahiker
09-13-2004, 09:41
CT is a great state for h20, lots of it. Lots of cool frogs and spiders near sources too.

hustler
09-13-2004, 22:56
I went through in may and had no trouble at all with water. There was one shelter about 18 miles north of kent where the source was a beaver pond that wasn't very good. I boiled and was fine. I treated all the other sources with house-hold bleach and never had a problem.