Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Ecoli contamination

Whitney Portal water is contaminated - take necessary steps.

It was reported in this trip report on Aug 4 that the Portal Store grill is shut down due to the water contamination.

I assume the water supply there comes right out of the stream and is untreated?????

Does this mean?
(1) High flow rate this year has not resulted in "dilution is the solution to pollution" but instead is flushing out buried waste and stashed wagbags?

(2) this event disproves the safety of "dip and sip?"

Any insight on what this means in regards to drinking water at higher elevations (i.e. trail camp)? Was planning on only bringing my Sawyer mini for filtering. Do any of you more experienced trekkers think that'll suffice?

I am one of the "Dip and Sip" people. Based on this info, I think I'd refrain from doing that in the streams coming out of the drainage.

I think I might still use the water coming INto the Trail Camp area, and the water at about Switchback 25, since they both come from untraveled areas above Trail Camp.

But dip-and-sip is definitely a personal choice.

If the Sawyer mini is supposed to filter E.coli:
"The MINI removes 99.99999% of all bacteria, such as salmonella, cholera, leptospirosis, and E.coli; removes 99.9999% of all protozoa, such as giardia and cryptosporidium"  (link)
Using the filter for this situation is exactly why you are carrying it.

I went up on Thursday - up to Consultation Lake - used my Sawyer Mini and Steripen.

I was topping up at pretty much every major stream.

No problems so far. The Mini on its own was probably enough, but I wanted to sterilise the water too, just in case.

Doug on his forum today says about the E.Coli:

the sample that tested positive was in the lower campground near a bathroom fountain..

So, I'd say campgrounds and corrals - animals there and beware

But all the water, from the Portal Store down to the bottom fountain or spigot, comes from the same intake -- which would need to be a little above the Portal Store. If one outlet is suspect, they all are. And I don't think there is any way for contamination to get inside a pressurized water line -- unless the line is de-pressurized at some point in time, as in the winter when they shut it down.

Unless anyone can identify an alternate method for contamination to enter the water system, the only place I can think of is the intake.

Took this from CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/travel/backcountry_water_treatment.html):

Bacteria - (for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella,
E. coli) 

Methods that may remove some or all of bacteria from drinking water are:

1. Boiling (Rolling boil for 1 minute) has a very high effectiveness in killing bacteria; At altitudes greater than 6,562 feet, you should boil water for 3 minutes.

2. Filtration has a moderate effectiveness in removing bacteria when using an absolute less than or equal to 0.3 micron filter;

3. Disinfection with iodine or chlorine has a high effectiveness in killing bacteria;

4. Disinfection with chlorine dioxide has a high effectiveness in killing bacteria;

5. Combination filtration and disinfection has a very high effectiveness in removing and killing bacteria when used with iodine, chlorine, or chlorine dioxide and an absolute less than or equal to 0.3 micron filter (NSF Standard 53 or 58 rated "cyst reduction / removal" filter).

Doug said (on Aug 3)

Water system placed on a boil order yesterday .so don't take the water out of the faucets and use without boiling,retesting and flushing ongoing .We closed the kitchen until the system is cleared.The problem faucet is in the campground but we are on the same supply ,all other water is testing clear but the County has requested the system be chlorinated and flushed.This was done yesterday and the system will be flushed and tested today.