[ApplegateRanch]

I wouldn't want to drink downstream from a hred of cattle ot campers =o)

It builds character.:)

Like anything else, "Know your surroundings"! A lot of the places I had in mind are now either resorts or subdivisions, and whatever 'stream' is left is confined to a drainage ditch.

As a related thing, in 1971 while working in the Bechtel slurry lab, we ran tests on both San Francisco sewerage & water. The tap water had much higher levels of suspended solids. Naturally, that has nothing to do with pathogenic properties, but....

[GeronL]

water from 970 feet down has been filtered by 970 feet of ground, I suppose... =o)