Do you use public drinking fountains?

[PamNY]

I've recently started birding with two friends who will not touch them. We are usually in city parks, and always on foot, so the weight of carrying water is an issue.

I used to be a little hesitant about drinking fountains in the park, but I saw so many people using them, I got over it.

Opinions?

[Eden]

...... what do they think is going to happen if they use them...... You encounter millions and millions of germs everyday, public fountains I would guess are probably not a serious source of infections (if you want to be grossed out look into what's usually on money....), not to mention that a few germs aren't necessarily super bad for you, as long as you aren't immune compromised.

If it's water quality, our public water around here is some of the best in the US AFAIK, so I'm not worried about that either.

[OakLeaf]

I mean, as long as you let the water flow for a second or two after you turn it on, it's coming straight out of the pipe anyway. If you're the first one to use it in a few days it can taste pretty nasty (and would probably have enough crud in it from the pipe that I wouldn't make a habit of it), but I don't think there's much danger of that there.

[ny biker]

Yes I use public fountains.

[OakLeaf]

It must be time for this again ... although I seem to be the only one who finds it so hilarious. To me it perfectly captures the uniquely American germ phobia, while acknowledging that basic precautions can prevent a lot of infectious disease.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqOVYpkZ0qs

[Eden]

lol - I think that's pretty funny too....

I'm actually quite a fan of microorganisms as producers of tasty foods - I like yogurt (bacteria), natto (bacteria), cheese (bacteria/fungus), sake (fungus), soy sauce (fungus), pickles (bacteria), miso (fungus), kimchi (bacteria), wine (fungus).... I think I could go on... and on.... yum, microorganisms are tasty

[malkin]

I even drink from drinking fountains at the schools where I work.
Why not? I'm exposed to everything the kids have already.

[Blueberry]

I drink from public fountains all the time (actually, I usually refill my water bottle at them - but same difference). I'm all over a university campus and in a hospital. I can't carry all the water I drink in a day, and the other options are 1) dehydration or 2) buying bottles. I'll take my chances.

[PamNY]

Their concerns seemed to be 1) dogs drinking from the fountains, and 2) use by people for whom hygiene is problematic (quite a few homeless people live in the parks). Presumably they are worried that a previous user could have left pathogen-laden saliva on the fountain. I pointed out that few diseases are transmitted from dogs to humans, and that I have a robust immune system.

Outdoor urban water fountains are used by birds a lot -- which is what made me wonder about them in the first place. Pigeons in particular seem to just sit there hoping water will appear. I don't have much knowledge of zoonotic diseases in birds but I know there are some.

Are Americans uniquely germ-phobic? I've heard there is considerable emphasis on cleanliness in Japan, but don't have personal knowledge of the phenomenon in that (or any other) culture other than my own.

I am inclined to think if disease transmission via water fountain were a problem, someone would know about it.

[OakLeaf]

Well ... (and I have shared Holy Communion with people who probably had TB, although this was before today's multi-drug-resistant strains) ... you're not sucking water from the nozzle or lapping it out of the basin, you're drinking from the stream. Once it's flowed for a few seconds, it's rinsed off anything that might've been on the nozzle.

As far as the Americans thing ... that's just my impression. I don't know much about Japan, but my sister lived there for two years and never mentioned anything of the kind. The way people here go into a national tizzy over reusable shopping bags (heaven forbid we should actually WASH them, just throw them away and use plastic ones!!) or bartenders' garnishes, or whatever the bacteria-ridden common household item du jour happens to be. And never stop to think, if the checkout conveyor belts in grocery stores are really that repulsive, maybe they shouldn't be buying food there at all. In Italy, I've seen workers dip their pails into the same public fountain in which a mother rinsed her infant's pacifier. (but then again, in Italy, you do NOT touch fruit on display to choose the piece you want ... so maybe it's just a cultural thing of which germs people are afraid of?)

[PamNY]

(but then again, in Italy, you do NOT touch fruit on display to choose the piece you want ... so maybe it's just a cultural thing of which germs people are afraid of?)

I'd be willing to bet that's true, though I can't name examples.

I think one of these people may be a little germ-phobic in general. I saw a bike light on the road and picked it up to see if it was usable. He asked if I wasn't afraid of germs. :rolleyes: I wasn't planning to put it in my mouth.

[Catrin]

I've no problem using water fountains, as others have said we are drinking from the stream anyway.

[zoom-zoom]

What these people should be scared of is going near a "sanitary" hospital...full of staph infections. That's terrifying!

[snapdragen]

I have no issues using public water fountains. My dog refuses to use public doggie water fountains, she turns her nose up at them as if to say "Ick, dog spit".

[smilingcat]

Wow American loving natto. blachhh and I spent part of my childhood in Japan. I was born there first generation Japanese.

Water out of the fountain in Central Park NY, I always put my hand over the fixture and washed off the fixture with water turned on, waited two seconds or so before drinking from it. Even then I'm bit weary. I've seen too many dogs licking the fountain fixture... yewww!!! I only drink from it in dire need.

Back to the stinky stinky natto. My sister used to put it on her hot bowl of rice to really stink it up. It was the only thing she could use to get to my sensibility. I had to leave the area. Hate that stuff. Sticky, hate the texture, color looks like poop and did I mention its STINKY!!

So I'm in the minority.

My mother is germ-phobic. I guess I am too to some extent. I often use peroxide on counter after handling chicken, meat, fish...

[Eden]

lol... I'm a weirdo caucasian I guess. I really like natto - I've even fermented it myself (it's quite easy really - just need soybeans, a warm dark place and natto starter). At the sushi bar I frequent one of the three owners (all Issei) won't even touch it, much less eat it - fortunately for me Yoshi loves it and loves that I love it :).

[Owlie]

My mother forbade me from using public water fountains. But then, she was a microbiology major and also forbade me from going outside barefoot. And yes, in school I saw some kids put their mouths on the fixture. EEW. If need be, I'll use them, but I'll run the water for a couple seconds. I mainly use outdoor ones for refilling water bottles. Indoor ones...if the water's cold and doesn't taste nasty, sure. I don't have that kind of luck, at least in the last few buildings I've worked in.

[OakLeaf]

Heh. I love Chinese fermented tofu, but I've never been able to bring myself to try natto. It's the texture that puts me off, I like the flavor of all kinds of stinky fermented stuff. DH won't even let me bring kimchi into the house. :p

Funny though, now I think about it, I do kind of have an aversion to filling my water bottle from a bathroom sink ... even though that's usually the only public water supply in most places. It's not a strong enough aversion that I won't do it, but if there's a drinking fountain I much prefer that psychologically.

[Crankin]

There aren't too many public fountains around here; the one I use is on the town green in Harvard center. It's used by millions of cyclists to re-fill bottles and I never think about it. I also routinely fill bottles in bathroom sinks.
Of course my shocking lack of worry about germs amazes some of my friends. I am basically a clean person who doesn't really think or worrry about germs.

[nuliajuk]

As long as your mouth isn't actually touching the metal part of the fountain, I don't see a problem. The water pressure is going to force any bacteria that was in the pipe out within a few seconds. If a person is really worried about it, they could just bring an extra bottle from home, let the fountain run a while, then partially fill the bottle and drink from it.
Being in a small enclosed space with coughing people in the winter is probably far riskier than drinking from a public fountain. But then, my immune system works a little too well, so perhaps I'm not the best example of a typical response.

[Jolt]

I have never been too worried about using public drinking fountains...there are germs everywhere and that's why we have an immune system. As stated above, there are plenty of other public scenarios that are probably a lot germier and we don't even think twice about them.

[shootingstar]

I guess I'm in the middle about using outdoor public drinking fountains. But will use them if I have no choice.

I just hate it when I see people spit into the drinking fountain!

[OakLeaf]

You know, this thread was definitely on my mind this morning when it rained on our club ride.

I DO know someone who got very sick from drinking water from a frame-mounted water bottle. You do know that if you ride through water, whatever's in that water is now on the valve of your water bottle ... reclaimed water in the suburbs, dogsh*t and automotive chemicals in the city, cow and pig manure and ag chemicals in the country. But I still drink from my water bottle, and so does everyone else I know.

[skhill]

I drink from public drinking fountains just about daily, but I do usually let them run a bit first. And I've been pestering our parks department weekly to fix the fountain by our only public running track-- it keeps getting vandalized. Argggghhh.... It also gets to me that the doggie drinking fountains at the dog parks are left on year-round, but the ones for humans will be turned off for the winter soon.

I'm planning on starting this fall's first batch of sauerkraut this afternoon, hooray! There's usually something fermenting in my kitchen; I'm awed at the power of microorganisms to do wonderful things to food.

[Eden]

You know, this thread was definitely on my mind this morning when it rained on our club ride.

I DO know someone who got very sick from drinking water from a frame-mounted water bottle.

oh yeah.... we had a rainy day race on roads near where a farmer had recently manured his farms..... more than one person got sick after that day.

[emily_in_nc]

You know, this thread was definitely on my mind this morning when it rained on our club ride.

I DO know someone who got very sick from drinking water from a frame-mounted water bottle. You do know that if you ride through water, whatever's in that water is now on the valve of your water bottle ... reclaimed water in the suburbs, dogsh*t and automotive chemicals in the city, cow and pig manure and ag chemicals in the country. But I still drink from my water bottle, and so does everyone else I know.

Absolutely. I got just about as sick as I've ever been in my adult life during Bike Virginia in 2003 from just this. We were riding through a rural area with chicken farms, and it had rained recently, so apparently there was chicken poop in the rain run-off on the road. Or at least that's what the CDC came up with when over 100 of us contracted Camplyobacter during or after the event. Oh, I was so sick!

But I do drink out of public water fountains without a thought. I too have a bit of a psychological aversion to drinking water out of glasses or bottles filled from a bathroom sink, though I'll do it.

[malkin]

...

Water out of the fountain in Central Park NY, I always put my hand over the fixture and washed off the fixture with water turned on, waited two seconds or so before drinking from it. Even then I'm bit weary. I've seen too many dogs licking the fountain fixture... yewww!!! I only drink from it in dire need...

Wouldn't you end up with the cooties on your hand then?

[Owlie]

Absolutely. I got just about as sick as I've ever been in my adult life during Bike Virginia in 2003 from just this. We were riding through a rural area with chicken farms, and it had rained recently, so apparently there was chicken poop in the rain run-off on the road. Or at least that's what the CDC came up with when over 100 of us contracted Camplyobacter during or after the event. Oh, I was so sick!

But I do drink out of public water fountains without a thought. I too have a bit of a psychological aversion to drinking water out of glasses or bottles filled from a bathroom sink, though I'll do it.

[strongly considers switching to the Camelbak...]

[Catrin]

[strongly considers switching to the Camelbak...]

That is indeed one of the advantages! I still use mine, though I have to be far more careful how full it is than before my neck injury. I DID figure out how to continue using it, for now at least. Discussing a different approach with my fitter. We will see.

[ny biker]

[strongly considers switching to the Camelbak...]

One reason I use a Camelback while mountain biking is that it's cleaner than drinking out of bottles from bottle cages. And I'm somewhat germophobic -- I do things like press elevator buttons with my elbow instead of using my hands (a habit I developed a few years back when there was a shortage of flu shots and many coughing people in the building where I worked). But I don't think twice about drinking from water fountains or filling my water bottle at them, and I never think about about germs on the bottle when riding through water.

Some friends did a big metric century ride recently in Amish country in Pennsylvania. It rained that day, and I've heard that they encountered mushy cow pies on the road. I was planning to do that ride next year -- maybe I'll bring my Camelback if there's rain the forecast...

[PamNY]

Absolutely. I got just about as sick as I've ever been in my adult life during Bike Virginia in 2003 from just this. We were riding through a rural area with chicken farms, and it had rained recently, so apparently there was chicken poop in the rain run-off on the road. Or at least that's what the CDC came up with when over 100 of us contracted Camplyobacter during or after the event. Oh, I was so sick!

But I do drink out of public water fountains without a thought. I too have a bit of a psychological aversion to drinking water out of glasses or bottles filled from a bathroom sink, though I'll do it.

Emily, that sounds like no fun at all. I think campylobacter can turn up in pigeon poop -- that's one of the reasons I wondered about the safety of park fountains.

[Jolt]

I DO know someone who got very sick from drinking water from a frame-mounted water bottle. You do know that if you ride through water, whatever's in that water is now on the valve of your water bottle ... reclaimed water in the suburbs, dogsh*t and automotive chemicals in the city, cow and pig manure and ag chemicals in the country. But I still drink from my water bottle, and so does everyone else I know.

"Yecch...this tastes like crap!!!" All smart-azzery aside, that is a good point that I hadn't thought of. Maybe that's why they make some water bottles with the flip top cover over the valve.

[Owlie]

That, I think, is the big advantage with the valve on the Camelbak podium bottles over the conventional valve found on a lot of bottles. I still think the Polar bottles are better insulated, but it turns out that the lids from the big Podium bottles fit the 24oz Polar bottles. :D

[nuliajuk]

I'm sure I've seen water bottles with a flip-off cap over the valve somewhere. Can't remember who makes them, though.

[Crankin]

I can't believe this thread is still going.

[Irulan]

You know, this thread was definitely on my mind this morning when it rained on our club ride.

I DO know someone who got very sick from drinking water from a frame-mounted water bottle. You do know that if you ride through water, whatever's in that water is now on the valve of your water bottle ... reclaimed water in the suburbs, dogsh*t and automotive chemicals in the city, cow and pig manure and ag chemicals in the country. But I still drink from my water bottle, and so does everyone else I know.


Anyone here remember when Tinker Juarez ( famous mountain bike racer) got Gieardia from mud during race from it getting on his frame mounted water bottle?

[PamNY]

I had this bottle with a cover, but I dropped it and the cover broke off. Thanks to this thread, I'm ordering a new one.

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80942

Also on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Nalgene-ATB-All-Terrain-Bottle-Black/dp/B002PLUEVC

[Owlie]

I can't believe this thread is still going.

Maybe not the best phrase to use, given the Campylobacter mentioned upthread...

[GLC1968]

I drink from public fountains all the time. I fill water bottles from them as well (except in FL where the water tastes awful to me!). Somehow, outdoors fountains seem safer to me than indoors ones...maybe because fresh air seems better than stale, recycled air? Who knows.

There was more than once that I accidentally got sprayed in the face with chicken crap laced water when cleaning out our coops and I never got sick. Of course, our birds were healthy but you never know. I also make my own mayo with raw eggs. I can my own stuff and eat it two years later. I put things in the crock pot in the morning but don't turn it on until noon. I leave my lunch on my desk instead of putting in the fridge (it is insulated). Oh the horror!

I also travel a lot for work. I touch a lot of stuff around a lot of people...many of whom are sick and oblivious as to how to keep their germs to themselves. Eh. I don't get sick often and when I do, it's mild.

I think I have a pretty awesome immune system and it's probably a good thing since clearly, I'm kind of the opposite of a germaphobe! :o

[ny biker]

I don't get sick often and when I do, it's mild.

Unfortunately not everyone reacts like that. I've had experiences where everyone at work gets sick and is better after a week, while I'm still coughing up parts of my lungs three weeks later. This is why I developed my germaphobe habits.

[Crankin]

I'm like GLC, in that I don't routinely think about germs. I used to get sick all of the time, but since I started spending more time outdoors, it's decreased immensely. So while I have some chronic things, I just don't worry about stuff like this.
I rode through a lot of farm country on my recent Vermont tour, but with no ill effects. When I told DH about the chicken poop issue based on this thread, he said it traumatized him and couldn't get it out of his head!

[Pax]

I work at a university and use the public water fountains all day, refill my water bottle at least three times a days from one as well. I don't seem to get sick very often (except the endless belly issues left over from the Mexico trip), I wonder if it's related to being around 40,000 college kids who seem to be sick A LOT; maybe I've gained a better immune system from it?

[emily_in_nc]

I rode through a lot of farm country on my recent Vermont tour, but with no ill effects. When I told DH about the chicken poop issue based on this thread, he said it traumatized him and couldn't get it out of his head!

Oh gosh, I am so sorry! My DH was on the same ride as me and drank from his water bottle with nary a problem. I guess just a small % of folks on the ride were affected by the bacteria. I still use water bottles and don't worry about it, and my immune system tends to be pretty good in that I rarely get colds, etc. I think what happened on that ill-fated Bike Virginia is very rare, so I hope your DH won't let it worry him unduly.

[OakLeaf]

I flew out of LGA my last trip, and they now have no-touch water bottle refilling stations at the drinking fountains. A slot with an optical switch (and no soap to gum it up like the optical switches in the handwashing sinks), a high-flow vertical spout, zip zam zoom. I would love to see more of these!

[nuliajuk]

Scary mention of campylobacter in this month's Discover magazine. In the Vital Signs feature was a man who turned out to have Guillain-Barre syndrome. Apparently one of the things that can trigger it is this bacteria. It has a lipid profile similar to the fatty myelin sheathing on nerves.

[Crankin]

Don't worry, Emily... he got over it! He's like me, essentially does not worry about this kind of stuff.
Oak, that drinking fountain sounds like an awesome idea. I can think of a few places around here where they should be put in for cyclists.

[ny biker]

There's a water fountain at my gym that also has a sensor at the back for bottles. You hold the bottle upright in front of the sensor and the water comes out a tap directly above it. But there is also a regular water-fountain spigot in the front.

==

On Saturday I did a ride in the rain. I thought about this thread every time I took a drink from my water bottle. Yesterday and today my stomach has felt kinda queasy. Nothing serious, just enough to make me think about drinking from that water bottle in the rain. I'd do it again, though. I think.

[BethHarpring]

It's not as dirty as we think.
But, I don't drink directly from the fountain,
I just use my bottle, fill it and drink from it.

[salsabike]

Hey, zaki, that's pretty interesting. My mom used to tell me the same thing about running water through the house faucets before you drink it.

[ElizabethWaland]

I usually don't but well when need calls you ignore the risks. I drink from public drinking fountains but only rarely.

[pll]

On Saturday I did a ride in the rain. I thought about this thread every time I took a drink from my water bottle. Yesterday and today my stomach has felt kinda queasy. Nothing serious, just enough to make me think about drinking from that water bottle in the rain. I'd do it again, though. I think.

When it's raining, try to squeeze the bottle a little bit prior to drinking, and rub it on your jersey (between your body and forearm). It's a pain, but better than drinking some unidentified muck. Now, I don't always follow my own advice...:rolleyes: