How to ensure safe drinking water on your Whanganui River Journey

Having access to safe drinking water on your multi day Canoe Trip is simply essential.  It’s also a common ‘last – minute’ question, in amongst all the excitement that comes along with planning and booking a Whanganui River trip with Canoe Safaris, most people don’t prioritise this important aspect of their upcoming adventure. 

Read our Whanganui River guide on safe drinking water and learn about our tips on where to find water, how to treat it, and how to keep healthy & hydrated.  To get one question out of the way early – Can you drink water straight from the Whanganui River? – No! No, you can’t!

Why access to drinking water is so important

Dehydration has the ability to ruin your canoe trip. So, let’s avoid it! Let’s talk about how the lack of drinking water can negatively impact your time in the great outdoors, and specifically, on a sometimes physically demanding canoe trip.

• Water helps to regulate your temperature – It distributes heat around your body and cools you down through perspiration. This helps when you are paddling long hours during those hot summer months.
• Nutrient absorption and helping your food convert into energy– Water helps to transport all the goodness from the yummy and nutritious food that is provided on your fully guided Whanganui River Trips, to the rest of your body.
• Improves brain function and concentration – Helpful whilst concentrating on what your guide is telling you to do and remembering how to navigate those bumpy rapids.
• Helps to energize muscles, lubricate joints, prevent fatigue and improve endurance – All necessary to a physical activity such as canoeing.
   

Planning your journey: Where to collect your water

Most of the Whanganui River campsites are managed by the Department Of Conservation (DOC), who are great at maintaining campsites and providing facilities for river users to access water. So, you can put your mind at ease knowing that the hard part, sourcing the water, is already done.  Every 10km or so along the river you will come across a Department of Conversation site with a cook shelter, toilet and water tank.  They collect rainwater from the shelter and are operated by a foot pump.  

Why can’t you drink water straight from the water tank- It’s just rainwater after all?  Well – It just is not recommended; it hasn’t been treated or filtered at any stage and could have a potential contaminate inside.  Better to be safe than sorry we say!

Something to note about these handy water tanks – In Peak Season when there have been long periods with no rain to refill the tanks, you may find them very, very low.  Our tip for these hot, busy months with potentially low water is to bring your own emergency water, bring a backup 10L jug to tide you over for the night until you reach the next campsite, don’t wait to find out if the tank has water inside.

Methods for treating your water while camping

The simplest way of treating your water on the Whanganui River, is boiling it. Boil for at least 2 minutes and leave to cool down.
Our guided tours all include a reusable and refillable 10 Litre Katadyn water filter, tried, tested and is officially Canoe Safaris Approved! 
For an emergency water purification method, we suggest packing ‘aquatabs’ in your gear and take these in our emergency river kits. These effervescent tablets are 99% effective in killing water borne organisms within 30 minutes of mixing with water.
Other ways to treat your water are –

• Chlorine Or Iodine tablets
• A LifeStraw (best for solo travellers)
• Squeeze filter pouches
• Water bottles with inbuilt filters

Essential items for safe drinking water on your trip

• Take a 10-20 Litre heavy duty jug with you (this can easily be strapped into your canoe), have this full of healthy, treated water before you set off canoeing for the day.
• Have a 1 Litre water bottle per person also full before you start for the day and refill the 1 Litre from the big jug throughout the day. Any bottle will do; however, we love Nalgene water bottles because you can also put hot water in them if needed! (Branded Canoe Safaris Nalgene bottles available)
• A Treatment system – either a stove to boil water, a filter or tablets.
• A collapsible bucket in the event you must carry water from elsewhere to the treatment system
• A collapsible silicone filter – Let me clarify this is not an essential, however they are really handy and the Canoe Safaris Team Love them for pouring water from the pot, or from the large 20L jugs into smaller water bottles.  They prevent spillages, weigh almost nothing and make your life just that little bit easier.

Tips for staying hydrated during your Canoe adventure

Make a habit of it being the first thing you do when you have set up your camp kitchen - get the water treated.  Then think ahead! Humans are recommended to drink approximately 2 litres of water a day. So think about how many people are in your group and will need their bottles refilled, think about the time of year, if it’s peak season with hot temperatures throughout the day, you will want to be drinking more, so plan to have enough water available for that.
Set a drinking timer – every 45 minutes, stop and take a sip of water. (While we are setting timers….Set a sunscreen one too)

Does my Guided Canoe Tour include safe drinkable water?

The short answer is, yes! Your fantastic Whanganui river guides will be well versed in river tour and camp routines which include the treating of water. All you must do is bring your minimum 1L water jug for us to refill throughout the day.  
(If you are joining Canoe Safaris on a canoe rental package only, then you can follow our handy tips in this article, also read our ‘what to bring’ guide to help you start planning on the other essentials to pack)

Drinking water on your next camp adventure

We hope this guide on the importance of water, and how to drink it safely whilst out in the wilderness will help you on not only the Whanganui and Rangitikei Rivers – But anywhere you choose to spend your next outdoors adventure.

And if you have a water treatment system that works better than the things we have mentioned here - Let us know!  Or come and show us yourself.  Send us an email or give us a call to talk about Joining us on a multi day Whanganui River Tour today.

And if you are interested in reading more about Water and the Whanganui River, read our blog about the wider conservation efforts to improve the water quality of this treasured River.

Posted by Canoe Safaris on September 26, 2024