Is It Protected to Drink Water From a Glacier? We Requested a Glaciologist

When Ludacris posted a video of himself scooping and ingesting a cup of icy water straight from the melted pool of a glacier, I don’t suppose the rapper and three-time Grammy Award winner fairly understood what he was getting himself into.

Since sharing the clip on August twenty sixth, it’s racked up 47.9 million views on Instagram and 30.6 million on TikTok. Followers had been fast to touch upon the video, expressing sturdy — and sometimes humorous — concern for the artist’s security with responses like “Bro sippin’ on the best primordial viral fecal matter of the ancestors,” and “How sick did he get from this?”

Ludacris’ followers appeared so unanimously satisfied his actions had been unsafe that, at first, I assumed they had been proper. However then I found the remainder of glacier TikTok.

It seems that the rapper is actually not the primary particular person to submit about their expertise ingesting straight from a pool of melted glacier water, and there are dozens of different movies showcasing individuals dipping their cups into the melted ice — lots of them with tens of millions of views.

Some TikToks don’t present context, as an alternative solely capturing the serenity of the crystal-clear, bright-blue waters, whereas others, like person @oceanhaunts, really dive into discussions of whether or not or not this liquid is protected to eat.

However among the many mesmerizing visuals of ice-cold water and conflicting messages from followers and creators, the query nonetheless stays: If, for some motive, you end up on a glacier, are you able to drink from it?

Is it protected to drink glacier water?

In brief, consuming melted glacial water — with none filtration — shouldn’t be 100% protected, but it surely’s additionally not as harmful as reactions on-line could make it appear. 

Some social media commenters have cited ice worms inside as a possible hazard, however they don’t really pose any menace to people, even in case you eat them. As a substitute, the danger largely comes from micro organism, waterborne parasites like giardia and cryptosporidium, and heavy metals.

After I requested Dr. Gabriel Wolken, a glaciologist and this system supervisor for the Local weather and Cryosphere Hazards Program on the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, if glacial water is okay to drink, he defined that “Whereas it appears easy, it is a considerably sophisticated query that is determined by the place the glacier is and the way a lot of the water one plans to eat. 

“Relying on the place you supply the water on the glacier, it may be fairly turbid with a big proportion of suspended materials, which typically requires filtering. The water from a glacier, regardless of location, can include varied contaminants from deposits from the ambiance, animals, and the encompassing panorama. One of many extra insidious points is the buildup of heavy metals in glacier ice (e.g. mercury) through atmospheric transport from varied elements of the industrialized globe.”

That being mentioned, even the responses I acquired from consultants tended to fluctuate of their conclusions. Dr. Sidney Hemming, a geochemist and professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia College, mentioned, “Glacial ice is unquestionably essentially the most pure supply of pure water. I am stunned it is a query.”

Should you’re ingesting glacial water from a really distant space, with no seen indicators of wildlife or common human presence, then it’s extra prone to be protected. Anecdotally, three of my colleagues right here at Meals & Wine have tried glacier water in both Iceland or Patagonia — two of them with skilled guides, the opposite one went rogue — and so they had been all advantageous. You shouldn’t eat the liquid with out the recommendation of an professional who is ready to establish water with a minimal threat of contamination.

Even in case you’re with knowledgeable, it’s not potential to ensure that untreated and unfiltered pure water is completely contaminant and pathogen-free. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) states that “Water that has not been handled or shouldn’t be from a protected supply could include dangerous germs or chemical substances that may make you sick.” 

Will you be okay in case you drink glacier water that’s from a safely-sourced space, recognized by an professional? Most likely. Can anybody promise a zero-percent probability of contamination with out really testing the water? Most likely not.

Is it protected to drink bottled glacier water?

An necessary caveat right here is that — opposite to what advertising and marketing may need you consider — little or no bottled water comes from glaciers. 

In accordance with printed info from Penn State’s Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, “about 75% of bottled water comes from permitted pure sources similar to springs or wells. By legislation, these sources should be shielded from contamination. The remaining 25% of bottled water comes from permitted municipal water provides like those who serve communities.”

Whereas trying to find bottled glacier water on-line, I discovered that almost all of the steered merchandise aren’t really sourced from melted glacial ice. For instance, essentially the most generally identified bottled “glacier water” is Icelandic Glacial Pure Water — you’d probably acknowledge its bottles embossed with the form of an iceberg. However regardless of the model’s identify and brand, its bottled water comes from the Ölfus Spring in Iceland, which is fed by rainfall and snowmelt.

There are some water firms promoting merchandise produced from true melted glacier ice, however they’re harder to seek out. One of the crucial accessible manufacturers I discovered, Clear Alaskan Glacial, ensures its water is clear by microfiltering and treating it with Ozone, based on a number of retailers that promote the water — so the liquid is finally filtered and handled earlier than it reaches shoppers. 

It’s protected to imagine that every other model bottling true glacial water would take comparable steps to eradicate the danger of contamination, however in case you’re ever not sure it’s greatest to contact the proprietor straight and ask questions on sourcing and filtration.