Confluence

[Chief Niwot]

Bring your class V Hazmat suit!

[mattyb]

It's city runoff. Streets get dirty. It rains hard and the runoff ends up in the river. There are some detergents in the water as well.
There have been numerous threads about the water quality of confluence (search for them). Boulder Creek has more fecal matter in it for a reference. I would recommend nose plugs as I would with any urban paddling experience.
Whether you get sick depends on your immune system. I paddled at Confluence for many years with no isses. The sickest I have ever been from paddling happened on the Numbers section of the Ark. You just never know.
The playboating at high water confluence is awesome, probably only second to Union Chutes and maybe Salida in multiple-feature, Colorado playablility. (If you scoff you haven't been there at high water, the real fun is not in the park.)
If you're interested, check it out. If you get sick. Don't go back.
The seven-week pooping thing seems unlikely that he would be the sole example of the sickness but, once again, you never know.

[Andy H.]

Regarding the statement that Boulder Creek has more Fecal Coliform, I've talked to Claire McGrath about this and from what I remember, she said that you have to take that with a grain of salt. It seems like there was one sample collected each from Confluence and Boulder Creek by undergrad students that were doing a class project, and the one from Confluence was brought in in an antifreeze jug or something like that. Typically sampling for water quality is done with a bit more stringent protocols and also several samples are collected during a specified period.

--Andy

[JJH]

An old school boater from England, once told me when paddling in the gutters, to drink plenty of Coke (2 litres, some before, some after). It always prevented him from getting sick and me too. ????

[Roy]

I've paddled Connie for 10+ yrs a couple times a year at least. Never got sick from it that I know of. Did the Coke thing in foreign countries, but not here.

Small doses build your immune system for when you get that big dose!

[Phillips]

Yeah Coke is a little acidic, but I don't think it's gonna kill any bacteria present in water. I mean the digestive juices in your stomach are a lot more acidic than cola, so it shouldn't have an affect.

KP

[DanOrion]

Whenever I'm at confluence, I pack a fishing net to catch any finless brown trout that might swim by

[Dirty Al]

I know this seems ridiculous, but Coke actually is almost identical in pH to that of stomach acid.
I have paddled confluence on multiple occasions at different levels and never been sick as a result, and when I was first learning I know I consumed more "dirty" water than I should have.
--Al

[Lurch]

I've heard gum soaked in tee tree oil works well.

The thing that disturbs me about union chutes and confluence is sitting in eddies with sewer debris and racing Styrofoam cups down stream.

[ryguy]

i went yesterday for the first time. It was gross, but I just started off by taking a large gulp, just to get used to it. I was amazed by how good the waves were, and by how many kaykers and trash you can fit in one eddy!