FAQ - Water on the Kokoda track

Water on the Kokoda Track

Water purity is a big problem on the track, particularly in regards to dysentery. In speaking to experienced guides on the track, many had had walkers (or themselves) come down with this inflammatory disorder of the intestine. In the best case, it can cause severe discomfort and a few days down time. In the worst case, life threatening injuries requiring evacuation by helicopter.


We took Iodine tablets with us as a precaution. We never ended up using any as our guide (Tony) knew which streams to drink from - more importantly, which ones not to drink from !! The water in the PNG highland streams is one of the cleanest and best tasting in the world ! It would have been a shame to add the unpleasant tasking tablets.

Key points
- Experienced guides know where you can collect clean drinking water
- Never drink downstream from a village (either use a map or refer to point above for how to find these ;-)
- Wait at least 24 hours to drink from a creek after heavy rains. This avoids contaminants that have been       washed in from the rains
- Watch for unsanitary water stored in villages. Try to avoid drinking out of drums or other vessels in villages where you cannot  judge the water quality. One tour guide told us of an entire group falling ill after drinking/cooking with water from a large water storage container that had been contaminated
- When in doubt, either boil the water or add iodine tablets.
- The most experienced guides on the track all carried Steripens.  These pens kill the contaminants with a UV light in under 30 seconds per litre, without affecting the taste.  At under $100 on ebay, no-one should walk the track without one (whether DIY or in a guided tour). I bought one as soon as I got back from Kokoda and have taken it on every hike since-
- Final point, don't drink too much water whilst hiking !  There are quite a few studies now showing how you can run your Sodium and Potassium levels too low by over drinking, which can lead to dangerous side affects including heart attacks !