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2sad4snacks t1_j6qp807 wrote

What makes the water so blue colored? Because in the Pacific Northwest the rivers are extremely clear, you can see right through to the rocks on the bottom crystal clear. And the skies are blue. But the water doesn’t appear blue like it does here. What gives

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ElusiveCucumber000 OP t1_j6quocv wrote

There was a lot of geothermal activity directly alongside the river so my guess would be certain minerals leeching in and giving the water a very light blue tinge, could be wrong though

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silentorange813 t1_j6rsrwt wrote

Unfortunately, there is a huge dam construction project upstream from Omachi (there already is an old dam, but they're building like an extension.)

The construction leads to unusually high mineral deposits, and this water is far from pure.

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galaxygirl978 t1_j6t4fd1 wrote

yea I was going to say I'd love to drink that water, but now I'm thinking I shouldn't

I love drinking water straight off the land especially if it's a crystal clear rocky mountain stream 🥰🥰🥰

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cuddlesandnumbers t1_j6sfkac wrote

*leaching

Sorry, I love homophones and have a hard time not correcting these things 😅

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enigmaticpeon t1_j6t87f1 wrote

What about the link from the other commenter showing this picture is actually from Pakistan? Lol

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Martytalius t1_j6rk2a5 wrote

So the reason why this particular water is blue is the same reason why many water sources derived from melting ice or glaciers is blue - fine rock particulate matter (silt and clay) scatter the light to give its characteristic blue colour.

While copper salts do commonly form blue solutions, the amount you would need for them to be this blue would indicate an environmental hazard.

Edit: spelling. Also, the rock particulate matter os derived from glaciers and ice masses, grinding on the underlying rock as it moves and slides past on its way down the valley.

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thetrademark t1_j6rx2mt wrote

Glacial milk

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saturdaycat t1_j6sghl3 wrote

When I googled this I found a bunch of crazy supplement websites, do people actually injest this ?

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Savoury_Biscuit t1_j6sp7k5 wrote

Some rivers up in Whistler and Squamish actually do have this colour! It's caused by the water flowing through glaciers upstream, I believe :)

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shoonseiki1 t1_j6rdok5 wrote

I recall some blue waters while rafting by the Colombia River Gorge.

https://images.app.goo.gl/hPu9YhgK3ZJ7Rptf6

Like not quite as blue and it definitely was more clear or green in certain areas but still saw some blue. Regardless, one of the most beautiful rivers I've seen.

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Mamapalooza t1_j6t4l1f wrote

OMG, I dream of doing this someday. All of the rivers on the east coast that are good for rafting are also brown and muddy. The rafting is still good, and the terrain is still beautiful, but... something about that blue water....

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shoonseiki1 t1_j6tfqio wrote

I really loved rafting this river. It was so beautiful. There are tons of options all around this area too and all fairly easy to get to not too far of a drive from Portland

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Mamapalooza t1_j6tote7 wrote

Ugh, I wanna goooooo... unfortunately, my fam moved to Fla., so god forbid I spend my one vacation time every year anywhere besides there.

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shoonseiki1 t1_j6u1ubq wrote

Yeah that's a far flight. At least you're close to some other cool places!

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cutestslothevr t1_j6sq4ag wrote

High mineral content. Unfortunately in this case it looks too high to support an eco system in the river.

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