Is glacier meltwater safe to drink?

I spent two weeks training with Swiss mountain guides in 1970 in the Bernese Oberland. We were told, in no uncertain terms, never to drink glacial melt water that appeared cloudy. Supposedly, the ground rock within can sicken a human. read more

If you mean, whether it is safe to drink the water melting from glaciers and flowing as rivulets to form streams and then join rivers then it is always safe to drink water from bigger streams rather than small rivulets because sometimes mounatin people use small streams for cleaning puposes but they never touch largers streams.. read more

From my experience, having drunk from glacier water flows in Iceland, they are generally very clear. I was stationed there for over a year while serving in the Air Force, I visited a few waterfalls and camped around them. I'd always try the water. I'll post pictures tonight. read more