I had the same reaction to Battlestar Gal. I also hated how the ordinary people never had any real input, while the military types made all the decisions. Also, the continued idea of a "press corps" was beyond stupid.

Anyway, just wanted to say that while water sources will initially be polluted by lead from volcanic ash, the good news is that it will filter out over a few years. Meanwhile, there won't be factories polluting anymore so over time water should eventually be clean again. If you stay away from population centers, biological contamination should be low except maybe giardia.

High quality filters like Katadyn makes are good for thousands of gallons. The trick is to silt the water first so that the filter doesn't get clogged with mud. Put the water in five gallon buckets and let it sit for 24 hours, then filter off the top 2/3 without disturbing the bucket and pour out the crap at the bottom.

Soledad