Safe drinking water

Melting ice and snow are not good to drink. It comes out of the poluted sky. If you want clean drinking water go to the store and buy bottled water.

This ice and snow has all kinds of animal wastes in it that has not been treated. and acids from the sky. and all other mix of stuff that i wouldn't even think about and even rocket fuel and poisons mixed in! bottled water or city treated water for me!

I assume you meantap water when you say running water? If you mean a running streams water then neither one is necessarily more safe then the other. Both snow and ice and stream wanter can contain giardia ( which produces stomach pain, diarhea, throwing up for up toweeks of time if notdiagnosed and treated). The giardia is from animal waste in the stream or snow and ice. There could be solvents ( which cause neurological problems ( example- carbon tetrachloride that has been used historically to dry clean clothes). Or you could have heavymetals, such as mecury which causes brain damage. Tap water would always be preferred to snow or ice as it is treated and monitored. Streams and snow and ice should not be taken in unless they are treated or filtered,even in themost pristine appearing environments.