The Story of Drinking Water

The story of drinking water begins thousands of years ago in prehistoric times. People who lived during these times built their homes on lakeshores or along rivers so they would have water to drink and wash in, and so they could easily move from place to place, traveling on the waters. The water in lakes and rivers was much cleaner back then because many of the impurities that exist today didn't then.

There are no records of how water was cleaned in prehistoric times. And, without records, we can only guess at how or if prehistoric people cleaned their water.

The Egyptians were the first people to record methods for treating water. These records date back more than 1,500 years to 400 A.D. They indicate that the most common ways of cleaning water were by boiling it over a fire, heating it in the sun, or by dipping a heated piece of iron into it. Filtering boiling water through sand and gravel and then allowing it to cool was another common treatment method.

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