In prehistoric times, water may have been carried in bladders of dead animals stitched together, animal horns or plant shells such as coconuts. Later, clay or mud was used to seal wicker baskets for carrying water. The ancients began using pottery to carry water in 5000 BC.
Many families had to boil their well water to kill off contaminants. When well-digging failed to reach water, families were forced to collect rainwater in barrels, cisterns, and pans.
Reservoirs can be used to store water for farming, industry, and household use. They also can be used for fishing, boating, and other leisure activities. People have used dams for many centuries to help prevent flooding. The ancient Mesopotamians may have been some of the first humans to build dams.
They could also dig deep into the earth to find water. Those people stored water in ostrich egg shells, bamboo containers, stone jars and leather bags. In Polynesia, some water was stored outside of homes in stone water tanks. After the invention of pottery, large jars were used for storing water inside homes.
Bottled water was invented out of a need to carry water. Ancient civilizations developed vessels to contain water and move it from the source to their homes. They were able to collect rain water and save it for use in cooking. Smaller water vessels were used to carry a personal supply of water longer distances.
Before, when people lived as hunters/ collectors, river water was applied for drinking water purposes. When people permanently stayed in one place for a long period of time, this was usually near a river or lake. When there were no rivers or lakes in an area, people used groundwater for drinking water purposes.
In the prehistoric past, our ancestors sourced their supplies from lakes, wetlands and rivers, but these amount to just 0.01% of all water on Earth today. Fresh water has always been scarce.
They constructed a network of earthen banks, some parallel to the river and some perpendicular to it, that formed basins of various sizes. Regulated sluices would direct floodwater into a basin, where it would sit for a month or so until the soil was saturated.
In ancient times, some people harvested rain in big containers, but many more people used water that had collected naturally in streams, rivers, and in the ground. They could find groundwater rushing by in rivers, or bubbling up from underground through a spring. They could also dig deep into the earth to find water.
In ancient Greece, because of a rapid increase in urban population, settlements were forced to transport water through aqueducts, to store water in cisterns and dams, and to distribute it to the people through networks.
All of the city dwellers had to fetch their water themselves from a pump in the street, a nearby well or spring, or the Thames itself. Poor people fetched it themselves whereas rich people had servants to fetch it for them.
The Harappan civilization being one of the most ancient civilizations of the world boasts of 'The Great Bath' at the archaeological site of Mohen-Jo Daro. The Great Bath is considered to be the oldest water tank in the world.
The earliest European sailors used barrels laced with alcohol to keep algae from growing. Whenever a ship reached land, replenishing its fresh water was usually the most important task. By the 1700s, inventors had created distillation plants that used a heat source to boil seawater.
Centuries ago, the Vikings used water from peat moss bogs because it would stay fresh during their months of sailing aboard longboats. Scandinavian freshwater fishermen traditionally used peat bogs to preserve their catches until they could pick them up on their way out of the mountains.
Another method used by medieval soldiers to carry water was to use metal or ceramic containers. These containers were often carried in packs or attached to horses. They were more durable than skins or bladders and could be used for extended periods of time.
When Victorian towns did provide piped water, they often eschewed filtration in favour of unpolluted water from upland sources. By 1870, only three of England's largest twenty cities had a filtered water supply, and these were all drawn from polluted river sources.
Many archeologists believe the smaller earth ovens lined with hot stones were used to boil water in the pit for cooking meat or root vegetables as early as 30,000 years ago (during the Upper Paleolithic period).
Avoid using rainwater for drinking, cooking, brushing your teeth, or rinsing or watering plants that you intend to eat. Instead, use municipal tap water if it is available, or purchase bottled water for these purposes.
Descriptions of ancient civilisations were found about boiling water and water storage in silver jugs. To realize water purification copper, silver and electrolysis were applied. Disinfection has been applied for several decades. However, the mechanism has been known for only one hundred years.
The Filtration
The ancient Romans didn't have chemicals like we can use for water purification in Cincinnati, OH. Instead, they used settling basins and air exposure. The basins were a pool of water where the water would slow down. This slowing allowed impurities such as sand to drop out of the water as it moved.
To eliminate harmful bacteria, they boiled the water, heated it in the sun, or submerged hot iron into it. They also filtered impurities from their water by sifting it through sand and gravel.
In Egypt, drinking water from the tap is not recommended. Water treatment plants in and around Cairo heavily chlorinate the supply, so the water in the capital is relatively safe to drink. However, it is advisable everywhere else in Egypt to purchase bottled water or drink treated or purified water.
A couple of groups dug pits, filling them with coals and then lining them with either wet clay or a deer hide. Others poured water into birch bark or pig stomachs (procured from a Chinese supermarket).
After 12 hours of immersion, the skin loses plasticity because of reduced ability to hold water. It also depletes both lipids and natural moisturizing factors, which can lead to long-term problems.
Boil. If you don't have safe bottled water, you should boil your water to make it safe to drink. Boiling is the surest method to kill disease-causing germs, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites.