We’ve seen the pictures of people in third world countries drinking from polluted water sources and heard about the prevalence of disease epidemics that take place in those countries. Living the way we do in the United States, it’s hard to comprehend that anyone in the world doesn’t know the connection between contaminated water and disease, but they either are clueless or are unable to correct the conditions. What most of us don’t see is that only 200 years ago, most of the U.S. had the same problems, and illnesses spread in our country the same way they do in other nations now. People didn’t understand what was happening, and even if they did, the equipment wasn’t yet in place to run widespread municipal water treatment systems.

Actual water filtration started in Scotland in the 16th century. Scotland was an area of the world in those days that had many scientists and philosophers and was in a period known as the Scottish Enlightenment, so it wasn’t any surprise that they were able to comprehend the importance of clean, healthy drinking water and to then create a way to sanitize existing water sources. During the Scottish Enlightenment period, a Scottish scientist and engineer, Robert Thom, developed the first municipal water treatment facility. He utilized a process called slow sand filters and was able to provide clean, disease-free water for an entire town.

Since the 1700s, municipal water treatment systems have been redrawn and improved so that we can provide safe water for residents in some of the biggest metropolitan areas worldwide. Drinking water is taken from two different sources: groundwater and surface water. The bulk of all the water we drink comes from groundwater sources. Toxins run into this groundwater and must eventually be filtered out before the water will be sanitized for consumption. Groundwater also contains bacteria and other contaminants that come into it from surface water.

The human body is between 60 and 70% water, and we must constantly replenish the water reserves in our bodies if we are going to maintain good health. Therefore, it is crucial that we have reliable sources of clean drinking water. That’s where municipal water treatment plants have made an important difference in the lifestyles we lead. We in America no longer have to be concerned about coming down with serious diseases from drinking the water that flows out of our taps, and we have access to all the fresh water we could ever need. Now we have to attempt to get clean water to people all over the world.