Early Water Treatment
The earliest recorded attempts to find or generate
pure water date back to 2000 b.c.e.. Early Sanskrit
writings outlined methods for purifying water. These methods
ranged from boiling or placing hot metal instruments in water
before drinking it to filtering that water through crude sand
or charcoal filters (Baker & Taras, 1981). These writings suggest
that the major motive in purifying water was to provide better
tasting drinking water. It was assumed that good tasting water
was also clean. People did not yet connect impure water with
disease nor did they have the technology necessary to recognize
tasteless yet harmful organisms and sentiments in water.
Centuries later, Hippocrates,
the famed father of medicine, began to conduct his own experiments
in water purification. He created the theory of the “four humors,”
or essential fluids, of the body that related directly to the
four temperatures of the seasons. According to Hippocrates,
in order to maintain good health, these four humors should be
kept in balance. As a part of his theory of the four humors,
Hippocrates recognized the healing power of water. For feverish
patients, he often recommended a bath in cool water. Such a
bath would realign the temperature and harmony of the four humors.
Hippocrates acknowledged that the water available in Greek aqueducts
was far from pure in its quality. Like the ancients before him,
Hippocrates also believed good taste in water meant cleanliness
and purity of that water. Hippocrates designed his own crude
water filter to “purify” the water he used for his patients.
Later known as the “Hippocratic sleeve,” this filter was a cloth
bag through which water could be poured after being boiled (Baker
& Taras, 1981). The cloth would trap any sentiments in the water
that were causing bad taste or smell.
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