Surface Water

Water treatment is the process of cleaning water. This process makes water safe to drink. The Ancient Egyptians may have been the first society to treat water. In records dating back to 400 A.D., the Egyptians recorded common ways to clean drinking water. These methods included filtering the water through charcoal, boiling the water over fire, heating it with sunlight, and dipping hot iron into it. After the water was boiled, it was filtered through sand and gravel and allowed to cool.

Water treatment has come a long way since the Ancient Egyptians. Today, many people get water for drinking after it has been treated. Because water is a good solvent, it picks up all sorts of natural pollutants. In nature, water is not always clean enough for people to drink. After the development of the microscope, scientists found that dangerous pathogens can exist in water. Since this time, water treatment efforts have continually improved. Today, almost every location in the world treats drinking water. While a basic filtering method used by the Ancient Egyptians is still used, most locations disinfect water through chemical processes to kill any pathogens.