I am not anything close to an ecologist or a biologist so this question may be really dumb. But I know that water is essential. It is used in many important bodily processes and we would die without it very quickly.
So my question is, how did so many generations of humans survive without the water purification standards that we have today?
Is there a reasonable amount of dirt, toxins, bacteria, etc… that can be in water and it won’t make us sick?
I also know people have boiled water for a very long time but didn’t we only discover bacteria and viruses in the lasts several hundred years? Did people know that boiling water would purify it?
Also am I wrong for thinking that most water in nature is dangerous to drink?
Hopefully these questions make sense.
In: 1437
Prehistoric humans probably could drink from pretty gross water and not get sick.
Moving water or water in a stream or river is typically safer than water that’s been sitting around growing bacteria.
Once we got to the point where we could dig a well the aquifers that exist are natural filtration system for water so well water is typically safe to drink
Having said that I’m sure a fair number of humans over the entire span of human history have gotten sick and or died from drinking gross water
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