The history of water filters can be traced to the earliest civilisations with written records. Water filters have been used throughout history to improve the safety and aesthetics of water intended to be used for drinking or bathing. In modern times, they are also widely used in industry and commerce. The history of water filtration is closely linked with the broader history of improvements in
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
.
[Baker, Moses N. (1981). ''The Quest for Pure Water: the History of Water Purification from the Earliest Records to the Twentieth Century.'' 2nd Edition. Vol. 1. Denver, Co.: American Water Works Association.]
Antiquity
Ancient India and Egypt
Ancient Sanskrit and Egyptian writings document practices that were followed to keep water pure for drinking. The ''
Sushruta Samhita
The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (सुश्रुतसंहिता, IAST: ''Suśrutasaṃhitā'', literally "Suśruta's Compendium") is an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, and one of the most important such treatises on this subj ...
'' (3rd or 4th century CE) specified various methods, including: boiling and heating under the
sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
. The text also recommends filtering water through sand and coarse gravel.
[ Images in Egyptian tombs, dating from the 15th to 13th century BCE depict the use of various water treatment devices.]
Greece
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
conducted his own experiments in water purification.[ His theory of the ]four humors
Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers.
Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...
of the body led him to believe that the maintenance of good health required that the four humors be kept in balance. He recommended that feverish patients immerse themselves in a bath of cool water, which would help realign the temperature and harmony of the four humors. Hippocrates believed that water had to be clean and pure and he designed a 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.[
Various methods for masking bad water were used: ]Diophanes of Nicaea Diophanes of Nicaea or Diophanes the Bithynian (; grc-gre, Διοφάνης) was a Greek agricultural writer of the 1st century BC. He was a native of or associated with the city of Nicaea in Bithynia (northwestern Anatolia).
Diophanes abridged i ...
of the first century BC advised putting macerated laurel
Laurel may refer to:
Plants
* Lauraceae, the laurel family
* Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel
People
* Laurel (given name), people with the given name
* Laurel (surname), people with the surname
* Laurel (mus ...
into rainwater, Paxamus proposed that bruised coral or pounded barley, in a bag, be immersed in bad tasting water. and the eighth century Arabian
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
alchemist
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...
, Gerber, described various stills for purifying water that used wick siphons — to transfer water from one vessel to another.[
]
Modern history
Sir Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both n ...
in his famous compilation "A Natural History of Ten Centuries" 1627 (Baker & Taras, 1981) discussed desalination
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...
and began the first scientific experimentation into water filtration. He believed that if seawater was allowed to percolate through the sand, it would be purified of salt. He thought that sand particles would obstruct the passage of salt in the water. Although his hypothesis was proven incorrect, it marked the beginning of a new interest in the field.
An experiment of sand filtration was illustrated by the Italian physician Lucas Antonius Portius. He wrote about the multiple sand filtration method in his work "Soldier's Vade Mecum". He illustrated water filtration experiment by using three pairs of sand filters.
Fathers of microscopy
Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of micr ...
, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " the ...
and Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...
, used the newly invented microscope
A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...
to observe for the first time small material particles that lay suspended in the water, laying the groundwork for the future understanding of waterborne pathogens.
Sand filter
The first documented use of sand filter
Sand filters are used as a step in the water treatment process of water purification.
There are three main types; rapid (gravity) sand filters, upward flow sand filters and slow sand filters. All three methods are used extensively in the water i ...
s to purify the water supply dates to 1804, when the owner of a bleachery in Paisley, Scotland
Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...
, John Gibb, installed an experimental filter, selling his unwanted surplus to the public. This method was refined in the following two decades by engineers working for private water companies, and it culminated in the first treated public water supply in the world, installed by engineer James Simpson for the Chelsea Waterworks Company
The Chelsea Waterworks Company was a London waterworks
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water sup ...
in London in 1829.[History of the Chelsea Waterworks](_blank)
/ref> This installation provided filtered water for every resident of the area, and the network design was widely copied throughout the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in the ensuing decades.
The practice of water treatment soon became mainstream, and the virtues of the system were made starkly apparent after the investigations of the physician John Snow
John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the so ...
during the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak
Events
January–March
* January 4 – The McDonald Islands are discovered by Captain William McDonald aboard the ''Samarang''.
* January 6 – The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is perhaps born.
* January 9 – The ...
. Snow was sceptical of the then-dominant miasma theory
The miasma theory (also called the miasmatic theory) is an obsolete medical theory that held that diseases—such as cholera, chlamydia, or the Black Death—were caused by a ''miasma'' (, Ancient Greek for 'pollution'), a noxious form of "bad ...
that stated that diseases were caused by noxious "bad airs". Although the germ theory of disease
The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade h ...
had not yet been developed, Snow's observations led him to discount the prevailing theory. His 1855 essay ''On the Mode of Communication of Cholera'' conclusively demonstrated the role of the water supply in spreading the cholera epidemic in Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, with the use of a dot distribution map
A dot distribution map (or a dot density map or simply a dot map) is a type of thematic map that uses a point symbol to visualize the geographic distribution of a large number of related phenomena. Dot maps are a type of unit visualizations that ...
and statistical proof to illustrate the connection between the quality of the water source and cholera cases. His data convinced the local council to disable the water pump, which promptly ended the outbreak.
Regulation
The Metropolis Water Act introduced the regulation of the water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...
companies in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, including minimum standards of water quality for the first time. The Act "made provision for securing the supply to the Metropolis of pure and wholesome water", and required that all water be "effectually filtered" from 31 December 1855. This was followed up with legislation for the mandatory inspection of water quality, including comprehensive chemical analyses, in 1858. This legislation set a worldwide precedent for similar state public health interventions across Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers
The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was absorbed by the Metropolitan Board of Works on 1 January 1856.
Format ...
was formed at the same time, water filtration was adopted throughout the country, and new water intakes on the Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
were established above Teddington Lock
Teddington Lock is a complex of three lock (water transport), locks and a weir on the River Thames between Ham, London, Ham and Teddington in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. Historically in Middlesex, it was first buil ...
. Automatic pressure filters, where the water is forced under pressure through the filtration system, were innovated in 1899 in England.
Limited drinking water standards were first implemented in the US in 1914, but it would not be until the 1940s that federal drinking water standards were widely applied. In 1972, the Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...
passed through Congress and became law, requiring industrial plants to proactively improve their waste procedures in order to limit the effect of contaminants on freshwater sources. In 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) is the principal federal law in the United States intended to ensure safe drinking water for the public. Pursuant to the act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to set standards for drinking w ...
was adopted by all 50 U.S. states for the regulation of public water systems within their jurisdictions.
Softening and ion exchange
By the early 1900s, water treatment experimentation had turned from the prevention of waterborne diseases to the creation of softer, less-mineralized water. Water softeners, which use sodium ions to replace water-hardening minerals in water, were first introduced into the water treatment market in 1903.
The theory of ion exchange
Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, ...
involves replacing undesirable or potentially harmful ions with more desirable or harmless ones. This is implemented in domestic water treatment system as water softeners. These not only remove calcium ions, but also lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and other heavy metals from water.[Binnie, Chris, Kimber, Martin, & Smethurst, George. (2002). Basic Water Treatment(3rd ed.). London: Thomas Telford Ltd.]
See also
* Hot tub
* History of the Spa
* History of water supply and sanitation
The history of water supply and sanitation is one of a logistical challenge to provide clean water and sanitation systems since the dawn of civilization. Where water resources, infrastructure or sanitation systems were insufficient, diseases spr ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Water Filters
Water filters
Water treatment