WATER IN WORLD HISTORY

   In 300-200 BC, Rome built its first aqueducts and Archimedes invented his water screw. In ancient Greek and India, back in 2000 BC, water treatment methods were invented. They were also educated in sand and gravel filtration, boiling, and straining. 

 First aqueducts in Rome

Archimedes' water screw

    The first description of a water wheel is from Vitruvius, an engineer of the Augustan Age (31 BC - 14 AD). One of the most remarkable Roman application of a waterwheel was at Barbegal, near Arles in southern France. Dating from the 4^th Century AD, the factory was an immense flour mill which employed 16 overshot water wheels.

     Vitruvius' Water Wheel

According to an ancient text, in 31 AD, the engineer Tu Shih invented a water-powered reciprocator for the casting of agricultural implements made of iron. Smelters and casters were instructed to use the rushing of water to operate their billows.

   China first water-powered reciprocator

      The Egyptians were the first people to treat water more than 1,500 years to 400 AD.ago. They cleaned water by boiling it over a fire, heating it in the sun, or by dipping a heated piece of iron into it. Filtering boiling water through sand and gravel and then allowing it to cool was another common treatment method. 

       During the Middle Ages (500-1500 AD) or the Dark Ages, water supply was no longer as sophisticated as before because of a lack of scientific innovations and experiments. After the fall of the Roman Empire, enemies destroyed many aqueducts, and others were no longer applied.

    In 1627, Sir Francis Bacon started experimenting with seawater desalination. He attempted to remove salt particles by means of a sand filtration.

Sir Francis Bacon

         In the 1700s, the first water filters for domestic application were applied. These were made of wool, sponge and charcoal. 

         In 1804, the first actual municipal water treatment plant was designed by Robert Thom, in Scotland. The water treatment was based on slow sand filtration, and horse and cart distributed the water. Three years later, the first water pipes were installed. The suggestion was made that every person should have access to safe drinking water, but it would take somewhat longer before this was actually brought to practice in most countries.

       In 1854, it was discovered that a cholera epidemic spread through water. The outbreak seemed less severe in areas where sand filters were installed. British scientist John Snow found that the direct cause of the outbreak was water pump contamination by sewage water. He applied chlorine to purify the water, and this paved the way for water disinfection.

John Snow

      In 1902, Belgium was the first country to use chlorine to clean or treat water in a public water supply. Calcium hypochlorite and ferric chloride were mixed in a drinking water supply, resulting in both coagulation and disinfection.

      In 1906, ozone was first applied as a disinfectant in France. Additionally, people started installing home water filters and shower filters to prevent negative effects of chlorine in water.

      In 1914,  drinking water standards were implemented for drinking water supplies in public traffic, based on coliform growth. 

       In the1940s, drinking water standards were applied to municipal drinking water.