by Stephen R. Krauss
An unlimited supply of pure drinking water is one of the basic necessities of life. Even in ancient times, people have tried to purify water using various water treatment methods. Most of these water purification systems substantially improved the taste of water. However, it was only around the early 19th century, that scientists discovered the presence of disease causing microbes in water and realized that water was the primary cause of the common epidemics of those times. Since then, numerous water purification systems have seen the light of day, such as: reverse osmosis, distillation and UV water filtration. The current flood of research and media attention shows, however, that there is a growing uneasiness about the traces of harmful toxins found in drinking water, especially bottled water, that has been purified using these methods.
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