Public Health Aspects of Riverbank Filtration

The quest for pure water began in prehistoric times. Recorded knowledge of water treatment is found in Sanskrit medical lore and in Egyptian inscriptions. Pictures of apparati to clarify liquids (both water and wine) have been found on Egyptian walls dating back to the fifteenth century B.C. Boiling of water, the use of wick siphons, filtration through porous vessels, and even filtration with sand and gravel, as means to purify water, are methods that have been prescribed for thousands of years. In his writings on public hygiene, Hippocrates (460–354 B.C.) directed attention principally to the importance of water in the maintenance of health, but he also prescribed that rain water should be boiled and strained. The cloth bag that he recommended for straining became known in later times as “Hippocrates’ sleeve.”