A Blast From The Past

“In 1990, more than 1 billion people depended on rivers, streams, or other unsafe surface sources for drinking water. In many developing countries, even municipal piped well water is unsafe, because of inadequately maintained pipes, low pressure, intermittent delivery, lack of chlorination, and clandestine connections. For example, Vibrio cholerae was repeatedly isolated from unchlorinated municipal water systems in Peru that caused large epidemics of cholera. In Guayaquil, Ecuador, even central chlorination of the municipal water system was insufficient to maintain adequate free chlorine residuals at peripheral distribution sites, and drinking unboiled municipal water remained a primary source of cholera.”

-Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Back in 1990 more than 1 billion people only used natural outside resources for their water that was unsafe. Piped well water was also unsafe as the pipes were not kept clean or efficient; the pipes also did not help disinfect the water from waterborne diseases. In Peru many pipes had to be taken care of because of their lack of keeping the water clean. In Ecuador they added too much chlorine, a chemical used to clean water, and made the water harmful. Drinking unboiled untreated water was the main way of getting the disease called Vibrio Cholera.

www.cdc.gov/safewater/publications.../mintz_1995.pdf