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> Yes, primitive people drank water straight from streams. They built up resistance to a lot of the pathogens, but they also had lots of parasites and diseases,
by PhasmaFelis 9y ago
> Yes, primitive people drank water straight from streams. They built up resistance to a lot of the pathogens, but they also had lots of parasites and diseases, and didn’t regularly live into their 80s, so I’m not sure why you’d model your food and water safety on theirs.
And their streamwater was a lot cleaner than ours. Unless you're high in the mountains, there's a good chance that any given waterway in the US has a farm or factory somewhere upstream.
- throwaway5752 9y agoAnd they still have beavers in those streams, and those beaver still shit in the woods. Your point is taken, but really, there never was this magical time in the past when unfiltered water was a good thing. ... I bet every regular outdoor campers' head popped reading this article, just like mine. I can't conceive of anything stupider than drinking unfiltered stream water, anywhere (unless you were sure it was springhead, and even then, no).
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoOh, definitely. I don't mean to imply their water was perfect and pure, just that ours is even worse.