How did people use to get fresh clean water?

Question

in say medieval times?

was it abundant?

easy to get or find?

what fluids did they drink mostly?

Answer 1

water from rivers, lakes and streams were the most common methods of getting water. Rain water was collected by the wealthier people.

There was no water cleaning process or purifcation process.

Ale, Mead and other beers were commonly drunk - WINE was probably the most common non-water drink. however ancient and medieval wines were not as alcoholic as modern wines.

The lack of pollution and relatively low populations made clean water rather easy to find.

Hope this helps...

Answer 2

In olden times, outside of major cities such as London, there was abundant fresh clean water from natural sources. And, of course, many millions less people drinking from the sources, meaning that water was certainly abundant.

Many people had springs nearby that they accessed, sometimes from wells. Otherwise rivers etc. Tea wasn't brought to the west until the 17th century, before this time people drank water, beer and wine. Alot depended on your income level, with the poor having less choice than barons, who could have feasts aplenty etc.

We've now polluted much of our land and water and recycle our waste water. This is why we need to have thorough purification.

There were major problems that could occur with disease spreading. People didn't understand the methods for disease transmission, so contaminated their own sources of water, without thinking about it, in their ignorance. Hope these concepts help.

Good luck! Rob

Answer 3

They dug wells and cisterns, but they also got water from rivers.

Europe is fairly well watered, both by rivers and rains, so yes, *water* was abundant. "Sweet" water (what we could call "fresh" water, or as you called it "clean" water), was a bit of a different story.

Therefore, since water can so easily be contaminated, and they did not know that boiling water destroys bacteria, they often drank weak alcohol (beer, wine or mead mixed with water) instead of plain water. The alcoholic content is enough to kill bacteria without getting you drunk over lunch or dehydrating you (which, of course, would be counter-productive).

They also drank broths and mulled ciders - both hot beverages, whey, what we could call "buttermilk" (the part of milk left over after making butter or cheese), and in season, fruit juices were avaliable (apple, pear, peach, apricot, plum, etc.). Almond "milk" was also popular in some parts of Europe.

Answer 4

In England they drank weak ale. Even ladies at Queen Elizabeth the first's court are on record as drinking around five pints a day. Boiling to purify water was not practised. The rich also drank wine, but of course it is no thirst quencher. There was also good strong ale for serious drinking!

Answer 5

you can dig your well a couple hundred yards from a cleanish river and the rock and soil will filter the water that seeps from the river. Ground water in other places is used, in rivers underground found using a divining rod, often drank as is, or any faster flowing clear streams above ground.

drank lots of beer for lack of good water, we get an almost survivable amount of moisture from meat, some predators don't need to drink.

Answer 6

It was, and still is, possible to get fresh clean water from deep wells and rivers. The Roman pioneered the 'piping' of water from clean mountain springs by aquaducts into towns. Many of these are still working on the Continent. In many cases the water is completely safe to drink as it is.

Answer 7

By todays standards it would not be regarded as clean water, but then it was quite common to drink water from wells and even moats or rainwater from the roof of the house. It was usually filtered through containers often of stoneware filled with charcoal.Ale or beers and ciders were alternative drinks.

Answer 8

Roman forts in England allowed the shield and sword holding Legionnaire running water toilets. We may assume the Romans were smart enough not to drink from the downstream run of toilet. Romans had the technology to line trenches with concrete and stone, build raised stone arches over dry valley to channel water, and bore holes in logs cut to couple with each other laid end to end in frontier areas. Visit city of Bath and marvel at Roman waterworks still in use. Wine was the drink of choice but Imperial troops were issued a fruit vinegar to drink. Britons had a
vile drink made from the fermented dung of bees called mead.

Answer 9

They mainly drank mead wine etc.The water was not fresh that was one of the reasons I think people died young.

Answer 10

Running water is clean and can be drank. If there were any impurities, their system were used to it.