Think water filtration or ionized alkaline water is new? It’s been around in one way or another since the beginning of time.
Here’s a historical timeline:
Dark Ages
Early man camped near water sources and collected naturally occuring ionzied alkaline spring water from streams, waterfalls, lakes and rivers using cupped hands, and later buckets and basins.
4000-2000 B.C.
Ancient Sanskrit and Greek writings recommended water treatment methods such as filtering through charcoal, exposing to sunlight, boiling, and straining in order to improve appearance of water.
1500 B.C.
To clarify water, the Egyptians reportedly used the chemical alum to cause suspended particles to settle out of water, and also siphoned water through a series of clay pots.
Egyptians and Greeks discovered that if they swirled and left water in copper and brass urns overnight, it turned sweeter (a mild form of ionization).
The Roman Empire built an extensive aqueduct system, with eleven aqueducts serving the city.
500 B.C.
The Greek scientist Hippocrates invented the first cloth bag filter and called it the “Hippocratic sleeve.”
1627
Sir Robert Bacon began experimenting with a form of sand filtration to remove salt particles from seawater.
1676
Anton van Leeuwenhoek became the first person to discover microorganisms in water.
1700s
Domestic water filter units made from wool, sponge, and charcoal began to be used in individual homes.
1804
The first large municipal water treatment plant was installed in Scotland in order to provide treated water to every resident.
1829
Evian water company was formed and began selling the water in earthenware.
1854
Several cities began to treat all water with sand filters and chlorine before distributing it to the public after British scientist John Snow discovered that he could use chlorine to kill bacteria in water.
1869
The first desalination patent was reported, and the first land-based steam distillation plant was established in Britain.
Late 1800’s
Municipal water treatment began to take hold in the U.S. Rapid sand filtration is experimented with, along with cleaning filters with powerful steam jets. A rapid decrease in waterborne diseases is noted at this time.
Early 1900’s
The first water ionizers are invented in Russia, designed to recreate what happens in nature when water runs over rocks–alkaline pH water with a low ORP (oxidation reduction potential).
1903
Water softeners, which use sodium ions to replace water-hardening minerals in water, were introduced into the water treatment market.
1908
Chlorine was used for the first time as a primary disinfectant of drinking water in Jersey City, New Jersey. The use of other disinfectants such as ozone also began in Europe around this time.
1914
Limited drinking water standards for municipalities in U.S. cities were implemented.
1940s
Federal drinking water standards were widely applied in the U.S.
1945
Fluoroide began to be added to the municipal tap water sources under the guise of preventing dental decay.
1958
The first residential water ionizer was developed and sold in Japan.
1960s
The American government created and funded the Office of Saline Water to research and develop desalination technologies.
1966
The Japanese Health Ministry approved the water ionizer as a “Health Improving Medical Device.”
1959
The Reverse Osmosis (R/O) extreme water filtration method is invented by Prof Reid of the University of Florida.
Late 1960s
Industrial and agricultural advances and the creation of new man-made chemicals had negative impacts on the environment and public health when they began finding their way into water supplies through factory discharges, street and farm field runoff, and leaking underground storage and disposal tanks.
1966
Heinz Hankammer began production of the first Brita filter under a pear tree in his family’s garden.
1970s
Perrier introduces carbonated bottled water.
1972
The Clean Water Act became law, requiring industrial plants to proactively improve their waste procedures in order to limit the effect of contaminants on freshwater sources.
1974
The Safe Drinking Water Act was adopted by all 50 states for the regulation of U.S. public water systems. This law specified 91 pollutants that must be closely monitored (out of more than 60,000).
1980
500 million gallons of bottled water are sold in the US.
1990
U.S. annual sales of bottled water spurted to 1.8 billion gallons.
Early 2000s
Municipalities begin to increase chloramine (chlorine + ammonia) usage as a disinfectant in tap water.
2006
Almost 36 billion plastic water bottles are sold in the U.S.
Today
Bottled water consumption remains at an all-time high and municipalities continue to add harmful chemicals like chlorine, chloramine and fluoride to the drinking water. Most water filter owners are either over- or under-filtering their tap water, and water ionizers remain virtually unknown outside of Asia despite their proven health benefits. What is wrong with this picture?
Take advantage of the technology our era has afforded us and say goodbye to unhealthy and expensive bottled waters and hello to fresh filtered Chanson ionized alkaline water.