If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Have you ever wondered if the expensive bottled water you buy is actually safer than what comes out of your tap, or if you’re just paying for the packaging?
- Did you know that the quest for clean drinking water has shaped the rise and fall of civilizations and sparked more conflict than almost any other resource?
- Are you curious about the hidden history of how water transformed from a free, divine gift into a multi-billion dollar global commodity?
Listen to Drinking Water — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from Drinking Water
- Discover why ancient societies and early pilgrims avoided drinking water in favor of beer and wine, while simultaneously attributing magical, rejuvenating powers to natural springs.
- Learn how the ancient Romans pioneered public water systems with massive aqueducts, and how Emperor Augustus politicized free water to maintain control and prevent citizen uprisings.
- Understand the monumental public health shift of the mid-nineteenth century, when physician John Snow proved that polluted water—not airborne pathogens—was the true cause of deadly cholera outbreaks.
- Recognize the critical importance of modern sanitation infrastructure, and find out how the introduction of effective sewer systems and clean water supplies historically doubled human life expectancies.
- Explore the severe struggles of rapidly industrializing cities to secure safe water sources, including the surprising story of how a failed New York water project eventually evolved into the Chase Manhattan Bank.
Drinking Water — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Historically, drinking water was undesired, yet widely believed to possess great mystical powers.
Chapter 3: Romans were the first to organize and politicize water systems.
Chapter 4: Connections between unsafe drinking water and disease weren’t fully recognized until the mid-nineteenth century.
Chapter 5: It’s often difficult to secure a sufficiently reliable water source.
Chapter 6: Treating contaminated water remains a significant challenge.
Chapter 7: Distribution is likely the most vulnerable phase of our water system.
Chapter 8: Convenient, lucrative, and ‘healthy,’ bottled water grew popular in the late twentieth century.
Chapter 9: Serious environmental and health issues are tied to our water consumption habits today.
Chapter 10: The human right to accessing water is still debated today.
Chapter 11: Extensive efforts are being made today to secure drinking water for tomorrow’s essential needs.
Drinking Water Summary & Overview
Drinking Water (2012) looks at our relationship with potable water. Weaving through history to the present day, the book reveals interesting and sometimes shocking facts about drinking water and our thirst-quenching habits.
Who Should Listen to Drinking Water?
- Anyone concerned about what goes into their bodies
- People who care about the environment
- Lovers of water
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