A small well-greatly expanded the scope of human life. Early humans lived near rivers and lakes, and the suitable living areas were very limited. In order to compete for a few water sources, fierce conflicts often break out between tribes. With the expansion of the tribe, people have to go farther away to get domestic water.
Therefore, the increasingly scarce water resources have become a key factor limiting the development of human society. Some scientists believe that if we can't break through this restriction, mankind may stay in a small tribal state forever, and the emergence of a country is impossible. Fortunately, about five thousand years ago, water wells appeared!
The ancestor of digging wells in China was Boyi. According to historical records, when the Yellow Emperor led his people to settle in the Loess Plateau, people suffered from drought and water shortage. The Yellow Emperor ordered Boyi, a think tank, to build a water cellar to store rainwater for a rainy day. But at that time, people had not mastered the technology of preventing water seepage, and the water in the cellar soon disappeared. Besides building a cellar, what other ways can we get water?
One day, troubled Boyi came to the valley to play alone. Suddenly, he was attracted by a pleasant sound of running water. When he walked in, it turned out that the water was flowing from the gap at the bottom of the valley. Boyi had a whim: since there is a stream in such a deep place, digging down from the flat ground will definitely find water. After returning, he immediately led his men to dig deep wells, and sure enough, he dug sweet water, so the habit of digging wells for water spread.
People have summed up many useful experiences in long-term practice. For example, where wormwood is flourishing, it is often easier to dig well water. The appearance of water wells not only solved the living problems of the ancients, but also changed the common lifestyle of human society. Since then, where rivers are scarce, people can "gather wells and live together", greatly expanding the scope of human life, and villages and towns have begun to form.
The grand project of ancient Rome: let the water run out. Usually only three or four wells are needed to feed a village. But with the emergence of large-scale cities, human beings encounter problems again.
Before modern times, the population of European cities rarely exceeded100000, but when the Roman Empire reached its peak, the population of Rome reached an unprecedented 500000. At this time, the traditional wells can no longer provide sufficient water, so we can only try our best to get water from outside the city.
So the Roman Empire used a lot of manpower to build 15 aqueducts with a length of tens of kilometers, connecting distant streams with public water intakes in the city. Under the ingenious planning of the designer, all arched waterways are piled up by stones according to geometric mechanics, and no adhesive is used. Its grandeur and exquisiteness amazed future generations.
After the aqueduct was completed, the effect was immediate, and the Romans no longer had to worry about water shortage. On the contrary, they even worry about how to deal with the excess water. They set up dozens of public baths in the city, and it became the daily habit of the Romans to take a bath in the baths in their spare time and carry out social activities by the way.
According to historical estimates, the daily water consumption of ordinary residents in Rome at that time exceeded 200 liters, which was completely comparable to that of modern cities. However, with the decline and disintegration of the Roman Empire, most of the aqueducts that were not maintained were blocked and lost their functions, and stones were also demolished to build other buildings. Due to the lack of water supply facilities, in medieval Europe, even the population of famous cities such as London and Paris was less than one-fifth of that of Rome before.
A cholera that swept the world brought clean tap water. /kloc-in the 0 th and 8 th centuries, the population of London surged, and the limited well water was in short supply. It is inconvenient for citizens to walk to the river to get water every day. At this time, a private enterprise smelled the business opportunity, took the initiative to contract the construction of the water diversion pipeline, and charged the people who came to the water intake point.
Early water supply companies were only responsible for water supply, and there were no measures to disinfect and purify water. Although it brings convenience to people, the water source basically comes from the river water polluted by industry, which also lays a hidden danger.
1848, the worst cholera broke out in London. Hundreds of people are infected every day, but the source and route of transmission cannot be found. Many people even think it is caused by miasma.
A doctor named john snow also participated in the treatment of the patient. In order to find the root of cholera, he began to collect the address information of all patients and mark it on the map.
The doctor found that a large number of patients lived near the water intake point of a water supply company, but none of the bartenders who also lived here got sick (bartenders can drink beer every day, so they seldom drink water), so Si Nuo boldly concluded that the polluted water source was the root of cholera!
Later, some water supply companies put alum to absorb impurities in the water and then filtered it, but the effect was limited, and cholera was still raging in Europe.
This year, cholera broke out at the naval base of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, causing heavy casualties among soldiers. Faced with the crisis, the person in charge of the base had to take a chance and ordered chlorine to be put into the water. Unexpectedly, a miracle happened! The epidemic quickly subsided, so the method of chlorine disinfection began to be used for reference by water companies.
Today, the tap water industry is very mature. Generally, multi-dimensional disinfection processes such as chlorine, ultraviolet and ozone are used. The water supply pipeline was changed from traditional cast iron and galvanized pipes to PVC plastic pipes, which effectively reduced the secondary breeding of bacteria. In addition, the strengthening of water pollution monitoring has also greatly ensured people's drinking water safety.
In short, the history of human utilization of water resources is almost a reflection of social development. The emergence of wells has expanded the scope of human life, diverted water into cities to solve urban development problems, and purified chlorine water has kept people away from diseases. Behind these achievements are the tireless exploration and efforts of countless people. A cup of sweet tap water is hard to come by, so let's drink it and cherish it!