The Advent and Use of Chlorination to Purify Water in Great Britain and the United States
Overview
Of all the conveniences of modern life, the availability of fresh, clean drinking water is perhaps the one taken most for granted. This luxury, however, was only realized around the turn of the twentieth century. In the nineteenth century, the average person in London might find tiny shrimp-like animals or putrid deposits in the drinking water. In Belgium, the water was often yellow and had an unpleasant odor. In 1844, only about 10% of the water from city fountains in Paris was potable. In Germany, the drinking water was brown and foul. In New York, residents complained about paying too much for their impure water. People all around the world were dying of diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever from the filthy water. By the early 1900s, however, this deplorable situation had been rectified. The chlorine industry had been born, and it revolutionized the world's water systems.
Background
Although the modern chlorine industry did not exist before 1900, chlorine's history dates back to 77 A.D., when the Roman scholar Pliny theElder's (23-79 A.D.) experiments produced hydrogen chloride. The Arabs, about 800 years later, added water to the gas to generate hydrochloric acid.
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