Egyptian paintings from the 15th century BC depict sedimentation apparatus and wick siphons. It is speculated they used alum to remove suspended solids. Historically, drinking water was considered clean if it was clear. The Egyptians were the first people to record methods for treating water .

Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, invented the "Hippocrates Sleeve," a cloth bag to strain rainwater in the 5th century BC.

From 400 BC to 200 AD, Roman engineers created a water supply system that delivered over 100 million gallons daily through aquaducts. In the 3rd century AD, the first public water systems were established in Rome, Greece, Carthage and Egypt.

From the 5th century AD until 1600, there was very little progress in water treatment Then in 1680 the microscope was invented. The scientific community of the time regarded the microscopic organisms as unimportant curiosities.

In l804 the first facility to deliver drinking water to an entire town was built in Paisley, Scotland by John Gibb to supply his bleachery. Within three years drinking water was being piped directly to customers in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 1806 a water treatment plant began operating in Paris. The plant's filters were made of sand and charcoal. Horses were used to drive the pumps.

In 1908, Jersey City, New Jersey became the first city to use sodium hypochlorite for disinfection and Chicago instituted the first regular use of chlorine in a public utility.

In 1914, the United States promulgated the first drinking water bacteriological standard. By the 1920's the use of filtration and chlorination had virtually eliminated waterborne epidemics such as typhoid and cholera.

The history of drinking water treatment is still being written.