Salzman - Drinking water: a history

This edition first published in hardcover in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2012 by Overlook Duckworth, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.

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Copyright 2012 by James Salzman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

ISBN 978-1-46830-675-0

JAMES SALZMAN holds the Samuel Mordecai chair in the School of Law and the Nicholas Institute Professor chair in the School of the Environment at Duke University. He has written extensively on the topics of environmental conservation, population growth, and climate change. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Visit www.drinkingwaterhistory.com

W hen we turn on the tap or twist open a tall, cold plastic bottle, we might not give a second thought to where our drinking water comes from. But how it gets from the ground to the glass is far more complex than we might think. With concerns over pollution and new technologies like fracking, is it safe to drink tap water? Should we feel guilty buying bottled water? Is the water we drink vulnerable to terrorist attacks? With springs running dry and reservoirs emptying, where is our water going to come from in the future?

In Drinking Water, Duke University professor and environmental policy expert James Salzman shows how drinking water highlights the most pressing issues of our timefrom globalization and social justice to terrorism and climate changeand how humans have been wrestling with these problems for centuries. From the aqueducts of Rome to the revolutionary sewer system in nineteenth-century London to todays state-of-the-art desalination plants, safety and scarcity of water have always been one of societys most important functions.

Bloody battles over control of water sources stretch as far back as the Bible, yet even today such conflicts routinely make front-page headlines all around the world. Only fifty years ago, selling bottled water sounded as ludicrous as selling bottled air, but now store shelves are stocked with dozens of different focus-group-tested brandsmany of which are just repackaged tap water. Provocative, insightful, and above all fun to read, Drinking Water weaves all of these issues together to show just how complex a simple glass of water can be.

What do Romes aqueducts, Napoleons death, and the pilgrimage site of Lourdes have in common? All involve water: the leading ingredient of our bodies, essential for our daily lives, and the subject of innumerable struggles. Even if you prefer to drink wineits mostly water anywayyoull enjoy this book.

JARED DIAMOND, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

Instead of buying your next twelve-pack of bottled water, buy this fascinating account of all the people who spent their lives making sure youd have clean, safe drinking water every time you turned on the tap. BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

In his deeply thorough, thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful book, James Salzman shows why water security and quality are set to boil to the surface of world politics.

JOHN ELKINGTON, author of The Green Consumers Guide and Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business

Meticulously researched, grandly conceived, and splendidly executed, Drinking Water takes a prosaic subject and makes it endlessly fascinating. Smart, witty, and perceptive, Drinking Water is essential reading. ROBERT GLENNON, author of Unquenchable: Americas Water Crisis and What To Do About It

Salzman has produced a gem of uncommon valuea fascinating book which slips in among its engaging stories their weighty implications for policy.

WILLIAM K. REILLY, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and former President of the World Wildlife Fund

Drinking Water effortlessly guides us through a fascinating world we never consider. Even for people who think they know water, there is a surprise on almost every page.

CHARLES FISHMAN, bestselling author of The Big Thirst and The Wal-Mart Effect

Immensely readable, the book weaves one entertaining story after another to show how we have thought about, valued, protected, and provided this most precious of all liquids. PAUL R. EHRLICH, author of The Population Bomb and The Dominant Animal

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