This article is about water purification. Drinking water is called potable water. Our fresh water is not distributed evenly throughout the world (www.science.howstuffworks.com). More than half of the world's water supply is contained in just nine different countries: the United States, Colombia, Canada, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, India, Russia and Indonesia (science.howstuffworks.com). Middle Eastern countries use the least amount of water per capita because there are very few natural, reliable sources of clean, fresh water. Currently, more than one billion people (about 17% of the world's population) do not have access to clean water (www.science.howstuffworks.com). There are many great ways to purify water, such as: slow sand, pressed sand, diatomaceous earth, air stone/ceramic, paper or cloth, charcoal, reverse osmosis, boiling, iodine method, and enzymes and bacteria (www.enviroalternatives .com). There are different ways to purify drinking water, but the taste is obviously different. Reverse osmosis tastes great, gravity filters taste great, purifiers are good, sip/squeeze bottles are good too, electronics are decent, and halogens taste bad. (www.rei.com).“Water purification involves the removal of unwanted chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from contaminated water” (www.science.howstuffworks.com). The first experiments for water purification and filtration date back to the 17th century. Sir Francis Bacon attempted to remove salts from seawater by passing it through a filter composed of sand, coal and rocks (www.science.howstuffworks.com). Water filtration has grown and become more advanced in technology over the last few centuries (www.a......middle of paper......to conserve water you must first boil the water for at least one minute.Then allow the water to cool.Next, add two drops of household bleach per gallon to maintain the quality of the water during the storage period.You can use any household bleach to treat the water to filter cloudy water before adding bleach Be sure to mix the water and bleach thoroughly and let it sit for an hour. Boiling water to purify is the best-known way to kill all microorganisms (www.Princeton. edu) is the best method for killing disease-causing organisms” (www.doh.wa.gov You must be very careful if you drink the water because many chemicals are not removed by boiling (www.Princeton.edu). The water distillation process is one of the earliest methods of water purification and treatment (www.msue.msu.edu).