And a lot of people got sick and died
And a lot of people got sick and died
You are being quite overdramatic.
Humans were drinking surface water for a long, long, long time.
Way before Berkey water filters were invented!
And actually, much of North America has a limestone/shale geology which is about as perfect a filtration/decontamination system as naturally exists.
Today more people would get sick and die as compared to the 1800’s when drinking from contaminated streams, ponds or wells.
Our immune systems have been severely degraded by trying to be too pure.
But in the case of the 1800’s and before they either did not know any better or had no choice.
In a SHTF scenario, many will not have a choice. What will kill many city dwellers is when the power goes off is lift stations will run out of emergency generator fuel, pumps will stop, sewage will back up into low lying basements and eventually cross contaminate whatever remaining water supplies exist. Things will really get ugly when people start dying from raw sewage contaminated water.