It's easy to forget that for most of human history urban water sources were dangerous. It was common to use alcohol or acid to mix with water to make it safer. Hence, the great popularity of tea and coffee. Also, it was common for people to drink beer over plain water until even into the 20th Century in the US and Northern Europe. Ahhh, for the old ways.
Heh... those big bags of tea were lead-lined, that explains why my grandma and her siblings only lived into their 80s.