Qualities and Purification Methods of Potable Water Described In Unani Literature

Historical evidences prove that the success and failure of civilization depends upon its distance from the water resources. Those which lies near the rivers and sea cost flourishes well. Examples are Mesopotamian civilization (Euphrates & Nile river), Indian valley civilization (river Ganga) etc. Right from the human evolution better say evolution of life, water is the primary and vital need for the existence of life. As the civilization advances, the thrust to get the pure water become more vigorous. Water is necessary for many house hold purposes like agriculture, food production, drinking, washing and preparing many household items and many more. We use streams, rivers, ponds as well as ground water reservoirs as source of water. But these sources aren’t always clean. Since ancient times, the need of pure water resulted in the development of water purification methods. Initially they didn’t know the microbes, but the visual impurities. So mainly they used to purify the water from visual pollutants. Various plants like Amla and Khus etc., were used to purify the water. Here in this paper authors describe the different methods of purification of water mentioned in ancient unani literature in addition with methods to neutralize the ill effect of contaminated water if consumed.