Their simple life experience taught them that drinking fermented liquids actually resulted in fewer diseases. Beer brewed from grains was expensive, and ordinary people could only resort to picking berries or fruits to ferment in water.
Fermentation killed some of the bacteria and insect eggs, and to some extent, it was indeed a form of disinfection. However, that tart fruit wine tasted awful, and though the diseases it caused were slightly less risky than drinking raw water, it still posed dangers.
For thousands of years, this choice was merely the lesser of two evils, revealing the helplessness of the common folk.
So, when the drinking water stations were established, the threat of the epidemic helped popularize plain boiled water.
After trying it, most townsfolk honestly admitted that, if they could, no one would want to drink those tart, fermented beverages.
