On Sun, 4 Mar 2012 06:47:16 -0800 (PST), Dave Hill wrote:

I just wonder how Homo sapiens ever managed to develop to where we are
today without the aid of Health and Safety

Quite, as a species we seem to survive quite well without "pure mains
water". I reckon that 50 years ago most rural places would have been
using water straight from a well or borehole without any treatment at
all. Our paddock still has the trough that was the water supply up
until about 30 years ago when an unreliable supply pumped up from a
farm further down arrived. Mains water arrived only just over 20
years ago.

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Cheers
Dave.