Why Do We Need Clean Water?

Look at two glasses of water. One is clear and clean. The other is brown and murky with dirt, leaves, and sand mixed in. Which one would you drink? The clean one!

Dirty water can contain tiny particles of soil, bacteria, chemicals, and other things that can make you sick. That is why cleaning water is so important. Every city in the world has a water treatment plant that cleans water before it comes out of your faucet.

But how do you clean water? You cannot just pick out every tiny piece of dirt. There are billions of tiny particles floating in dirty water that you cannot even see! Scientists and engineers have figured out a clever solution: filtration.