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Safe is and was a relative term. Historically alcoholic drinks such as beer were often safer than just water in days gone by.

Also true: Water purification is still a challenge even today. Plenty of cities don't even have drinkable water in people's residences.

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It wasn't full strength beer in the past, people weren't wasted 24/7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_beer

I've made that and its why I know beer was safer in times past. Probably still is in a lot of places.

This is a false comparison, water is a human necessity

Unhelpful brusque comment. Of course water is a necessity.

Given a choice between a lot of the tap water across the world's cities and basically any strength of beer, I'd go for the beer if I had any doubts about local water quality. That tap water often requires boiling and/or filtration. Overly clever local water sellers often bottle the unfiltered tap water and sell it. I've had that experience as well.

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