本文重点介绍自1974年颁布《安全饮用水法案》（SDWA）以来，直到2005年的水处理历史。本文介绍了几种正在发展的技术路线，包括:细菌到病毒再到原生动物；浊度和颗粒计数；合成化学品和消毒副产品（DBPs）；污染物渗入饮用水中；低压膜过滤；高压膜过滤；臭氧氧化；高级氧化和光解。

This article focuses on the history of water treatment since the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in 1974, until 2005. Several threads of developing technology are presented, including: bacteria to viruses to protozoa; turbidity and particle counting; synthetic chemicals and disinfection byproducts (DBPs); leaching of contaminants into drinking water; low-pressure membrane filtration; high-pressure membrane filtration; ozonation; and, advanced oxidation and photolysis.