[NorthMountain]

The days of capturing mountain streams or pristine aquifers to pipe fresh to our taps are over.

Those days never existed. Most big cities are sited on rivers for a variety of reasons. Water supply is one of them. Most peoples' tap water is taken from dirty surface water.

[Brian Griffin]

“Most big cities”

Big cities spent a great deal of money on getting good water.

Croton water for New York City and Loch Raven water for Baltimore come to mind.