Make alcohol unpopular

[LampLighters]

For centuries alchool, in the form of wine (often watered down) or beer, was often saffer to drink than water, in many places. Unless you had direct access to running water from a river or had your own water well, the water you'd get might very well be either stagnant or close enough; so, watered down beer/wine or close enough, or you would get sick...

This might be a myth.

 

[Albidoom]

This might be a myth.

I followed that link and it stays woefully quiet about the numerous outbreaks of cholera etc, most of which (if not all) had happened due to unsafe water.

 

[Hammerbolt]

I followed that link and it stays woefully quiet about the numerous outbreaks of cholera etc, most of which (if not all) had happened due to unsafe water.

This. The article seems to ignore villages and towns, just asssuming "cottages", ie, people who, as I stated, either had wells or nearby streams/rivers. Try finding clean water for a village of even a few thousand...

 

[LampLighters]

I followed that link and it stays woefully quiet about the numerous outbreaks of cholera etc, most of which (if not all) had happened due to unsafe water.

This. The article seems to ignore villages and towns, just asssuming "cottages", ie, people who, as I stated, either had wells or nearby streams/rivers. Try finding clean water for a village of even a few thousand...

But the link does talk about cities, though?

A minority of people lived in cities and there were cases such as Rome or London where the population density polluted local water sources. This was a recognized problem and many regulations were put forth to prevent this pollution. Where this was not possible they would create significant public works projects such as the aqueducts or the great conduit in London to bring in fresh and clean water.

 

[Albidoom]

But the link does talk about cities, though?

It does talk about them but for some reason it doesn't bother to mention that despite the "significant public work projects to bring in fresh and clean water" those big cities often enough suffered from cholera outbreaks and other diseases, which obviously shows that the water supply was way less safe than the author of that article tries to make it appear.
It is already suspicious that he writes about how clean and safe the water was when he doesn't even spare a sentence about what the humans did with their waste (which often enough ran down the streets to the nearest body of water)

And one of his sentences near the end of the article, that "beer is a time bomb waiting to be infected or turn into vinegar" appears to me that the author's dislike for alcohol is bigger than his desire for historical thoroughness.

 

[LampLighters]

It does talk about them but for some reason it doesn't bother to mention that despite the "significant public work projects to bring in fresh and clean water" those big cities often enough suffered from cholera outbreaks and other diseases, which obviously shows that the water supply was way less safe than the author of that article tries to make it appear.

Those mostly happened in the 19th century, after massive booms in urban populations.

And one of his sentences near the end of the article, that "beer is a time bomb waiting to be infected or turn into vinegar" appears to me that the author's dislike for alcohol is bigger than his desire for historical thoroughness.

Why though?

 

[Arkenfolm]

Some kind of tea?

It can work, but you have to chug an energy drink's worth of tea to feel drunk. I've heard doing that is a popular substitute for alcohol in some places but it isn't really the same.

The only thing I can come up with is a massive surge popularity for the Methodist Church and other sects that frown on alcohol in the western world in the early part of the 20th century.

Never stopped any number of cultures full of Methodists, Baptists, and similar sects from being full of alcoholics who cleaned up on Sunday or local moonshiners hanging out with preachers to keep alcohol illegal. Even Muslim countries where there's been more or less had 1,500 years of Prohibition still have active moonshining cultures and people illicitly turning table grapes into wine.

 

[Changundramon]

Have a belief that alcohol causes impotence/infertility become widespread.