High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Water filters have been used throughout history to improve the aesthetics and safety of drinking water. Water filters have also been used for hundreds of years to improve water clarity for industrial and commercial applications. The history of water filtration is, in part, the history of public health improvement and the improvement of life expectancy. In 1948 (and reprinted in 1981), the book The Quest for Pure Water was authored by Moses N. Baker, which chronicled in great detail the development of water filters since ancient times.