Even limiting context to Americas, a lot the historical accounts, from colonial days to early 1900s, seem to suggest that clean drinking water was not a reliability. Instead, I've heard about all manners of substitutions - beer, grain based liquors, etc. From my vantage point, I can't imagine subsisting on fermented beverages and not feeling constantly drunk, hungover, and dehydrated. Am I missing something or was this the nature of the game?