Villagers in rural India have for hundreds of years claimed that their traditional brass water jugs help to ward of sickness.

Turns out, there’s some truth to the claim.

Rob Reed, a microbiologist of Northumbria University, U.K., tested brass, plastic, and clay pots by filling them with water contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

The plastic pots and clay pots did nothing to reduce the bacterial content of the water. Yet in the brass pots, the amount of live bacteria dropped quickly. After just 48 hours, it was undetectable.

Unfortunately, many developing countries are switching from brass jugs to plastic jugs because they are perceived as being more “modern.”

Source: The Week Magazine, April 29, 2005