I don't believe it's ever shown that it does. I think it's protected the equipment and some portion of the water.
I mean, hell, purified water is actually quite difficult to maintain historically. Grog exists because alcohol was a great way to increase the longevity of water at sea.
And just because you said that, some middle-managerial bureaucrat is crying & panicking hysterically as he throws tubes of toothpaste into the local reservoir.
"AAAAAAAGGGHHH! YOU DON'T TRUST THE SCIENCE!!! GHHHAAAAARRRGHHH!!!!"
I don't believe it's ever shown that it does. I think it's protected the equipment and some portion of the water.
I mean, hell, purified water is actually quite difficult to maintain historically. Grog exists because alcohol was a great way to increase the longevity of water at sea.
If we can't even agree on why we started adding the chemical to water in the first place, yeah we can probably stop adding it for now.
And just because you said that, some middle-managerial bureaucrat is crying & panicking hysterically as he throws tubes of toothpaste into the local reservoir.
"AAAAAAAGGGHHH! YOU DON'T TRUST THE SCIENCE!!! GHHHAAAAARRRGHHH!!!!"