Drinkable water in a decaying city - comes in kegs, yes. Though I know some folks who have reverse osmosis rigs. I ran the numbers, the keg truck comes out on top, for - roughly - the same quality. (A reverse osmosis machine halfway through the lifetime of the filters craps out approx. the same product as found in the kegs.)

I discussed the matter with adults, and some shared the fact that yes, in some applications, such as going haymaking, you hafta carry your water POT, which should be clay, and then you fill it in the local stream and keep it in the shade so it stays cool. This to my mind became the principal disadvantage to haymaking, obviously it's hard and efortfull, you gotta carry a fucking clay pot. But generally the agreement was that by the time people dun goofed enough anyone actually has to carry his water around, the whole thing's gone to shit and it might as well be glassed.

Here we are. Within my lifetime, what lifetime, a few short decades later, here we are. I do not think any differently today than I did then. By the time water is a carryon, time to glass the whole fucking thing and start over - it failed.