Sewage appeared, a constant companion of civilization until today, as well as the associated technology to coexist with it: sanitation. The water supply already existed in cities at that time, but it was not until B. The citizens washed down their latrines with water and the sewage system collected this waste water and took it to the sump or to the Indo River.
The problem had grown and became more complex and we started polluting the water flows systematically. The first use of waste water for agricultural fertilization can be found in ancient Greece, due to the lack of wide rivers. In some cities the sewage system took the waste water to the outskirts of the city towards a dumping site. From here it was conducted to the crop fields by means of a piping system. The concept of hygiene developed during the Roman Empire and regulations were put in place to separate waste water by means of a sewage system in the streets.
The latrine evolved as well and a seated one became widespread, replacing the previous system, where defecation took place in a squatting position. However, the population continued throwing the excreta onto the street until B. Another step forward took place at that time as well: the separation of what we now call grey water from sewage. The first one, waste water from baths and thermal baths, was used to wash down public latrines, which became a social gathering point: many Romans chatted animatedly while they relieved themselves.
At that time the concept of hygiene was still far from the concept of disinfection. Waste water was avoided mainly due to the unpleasant odour, as there was no awareness of its insalubrity and it was discharged into the River Tiber. Roman sewer. In this video, the archaeologist Angel Morillo explains that the Roman sanitation system was noted for its adaptability and its durability and some sewers have been in use until the 19 th century.
Interview carried out on the occasion of the debate Sanitation: the engine of progress , held at the Roca Madrid Gallery to commemorate World Toilet Day The Roman advances in sanitation were forgotten during the Middle Ages.
Only a few cities, like Paris, preserved some structures of the Roman sewage system which were soon absorbed by the urban sprawl. Walled cities installed cesspits as their only sanitation structure and they were soon saturated. The population started throwing the excreta onto the streets or outside the city walls. But no advances were made in sanitation. Cities were putrid and the maximum hygiene level was reached in rural areas, where peasants buried their faeces in a hole.
In this dark time in Europe, only the Arab cities in the Iberian Peninsula established sanitation rules with the objective of separating three types of water: rain water, which was essential for life; grey water, which originated from domestic activities, and waste water.
The Arab culture, born in a difficult climate, valued rain water as if it was a divine endowment and it was carefully conducted to the cisterns for its conservation and subsequent use. Domestic grey water was removed from the patios of the houses through underground drains or pipes on the surface, while waste water had to have an independent pipe towards the cesspits where it merged with the grey water. The revolution of arts and science during the Renaissance period did not go hand in hand with the advances in sanitation, which came to a halt while cities kept growing.
The filth and odour in nearly all European cities during the seventeenth century was unbearable. Open air defecation was common in many neighbourhoods and cesspits were saturated; meanwhile, citizens continued throwing their excreta onto the streets where sewers, which were open ditches, partially discharged them into the rivers. From the latrines, it flowed to a point of discharge into the sewer system.
The Romans were proud of their "rooms of easement" i. Public baths included such rooms -- adjacent to gardens. There Roman officials would sometimes continue discussions with visiting dignitaries while sitting on the latrines. Elongated rectangular platforms with several adjacent seats were utilized some with privacy partitions, but most without. These latrine rooms were often co-ed, as were the baths. As noted earlier, water from the public baths, or brush water from the aqueduct system, flowed continuously in troughs beneath the latrine seats; the sewage along with waste bath water was delivered to the sewers beneath the city, and eventually to the Tiber River.
In Rome, water was distributed with lead pipes. To make pipe, sheets of lead were cut in ten-foot-wide strips and bent around a wood mandrel and joined by solder. Its original purpose was to drain a marsh The sewer has remained in service for over years. Thievery of water was a significant problem: A quote from Frontinus, the Water Commissioner of Rome: "I desire that nobody shall conduct away any excess water without having received my permission or that of my representatives, for it is necessary that a part of the supply flowing from the water-castles shall be utilized not only for cleaning our city but also for Flushing the sewers.
Terra-cotta pipe was utilized. If a pipe had to withstand pressure, it was often fully embedded i. Sewer odors were a problem, since there were very few vents from the sewers. Any connections to public baths, or to the few houses that were connected, served as vents in the early years -- making life interesting odor-wise in those facilities. The initial purpose of the early sewers was to accommodate storm water runoff and in at least one case, to drain a marsh ; later, sanitary sewage began to be slowly added to the flow.
Dejecti: Effusive Act: Damages to be paid by the throwers of wastes into the street -- if the person hit was injured no damages paid for clothing , and only if the incident happened in daytime hours.
Roman courtesy also extended to visitors, and to people with emergencies: Huge vases were provided for use at the edges of towns at entrance roads and at exit roads i. Vendors worked the streets of Rome and other cities providing access to pottery jars and "modesty capes" -- for a price. The result was fewer wastes on the streets of Roman cities; still, the majority of human wastes of the masses ended up in the streets.
Little known fact: lead poisoning was common among upper-class Romans -- they used lead to sweeten wine and grape pulp as a condiment. The Romans did not have sugar and learned that lead would sweeten wines and other acidic foods. Lead acetates a. Others, such as Rome and the Greek cities, had fewer rules; the streets were, in large part, open collector sewers! The District's sewerage system, one of the oldest in the United States, began around when sewers and culverts were constructed to safely drain storm and ground water from the streets.
These drains were not all built at the same time and were not linked together to form a "system" as we know it today. By , most of the streets along Pennsylvania Avenue, from First to 15th Street, had spring or well water piped in, thus creating the need for the first sanitary sewage process.
At this time, sewage was discharged into the nearest body of water. In , the Washington Aqueduct was supplying river water to the District. This, together with the surge in population during the civil war, quickly created a marked increase in water pollution in the nation's capital.
Before the end of the war, there were epidemics of smallpox, typhoid and malaria, which took many thousands of lives.
These epidemics prompted the Federal Government to investigate the problem of sanitary sewage.
0コメント