1. A History of Sewage Treatment DZ05 11/14/2005

2. Evolution of Driving Issues 1.Smell 2.Infectious Disease 3.Chronic Health Risks 4.Environmental Concerns Source: http://www.cet.nau.edu/Projects/WDP/resources/History/History.htmhttp://www.cet.nau.edu/Projects/WDP/resources/History/History.htm

3. Strategies from the Distant Past 10,000 BC – Nomadic Tribes: just move away 3500 BC – City of Ur (Iraq): –sweep waste into the streets –=> street level rises –=> raise the doors 2100 BC – City of Herakopolis (Egypt) –Like Ur –but rich & religious people put waste into RIVERS

4. Sewage: The Classical Period 1700-1500 BC – Minoan Culture (Crete): Plumbing, flush toilets, sewers 500 to 300 BC – Athens (Greece): –Dumps: expenses for waste removal covered by levees on landowners 600 BC to 400 AD – Roman Republic: –Aqueducts (mostly underground) –Sewers –Waste => Rivers (Tiber, Rome) –Public baths –Flush Toilets (not seen again until ~1600)

5. Middle Ages 500-1500 AD – Europe: Back to Ur –Outhouses, open trenches, chamber pots –Problem: waste pits => wells => contaminated drinking water [READING] Renaissance –Development of the cesspool (pit that allows liquid to seep away) –Henry VI & VII (England) laws about polluting streams –Some awareness of the link between sanitation and human health

6. 19 th Century 1860 Louis Moureas invents the septic tank –Allows solids to settle out before liquid is discharged to the nearest stream or river –Used for communities –People also experimented with sand filters [READING]

7. New York City: Early 19 th Century Early 1800’s: water from wells and cisterns Private waste disposal (privies for temporary storage) “vault and haul” Belief: running water purifies effluent Potential for water pollution not recognized

8. New York City: Late 19 th Century Sewers initially developed for storm water (this created problems later!) Limited water supply made water-based disposal unworkable (no water to flush toilets) This changed when water arrived via aqueduct 1860’s Physicians and Engineers employed by the City Croton Aqueduct Department building sewers to handle new influx created by more domestic use Connecting all houses to sewers took a long time Connections achieved by public funding pushed by public health concerns