Sewers are underground pipes that take away dirty water and human waste from homes, offices and many other places.
The use of specially constructed sewers dates to the time of Mesopotamia, Crete, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and India. Excavations have brought to light examples of elaborately constructed and carefully designed water closets and sewerage systems.
In these early sewers, streams often served the dual purpose of sewage disposal and water supply, and hence there were frequent, disastrous epidemics of cholera, typhoid fever, and other waterborne diseases.
Some Roman houses had flushing toilets and indoor plumbing and were connected to a public sewer system.
A device for receiving solid or liquid human waste and passing it into a drain in a water-borne sewage-treatment system was invented by the English courtier and writer John Harington in 1589. His design included a high water-tower on top of the house, a hand-operated tap that controlled the flow of water into the pan, and a valve that could be opened and closed to release sewage into a cesspool near-by.
In 1836, a sewer worker accidentally discovered an old drain which ran directly into the Bank of England's gold vault. He wrote letters to the directors of the bank and requested a meeting inside the vault at an hour of their choosing - and popped out of the floor to greet them
In the first half of the nineteenth century there were several major outbreaks of cholera, which was in the main caused by contaminated drinking water, it typically occurred wherever there was an improper disposal of sewage.
The world's first integrated sewer system was constructed in Liverpool, England by James Newlands, who was appointed the UK's first borough engineer in 1847.
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| Raw sewage arriving at a Syrian sewage treatment plant. By SuSanA Secretariat |
The use of specially constructed sewers dates to the time of Mesopotamia, Crete, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and India. Excavations have brought to light examples of elaborately constructed and carefully designed water closets and sewerage systems.
In these early sewers, streams often served the dual purpose of sewage disposal and water supply, and hence there were frequent, disastrous epidemics of cholera, typhoid fever, and other waterborne diseases.
 |
| Aqueduct in Petra, Jordan. |
Some Roman houses had flushing toilets and indoor plumbing and were connected to a public sewer system.
A device for receiving solid or liquid human waste and passing it into a drain in a water-borne sewage-treatment system was invented by the English courtier and writer John Harington in 1589. His design included a high water-tower on top of the house, a hand-operated tap that controlled the flow of water into the pan, and a valve that could be opened and closed to release sewage into a cesspool near-by.
In 1836, a sewer worker accidentally discovered an old drain which ran directly into the Bank of England's gold vault. He wrote letters to the directors of the bank and requested a meeting inside the vault at an hour of their choosing - and popped out of the floor to greet them
In the first half of the nineteenth century there were several major outbreaks of cholera, which was in the main caused by contaminated drinking water, it typically occurred wherever there was an improper disposal of sewage.
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| Hand bill from the New York City Board of Health, 1832. |
The world's first integrated sewer system was constructed in Liverpool, England by James Newlands, who was appointed the UK's first borough engineer in 1847.
In 19th century London, people’s home sewage was retained in their backyards in cesspools. For those who couldn’t afford a cleaning service, they simply dumped the contents of their cesspools into the Thames River. The smell of untreated waste was so overpowering that by 1858, the resulting “Great Stink” goaded London’s Parliament to pass legislation directing the building of a vast underground sewage system for the safe removal of waste throughout the city. In the caricature in The Times below, Michael Faraday reports to Father Thames on the state of the river.
As many as three US Presidents, and also Abraham Lincoln's son, Willie, may have died as a result of a contaminated water supply to the White House. Until the mid 19th century there was no sewage system and a field of human excrement called "night soil" flowed freely into the water supply.
Monica Myers, mayor of Betterton, Maryland, died in 1980 while checking her town's sewage tanks. She fell in and drowned in 15ft (4.6 m) of human waste.
The historical focus of sewage treatment was on the conveyance of raw sewage to a natural body of water, e.g. a river or ocean, where it would be satisfactorily diluted and dissipated. However, during the 20th century there was an increasing awareness this was leading to serious pollution of the receiving water. For instance, a 1983 European Commission report identified a significant proportion of bathing beaches in the UK as having unacceptably high bacterial content, largely as a result of untreated sewage being discharged into the sea.
The use of raw sewage as a fertilizer, (as long practiced in China) has the drawback that disease causing microorganisms may survive in the soil and be taken into the body by consumption of subsequent crops.
New York City's sewer system experienced a 6.7 million gallon hike after the series finale of M*A*S*H. It's estimated one million citizens held it in until the ending.
Venice does not have a complete modern sewage system, meaning its canals are also its sewer system.
The Burj Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world, relies on trucks to carry at 15 tons of sewage daily to a treatment plant.
Shellfish often eat raw sewage and contain high levels of bacteria.
Sources Compton's Encyclopedia, TodayIFoundOut
The use of raw sewage as a fertilizer, (as long practiced in China) has the drawback that disease causing microorganisms may survive in the soil and be taken into the body by consumption of subsequent crops.
New York City's sewer system experienced a 6.7 million gallon hike after the series finale of M*A*S*H. It's estimated one million citizens held it in until the ending.
Venice does not have a complete modern sewage system, meaning its canals are also its sewer system.
The Burj Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world, relies on trucks to carry at 15 tons of sewage daily to a treatment plant.
Shellfish often eat raw sewage and contain high levels of bacteria.
Sources Compton's Encyclopedia, TodayIFoundOut
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