Difference between revisions of "How did Public Sanitation Develop"

(Early History of Sanitation)
(Late Antiquity of Sanitation)
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==Late Antiquity of Sanitation==
 
==Late Antiquity of Sanitation==
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One of the most elaborate ancient sewer systems was the <i>Cloaca Maxima</i>, which was a large-scale sewer system built for Rome. It was likely constructed already in the Etruscan period and became more elaborate during the Roman period. The Roman covered what was an initially open-air sewage system into a closed system. The underground system connected public baths and latrines. The system of aqueducts that connected to Rome, where there were seven aqueducts by the 1st century CE, brought freshwater supplies to the city. The elaborate waste removal and freshwater supply to Rome enabled it to grow substantially in size, reaching over one million people, making it the first city to likely reach that size.
  
 
==Later Periods==
 
==Later Periods==

Revision as of 20:28, 2 November 2016

With the beginning of settled life, a new problem arose as people began to live in one place throughout the year. That problem was public sanitation. With increased population, the need to adequately remove human waste and maintain relatively clean water supplies became an increasing challenge. By prehistory, this challenge was addressed in societies, with increasing sophistication as cities grew and became more complex.

Early History of Sanitation

Sanitation is evident in the earliest settled societies. In the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, and Iran, evidence exists for the use of sewers and clay pipes for removing human waste. With ceramics being present in societies by 7500-7000 BCE, this technology became utilized for making clay pipes could safely transport waste. By the Neolithic in the Near East in the 7th and 6th millennia, vertical shafts were used for waste disposal and wells had begun to be utilized within villages.

In the 3rd millennium BCE, clay pipes now extended into sewer systems within structures. In the Indus, urban planning included public sewers are evident at sites such as Lothal. In Mesopotamia, at about the same time, sewers with clay pipes were used, although the system does not seem to be centralized. Rather, houses would have vertical shafts that would send waste far below a house. Alternative systems moved waste and waster water out of structures and into larger drains or cesspits.

Late Antiquity of Sanitation

One of the most elaborate ancient sewer systems was the Cloaca Maxima, which was a large-scale sewer system built for Rome. It was likely constructed already in the Etruscan period and became more elaborate during the Roman period. The Roman covered what was an initially open-air sewage system into a closed system. The underground system connected public baths and latrines. The system of aqueducts that connected to Rome, where there were seven aqueducts by the 1st century CE, brought freshwater supplies to the city. The elaborate waste removal and freshwater supply to Rome enabled it to grow substantially in size, reaching over one million people, making it the first city to likely reach that size.

Later Periods

Conclusion

References