HISTORY OF WASTE WATER

TREATMENT
Seminar: Principles of Sustainable Water Management
Module CC 907 of MSc. “Water, Science & Engineering”
during Wise 2017-18

Vanessa Abundis Correa

Matriculation Number: 2139593

December 14, 2018

ITAS - Institut für Technikfolgenabschätzung und Systemanalyse

Table of contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1

1. Waste water treatment in antiquity ……………………………………………………………. 2

1.1 Mesopotamia ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
1.2 Mohenjo-Daro in Pakistan …………………………………………………………………….. 7
1.3 Pergamon Castle in Rome ……………………………………………………………………… 8

2. Waste water treatment in Medieval Age ……………………………………………………. 12

2.1 Sanitary Dark Age ……………………………………………………………………………….... 12
2.2 Monasteries in Europe …………………………………………..……………………………… 14
2.3 Medieval palaces and castles ………………….…………………………………………….. 16

3. Waste water treatment in the 19th century ………………………………………………… 17

3.1 Cholera epidemics ………………………………………………………………………………… 17
3.2 Sewage collectors …………………………………………………………………………………. 17
3.3 Waste water is cleaned by self-purification processes? ………………………… 19

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 21

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Introduction
Humans had invested time and resources to study the ancient and past cultures within different aspects
of their course throughout history, being their architecture, their social structures, political issues, religion
influence, and as well, humans had also studied the techniques developed for the supply and management
of water.

These techniques and technologies have been developed with different purposes and have been shaped
by the conditions and situation of humankind in a certain point in time. Some are still used nowadays,
some were the basis of new developments, and some others are not used anymore.

In this study, an analysis of the wastewater management history has been made. The approach taken is a
chronological order analysis, going from Mesopotamia to the 19th century. The scope of the analysis
includes how and why wastewater has changed, due to the different activities for which water was used;
how have the reasons to treat water changed in time; the failures and problems men encountered when
dealing with water; and the impact that wastewater management had on the environment and human
health. At the end, a reflection of water and sustainability is presented.

Hopefully this literature review will help to shape the policies and techniques of wastewater management
in the future, by learning from the mistakes of ancient cultures, understanding the attitude that past
generations had towards water and identifying the role and connection that water has within political,
economic, social and environmental aspects. These analyses are not part of this study, but it is meant that
this historical research helps to encounter actual and future challenges that communities and society face
nowadays in the management of wastewater.

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 1. Waste water treatment in antiquity
Modern humans (Homo sapiens) who established over wide areas and produced waste, returned
this waste to the land and it was decomposed by natural cycles. Human excreta were putted into
ground holes and covered after using it. When nomadism ended, and ancient cultures started to
establish themselves in areas near rivers, the first concepts of water management arose.
(Vourinen et al., 2007). For these civilizations, known as River Valley Civilizations, water was a
key aspect in their existence. Water assured crops and crops assured food. Rivers such as the
Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus and Huang He transported big volumes of water, perfect for the
ancient civilizations’ activities. But due to seasonal rains, changing courses of the rivers and the
need to supply and manage water through the urban civilizations they constructed, ancient
cultures, which established near the rivers, were the first ones to develop water and wastewater
management concepts.
Sumerians and Babylonians in Mesopotamia were of the first civilizations (3500-2500 B.C.) to
develop water management methods. The Egyptians, who established along the Nile River, had
also developed irrigation systems, but in comparison to the Mesopotamian civilizations, the
Egyptians did not require high elaborated irrigation systems, because the Nile River was very
fertile. Near the Indus River, in cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the largest public baths
and private toilets in houses were constructed; these showed the advance of drainage systems
that both civilizations created. At last, the Romans, developed advanced technologies that
included aqueducts to transport water between the rural and urban areas, underground pipes,
baths and waste disposal systems in the arenas that held gladiatorial contests. (Lofrano & Brown,
2010)
Herein the main techniques and methods developed for water collection and wastewater
treatment of Mesopotamian, Indian and Roman cultures are described.
1.1 Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is well known for its irrigation and waste management systems. From the sixth to
the first millennium B.C. Mesopotamia was established among the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
Along these 6000 years their irrigation systems changed from simple to complex and large-scale
hydraulic devices and over-regional canals. (Jotheri et al., 2017)
Sumerians, ancient people who conquered this area, took into advantage the natural fluvial
dynamics of the Euphrates and Tigris. However, they also needed to protect themselves from the
floods. Both rivers carried a big amount of water volume, higher in comparison to the Nile River;
besides, they changed course easily. Historians believe that their irrigation systems arose from
the inhabitable platforms that they constructed to control floods. These platforms had diking and
damming systems, which were the basis of evolved irrigation systems. (Rost, 2017)
Their irrigation system included, dams, dikes and canals, which helped them to control, store and
distribute the water required for agricultural purposes. The land near the rivers was fertile, but

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the one far away often had problems to grow crops, and therefore was inhabitable. Besides they
had seasonal rains; for example, in spring water was scarce. The canals, which were made by
digging a gap and then closing it with mud, were useful to direct water to where it was need. In
Figures 1 and 2, a big network of canals along the Euphrates River can be seen. These canals were
fed by the water flow of the river and were used for their irrigation systems. (Kirby, 1990)

Figures 1 and 2. Canals along the Euphrates River (Charles-Picard & Ward, 1997)

1. Gates
2. Main canals
3. Medium-sized canals
4. Small feeder canals

Figure 3. Ancient irrigation systems in Mesopotamia (Carnine,

2006)

As seen in figure 3, gates controlled how much water flowed from the river, main canals led from
the river and they had a slope downwards that assured a continuous flow of water. From these
main canals, medium canals distributed the water to small canals which fed the crops directly.
Regulation ditches were also used to store water. (Carnine, 2006)
After the Sumerians, around 1800 B.C. the Babylonians continued to develop the irrigation
system. During this period the population increased drastically and King Hammurabi, developed
a legal code, which included laws and regulations for the correct construction of irrigation
systems and managing guidelines. (Rost, 2017)

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Water systems were built as multi-purpose reservoirs. They “facilitated intersections, to slow
water from higher to lower planes, to prevent scouring and erosion and to act as a kind of a
simple reservoir.” (Kang, 1973 qtd. as cited in Mays & Tamburrino, 2014) With systems like these
they could regulate water flow and store it for dry seasons.

Figure 4. Reservoir in Mesopotamia, as reconstructed by Kang (1973). (Kang, 1973 qtd. as cited in Mays &
Tamburrino, 2014)

Although Mesopotamia is well-known for its irrigation techniques, they also had developed
sophisticated sanitary engineering methods, which included wastewater management facilities
and drainage systems. Scholars found evidence that since 6500 B.C. in a settlement 80 km from
Euphrates river, many of the houses had a well and drainage systems, with which they managed
domestic wastewater. Around 3000 B.C. they had already developed wastewater and storm
water drainage systems in cities. (Jones, 1967) There were mainly three types of managing
sewage: through a canal of a street; if the house was close to a pit of the city, water was directed
directly to it; next to the city limits, water was taken out of the city through canals and disposed
into the land. (Roberts & Linden, 2014) The canals and pipes they used were made of clay and
clay bricks. (Rost, 2017) Some homes which had latrines directed their wastes to cesspits.
(Lofrano & Brown, 2010) Cesspits are underground tanks, which can be used to collect fecal
sludge, excreta or feces. (Tilley et al., 2014) However, must of the people disposed of waste by
throwing it to unpaved streets. The streets were then covered with clay periodically. (Lofrano &
Brown, 2010) As it can be seen, although Mesopotamians managed to get rid of wastewater by
either tanking it out of the city walls or by disposing of it at the streets, they did not develop
methods to treat the wastewater and wastes. In figures 5 and 6 a scheme of drain pipes and
drainage canalization can be seen.

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Figure 5. Drain pipes in Chogha Mish. Figure 6. Drainage canalization in Chogha Mish.
(Alizadeh 2008, qtd. as cited in Mays & Tamburrino, 2014) (Alizadeh 2008, qtd. as cited in Mays & Tamburrino, 2014)

Private toilets facilities in houses were date to the years between 2600 to 2150 B.C. (Mays &
Tamburrino, 2014) They were made of clay brick, but usually covered with bitumen.

Figure 7. Toilet facility in Tell Asmar. (Delougaz et al., 1967 qtd. as cited in
Mays & Tamburrino, 2014)

Along the different Mesopotamian Time Periods water and wastewater management techniques
were developed. Successful techniques allowed population growth, and this in combination with
laws and guidelines that arose to regulate water management and usage, where the reasons why
the Mesopotamian civilizations lasted for almost 6000 years. (Mays, 2008)
Table 1. Chronological Time Periods in Mesopotamia (Rost, 2017)

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 1.2 Mohenjo-Daro in Pakistan
Mesopotamian civilizations were not the only ones who developed successful water
management engineering techniques. Mohenjo-Daro, an ancient Indus civilization in the western
India, which its name means Mound of the Dead, lied near the Indus River, dating the 3300 B.C.
It is not only one of the earliest cities to be established in the world, but also is considered a
pioneer in the water management. (Webster, 1962) With about 34 000 habitants in the mid-third
millennium B.C. and a complex city-structure, which included buildings, palaces and temples,
their water supply, sanitation devices and expelling sewage systems were the first ones of its kind
that existed. Inside the city walls, in which the settlement was constructed, it was found that this
civilization was able to construct baths, houses and approximately more than 700 wells. (Vidale,
2010)
Historians believe that each house had at least one private well and a flush toilet. The houses had
a courtyard, in which a washing platform and a waste disposal hole was built. The disposal hole
functioned as a toilet. Wastewater at the end was directed to the sewage from the street, but
first it was treated. Wastewater flowed through tapered terra-cotta pipes into a sump. A sump is
a space that collects fluids, which are not desired, such as wastewater. (Fagin, 2007) Solids were
accumulated in the sump and the liquids were able to flow over the sump into the channels that
ended at the street sewage. (Ahmed, 2001). Houses which were not connected to the street
sewage, disposed of wastewater in a different way. The way in which the water was flushed, was
by emptying a jar of water with the central well of the house, then it was transported through
clay brick pipes and taken into a brick drain, which was shared. It was then taken to a soakpit,
which is a non-bottom-sealed underground tank and these tanks were periodically emptied.
(Rodda & Ubertini, 2004)
Regarding the baths, Mohenjo-Daro is well known for the Great Bath. This, is known as the first
public water tank. Historians agree that this one, as well as other baths, could have been used
for religious purposes, where water was treated or purified to help on the renewal of the bathers.
(Vidale, 2010)
Like the Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro had also other smaller baths, which were used for the same
purposes by the population. In Figure 8, a layout of a typical bath and a recreation of the same
bath is presented, for descriptive uses. (A. Probsthain, 1931 qtd. as cited in Marshall, 1931)

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 Figure 8. House XXIII, a possible bath. (A. Probsthain, 1931 qtd. as cited in Marshall, 1931)

This bath was approximately 62 feet long and 50 feet width. It has a central room or court and
13 rooms surrounded it. Probably across street 2 habitants entered the bath across room number
6. The well located in the southern part of the bath was made of bricks and had a water duct that
was connected to the central room. Like in the houses’ flush toilets, the waste water was drawn
into a larger drain, which is located on the west part. (A. Probsthain, 1931 qtd. as cited in
Marshall, 1931)
The maintenance of wells and sewage required continuous work. From excavation, to cleaning,
dumping and infilling. (Vidale, 2010)
1.3 Pergamon Castle in Rome
Romans water supply and management systems included ground and surface systems, dams that
functioned as reservoirs, conduits which transported water to distribution tanks and settling
tanks, called piscinae, which removed sediments and foreign matter. (Mays, 2008) Sewers and
pipes were not invented by them, but they were able to improve these technologies.
Romans were able to provide a network, which managed spring water, storm water and
wastewater. They were able to identify that spring water had a better quality in comparison to
water from waterbodies on the surface. (Lofrano & Brown, 2010) To manage wastewater, they
used flush latrines, then they directed water into sewers and after water was discharged into the
Tiber River. (Jones, 1967) However, most of the drains they constructed were used to avoid
flooding and carry away runoff from storms; only a few homes and palaces had a connection to
the drainage system. (Feo et al., 2014)
Cloaca Maxima (Cloacina was the name of the goddess of sewers) (Feo et al., 2014), the main
wastewater collector in Rome used around 500 B.C., had a breadth up to 3.2 m and height up to

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4.2 m. (Lamprecht, 1988) This ancient sewage was more than 100 m long. It started near the
Forum Augusto and ended flowing into the Tiber, which was near Ponte Palatino. (Feo et al.,
2014) It was used for around 2500 years as a method for wastewater and rainwater removal.
There is a section near the “Torre dei Conti” which is still in use. (Lofrano & Brown, 2010)

Figure 9. Wastewater collectors in Coloca Maxima, Rome (Lamprecht, 1988)

An example of an urban water distribution system is the one of the city of Pompeii. The system
included wells, cisterns, reservoirs and an aqueduct, called Serino, constructed from 12 to 6 B.C.
(Jansen, 2001) The pipes they used to distribute water were mainly made of lead. Later, they
developed the Roman concrete technology, which allowed them to build long construction canals
and therefore enormous hydraulic projects within their urban water distribution systems. (Mays
& Tamburrino, 2014)

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One of their big hydraulic projects is the water supply
system constructed for Pergamon castle between 197 to
159 B.C. The castle received a high volume of fresh water,
and therefore it also produced a high volume of
wastewater. For this reason, the romans constructed
underground collectors, which were located below the
streets. (Garbrecht, 1987)

Figure 10. Main wastewater

collector below main street at Pergamon
castle (Garbrecht, 1987)

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Wastewater was taken through various points of the castle’s wall to avoid that the water drained
at only one place. This can be seen in Figure 11.
Although the Romans, as a
developed empire, were able to
build large water management
systems, they were not able to
ensure a correct hygienic
treatment of the water. In
comparison to the Greeks, Rome
had open canals and lead pipes,
which resulted in high-lead-
content water and toxic waste.
Historians agree that the
sicknesses that arose from this
and other causes, led to the
decline of the Roman Empire.
(Mays & Tamburrino, 2014)

Figure 11. Main wastewater collector

below main street at Pergamon castle
(Garbrecht, 1987)

Aside from the advanced technology that Romans developed, their attitude towards waste was
not negative. Feces and urine were considered resources. Urine was used to remove the fat from
raw wool and to soften it, therefore it was sold to tanneries; while feces were sold to farmers as
fertilizer. Using urine at tanneries and feces for agricultural purposes were very smelly activities,
but, there were also lucrative. This was related with the famous quote of Vespasian, a Roman
Emperor, “pecunia non olet”, which means: money does not stink. (Bracken et. al, 2007)

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 2. Waste water treatment in Medieval Age
The Renaissance and Age of Discovery followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire and so the
water supply and wastewater management techniques of this ancient cultures disappeared. This
period, going from the fall of the Roman Empire until the 10 th century, was known as the Dark
Ages. Historians refer to this periods as the Dark Ages due to the deterioration of Western Europe
in a cultural, economic and demographic way. (Merriam Webster’s dictionary, 2017) These Dark
Ages also could be seen in the sanitary aspect. However, this Sanitary Dark Age lasted more than
the Dark Ages itself, it goes from around 500 to 1800 A.C. (Lofrano & Brown, 2010) New ways of
organization in towns and political and social interests, changed the concept of water and
hygiene that humans had. All the practices that the Roman and ancient civilizations achieved and
developed were lost. Monasteries were an exception to this period of Sanitary Dark Age. The
history of wastewater management between the 5th and 15th century is described in this section.
2.1 Sanitary Dark Age
During the Middle Ages towns established near crossroads or rivers to have a nearby source of
water. Water from rivers was used for washing and drinking. Because past practices were
abandoned, wastewater was not managed, there were no sewage systems and instead,
wastewater from household practices and excrement was discharged directly into the streets.
Animals in the houses’ backyards and in the streets, such as swine and chickens hunted for food
in the waste and this increased waste significantly. Rats, lice and fleas were common. People
used pigs to eat the waste. (Ewert, 2007)
Water was now not only used for agriculture and producing food, but also the breweries and the
tannery and dyeing industries required water. These manufacturing activities contributed with a
lot of water pollution; chemical and organic wastes as well as toilet waste were thrown directly
into rivers and common water. Houses with private toilets got usually stuck and most of the
people who did not had access to a toilet, used the street or their home’s floor. For example, in
the city of London, open sewers in the streets were filled with waste, they were then emptied,
and waste was thrown directly into the Thames river. (Lofrano & Brown, 2010)
Cemeteries were placed inside the towns, this usually contributed to the pollution of wells and
table water. (Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007)
While ancient cultures had hygiene myths or traditions, which they practiced in baths, people
at the Middle Ages did not had the concept of hygiene. For example, they did not wash their
hands after dealing with feedstock. Some historian records state that they were even people
who took a bath only four to five times a year. (Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007)
According to scholars, it was evident that medieval towns did not had the water engineering
technologies that were employed before, but this was not because they lacked organization or
economic resources, this is mainly attributed to the fact that representatives focused on showing
their economic strength through majestic buildings, cathedrals and town halls instead of ensuring

12
public services: water management and hygiene. (Lofrano & Brown, 2010) Common diseases
such as tuberculosis or the mid-14th century pandemic Black Death killed from 30 to 60% of the
total population of Europe. (Austin, 2003)

Figure 14. Illustration of the poor living conditions in Netherland during the Medieval Ages (Brueghel the Elder,
1559)

In the 13th century streets were paved. In Paris, King Phillipe Augustus ordered the roads to be
paved with the objective of reducing the bad smell and odors of the garbage and sewage mixed
together on the street. Pavement did not allow that water was absorbed by the soil and therefore
there were floods and high volumes of stormwater runoff. To avoid this, in 1370 the first sewage
was built. This sewage ended at the River Seine, which passed by near the Louvre. Sewers were
constructed not to manage wastewater, but to stop floods. The journal The Builder from London
written in 1884 stated that until the 1800, the act of discharging sewage or waste into sewers
which were made only to transport surface drainage, was considered a penal offence in London.
(Halliday, 2009)
Regarding private toilets, cesspools where built inside the houses, to collect the sewage.
Cesspools, which can also be named as indoor pit toilets, where introduced to avoid the process
of emptying the toilets often. The sewage of the city and of houses was collected through
cesspools and used for applications in the countryside’s land. People who worked on collecting
the sewage were known as “gongfermors”. (Campbell, 2000) They sold the waste to farmers,
who lived outside the protection walls of the city. Cesspools also drained into the street through
a crude conduit. The problem was that these usually were blocked due to the waste itself and

13
the sewage spread under houses and buildings contaminating wells and waterways that provided
drinking water. (Lens et al., 2001) Besides cities were not able to grow in territory due to the
protection walls that were built around it; this made the sanitary situation even worst. (Burian &
Edwards, 2002) It was until the 15th centuries, in which cannons and other firearms where
developed, that cities could grew further than the protection walls. (Weir, 2008)
This caused millions of deaths all around Europe. Families lived in neighborhoods which were
saturated with excrement and people died due to asphyxiation from hydrogen sulphide, which
arose from the sewage. (Wolfe, 1999)
2.2 Monasteries in Europe
Monasteries were an exception to the bad wastewater management practices during the
Sanitary Dark Ages. During the 12th and 13th centuries monasteries in Europe arose and played
an important role in the development of the society. Monks, who lived in the monasteries, were
mainly the only ones that knew how to read and write, therefore they educated people. In the
monasteries travelers were able to stay at night; monks also took care of the lower classes when
they were sick and provided them food. Inside monasteries monks had everything they needed
to live, and therefore, water supply and wastewater management techniques were developed.
(Greene, 2005)

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 Figure 12. Typical water supply and wastewater discharge in monasteries (Bond, 1991)

Monasteries were usually located near a source of water, rivers. A dike or channel were
constructed with the necessary gradient to have access to a source of fresh water. Water was
then driven through sedimentation tanks, it crossed the ditch around the monastery and was
carried to a distribution system. From this distribution house, water was distributed to the
different areas of the monastery. The pipes used were made from ceramic, lead or tree trunks.
(Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007) After the water was used, it carried different waste materials
and therefore was polluted to different degrees. This polluted water was carried through the
main wastewater channel and taken to two different types of ditches: a pond for fishes and a

15
pond for mills. This classification was made according to the water’s degree of pollution. (Bond,
1991)
An example of a German monastery is the Cistercian monastery Arnsburg in the region of
Wetterau. This monastery was constructed in 1197. The Wetter River was the source of water.
Water was directly used for cooking purposes and brewing beer. Other pipes distributed water
to the dormitories and other areas. (Bond, 1991)
2.3 Medieval palaces and castles
In comparison to the monasteries, medieval palaces and castles had simpler water supply and
wastewater management systems. In relation to water supply, in most cases, at the courtyard of
the castles, a well was dug to reach
groundwater. To dispose of
wastewater, latrines were constructed.
Latrines are seats made of stone with a
hole in the middle; they were
constructed in a way that waste could
fall with its corresponding gradient just
by means of gravity. At this point,
wastes were not yet treated, but were
disposed through an underground or
open canal into rivers. (Grewe, 1991)
Figure 13 shows a canal that carried
out water from a 12th century German
palace in Frankfurt directly into the
river Main.

Figure 13. Wastewater canal in Frankfurt (Grewe, 1991)

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 3. Waste water treatment in the 19th century
During the 19th century epidemics like typhoid and cholera were present in big amounts. The
critical situation in all Europe continued until the middle of the 19th century. As a response to
these epidemics, people started implementing some of the methods previously practiced by the
Romans: collecting, diverting and discharging. (Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007)
3.1 Cholera epidemics
Wastewater from industrial activities that was still discharged directly into the rivers and water
from household activities directly into the soil at the courtyards where the toilets were. In the
19th century, drinking water pumps were used; however, these were usually placed next to the
toilets. This anti-hygienic practice contributed to the propagation of cholera. (Virchow, 1868 qtd.
as cited in Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007).
“Drinking water drawn with these pumps
occasionally smelled of H2S.” (Virchow, 1868 qtd.
as cited in Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007) In
1871 in London, there were around 285 factories
in 56 km discharging their wastewater into the
river Irwell. (Reich, 1871 qtd. as cited in Wiesmann
& Dombrowski, 2007) The British journal, which
usually wrote about humor and satire,
demonstrated through this illustration the poor
conditions of the river Thames in 1858.

Figure 15. “The silent highway man” (Föhl & Hamm, 1985)

Nevertheless, before 1860 nobody knew what was causing these epidemics. In London in 1871
tests to characterize the water from the Thames river were carried out. However, it was only
reported that the water had unhealthy germs and chemicals. (Frankland, 1869 qtd. as cited in
Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007)
3.2 Sewage collectors in the 19th century
To find a solution to the poor wastewater management, cities started to act. London for example
decided to write a Report on the Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population of Great Britain.
The report was written in 1842 and it stated some recommendations regarding water supply and
water management. Some of the recommendations were: discharging the water carried by
sewers into the agricultural areas outside the cities, provision of water supply to every house and
discharge domestic wastewater directly to the sewers instead of using cesspools. (Lens et al.,
2001)

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This last aspect of discharging domestic wastewater into sewers created a conflict. People did
not agree in doing this, because then the bad odors of the sewage will enter through the private
toilets and people could be also affected by the odors, causing illnesses. (Lens et al., 2001) It was
until 1861, when Tomas Crapper created the valve-and-siphon design, that the domestic
wastewater was directly connected to the sewage system. (Bertrand-Krajewski, 2008)
With the help of pumping stations, wastewater was directed to the river Thames. Due to the
introduction of this technology and the continuous increase in population, the volume of water
flowing through the drainage system in London doubled. Besides, the River Thames became a big
“cesspool”, which contained a high level of pollutants. As a solution to this problem bigger
sewage systems were built. (Lens et al., 2001)

Figure 15. Illustration of the construction of a main sewage collector in London in 1865-1868 (Föhl & Hamm, 1985)

This approach of managing water was similar to the method “dilution of pollution” employed by
the Romans. Germany also acted towards the problem. Typhoid was spread throughout all the
country creating high mortality rates. Between 1866 and 1867, when the biggest wave of cholera
took place, they started constructing sewage systems all around Germany. Hamburg was the only
city that had a sewer system before 1867. Table 2 shows the construction date of the sewers
around Germany. (Seeger, 1999)

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 Table 2. Construction dates of sewers in Germany

Although the sewers helped to manage wastewater, a solution to treat the wastewater was
needed.
3.3 Waste water is cleaned by self-purification processes?
Although it was evident that hygienic conditions were very poor, and that illness was spread all
around European cities, concepts about the wastewater treatment were very diverse. In 1873,
Eduard Wiebe stated that the wastewater from Berlin, which was directed to the river Spree was
cleaned and treated by a chemical self-purification process that occurred naturally. (Wiesmann
& Dombrowski, 2007)
Studies were carried out, by allowing oxygen to be in contact with different tests from the
Thames river, but the organics were not reduced. Some other thought that the process was not
chemical, but microbiological. Therefore, some tests were carried out between 1885 and 1890.
Its results stated that it was a microbiological process. Through the oxidation of organic
compounds, H2CO3 and HNO3 have been produced. (Wiesmann & Dombrowski, 2007) Against
this theory, some scientists tried to prove that the process was achieved through chemical
oxidation, but this was neglected.
People also thought that cholera, chlamydia and other diseases were spread through miasma,
which was known as night air. This air was thought to carry the diseases and that it emanated
from rotting organic matter. Therefore, people could have got ill just by breathing the odor of
organic matter. When latrines were emptied, neighbors escaped their houses to avoid getting
illnesses. (Feo et al., 2014) This was the era of Miasmas. (Lens et al., 2001)
In 1883, Robert Koch was able to identify the bacteria that caused cholera. (Brown, 1935) From
this point, the miasma theory started to come to an end and the germ theory was more and more
adopted. The germ theory, stated that germs were the cause of illnesses. For the following 10

19
years Max von Pettenkofer and Robert Koch tried to prove their own hypothesis regarding the
origin of the bacteria. Max von Pettenkofer stated that the bacteria grew in the soil and dust, and
Koch stated that it grew in the sources of water, which was not processed, mainly at its surfaces.
When the cholera appeared in Hamburg in 1892, which was the last cholera in Germany, they
identified that the people that were ill, had taken water from the river Elbe, while the people
from the central prison and the asylum Attendee were not ill. This lead to the conclusion, that
those unaffected people remained healthy, because both the prison and the asylum had their
own ground sources of water. Due to this, tests were carried out, and finally the cholera bacteria
were found in the water of the river Elbe and the drinking water pipes carrying water of this river.
(Kluge and Schramm 1986). It is important to mention that due to tidal streams in the river Elbe,
wastes that once flowed through the river in direction to the North Sea, returned to the port at
Hamburg. Wastes were carried out of the city through the river, but then, when the high tide was
reached, water returned to the port and so the wastes. (Lens et al., 2001)
As a response to the discovery of the cholera bacteria in the river Elbe, Hamburg started using
chlorine as part of its wastewater treatment. It was the first city to introduce this practice. In the
United States, the city of Brewster in New York, was the first one to adopt this method in this
country. In 1896 chlorine was included in the wastewater treatment technology on a temporary
basis. Cities that adopted this technology as a continuous method were Lincoln, England and
Chicago. And it was almost 10 years later, when it was adopted completely and used routinely in
the cities of New Jersey and Jersey City. (Spellman & Bieber, 2010)
Technologies were developed even more, and around 1915, technologies such as gaseous and
solution feed of chlorine allowed a more efficient and practical treatment of the water. (Spellman
& Bieber, 2010)

20
Conclusion
Water has and has had a great value throughout history, from the years B.C. until now. Because of this,
humans had invested time and resources to study the ancient and past techniques developed for the
supply and management of water.

At the beginning, water was managed by Mesopotamian civilizations in a way that the productivity of
crops was increased, and communities were able to survive. Then, Indus civilizations treated water
according to religious and ideological conditions, using it for the purification of the soul. Romans
introduced more developed wastewater management methods to manage water throughout their large
cities and throughout the Roman Empire. After, most of the practices were lost due to a difference in the
interests of those in power, who focused more in prosperity and economic power rather than the human
wellbeing. Suddenly, healthy conditions and survival instinct forced men to look for big and centralized
wastewater treatment techniques.

As it can be seen, wastewater management practices were closely related to social and cultural traditions.
Previously used techniques are the basis of the methods employed nowadays to treat wastewater; and
as ancient cultures learned from their ancestries’ techniques, improved them and applied them, as well
we have been doing it nowadays and will continue to do.

Wastewater management history is not only a reflection of a society’s culture and behavior, but it is also
the history of the relationship between humankind and the environment itself. History will be continued
to be written, but what humans and society should be aware of, is to be able to learn from this history
not to repeat the same mistakes and overcome the actual challenges that we are now facing.

21
Sustainability Reflection

Through each period, communities and humankind had faced challenges regarding the correct
management and treatment of water, and they have found solutions to those problems. Now, water
management is not only driven by only one aspect, being a political, economic, sanitary or social aspect,
as it was in ancient times, but it is driven by a combination of all factors at the same time. We have been
trying to ensure the conservation and sustainable management of this natural resource by developing
solutions that try to integrate political, social, economic, sanitary and environmental interests. However,
this has not been totally achieved. For example, as it is in the case of many rural towns in Mexico, they do
not have a pipeline system that provides them with water, because political and economic interest of the
government are being taken into consideration, leaving social and sanitary aspects aside. This is a similar
example, to what happened in the Medieval Ages. Leaders where more interested in the political and
economic prosperity of themselves, rather than in the wellbeing of the society; and we have forgotten to
adopt the Mesopotamian attitude towards the use of water for the welfare and good quality of life of
people.

From what has been compiled in this literature review, it can be appreciated that as humankind develops,
more factors need to be taken into consideration. Mesopotamians and Indus civilizations only worried
themselves about the social aspect; then, the Romans developed water management techniques to
assure economic and social stability; after, during the Medieval Ages, the political factor was also
introduced; and now, it is not only, the economic, social and political aspects who play an important role
in the decisions of how water and wastewater need to be managed, but also the environmental factor.

In the attempt to integrate these aspects and its respective interests in a harmonic way to assure good
sanitary and health conditions, new technologies have been developed, regulations have been
established, new centralized and decentralized water management systems have been implemented and
social programs have been put into action, however we have not been able to provide integrated solutions
that allow every person to have access to a safe source of water.

Due to this failure, there comes the dilemma, whether the real problem within water is the poor water
and wastewater management due to the lack of ability to integrate in a sustainable wat of aspects, or
whether the problem is the lack of water availability.

From my point of view, water availability plays an important role in the water supply, however, I believe
that water management has a bigger impact. If we use the history of wastewater management as an
example, the changes in technologies, techniques and methods of managing water were strongly driven
by humankind’s situation at each point or period of history. For each problem or struggle humans had,
being for the ancient cultures, finding a way to get the water from rivers and storing it for supply during
dry seasons; or for the people in the Middle Ages, creating effective treatment mechanisms for
wastewater to stop epidemics, humans had managed water for its own interest and benefit at that
moment in time history. And that is what humankind continued to do. But now, we cannot continue to
just think in the present, taking decisions based on what will bring more benefits to us or taking into
consideration only our political and economic interests and power.

To overcome this, I consider that it is important to learn from the past. Efforts in the study, research and
analysis made to understand the past water supply and wastewater management practices, should not
only be stored as a source of history record or collection, rather, we should be aware, that aside from all

22
the good practices, from which we can learn, we should not do, what humans have been doing, think of
water as an unlimited resource.

The sustainability concept, the United Nations Development Goals, UN Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg
Conferences, are efforts that are being made to create awareness, set goals and guidelines to think of
water as a resource that should be managed, used, distributed, treated and defined in a sustainable way.

Political, economic and social interests are interdependent, they are strongly attached to water issues and
therefore have a big influence in water-related issues. For example, water plays an important role in
preventing famine, migration, epidemics, social inequality and therefore it is crucial in maintaining social
and political stability. Besides, it is water which links humans to the environment, and it is what keeps
humans alive.

Because of this we should have in mind that population is growing, resources are limited, society’s way of
organizing is getting more complex, and this will continue to make the successful management of water
and wastewater even more complex. Hence, the main objective should be to develop new technologies
and wastewater management processes and systems that take into consideration social, economic and
political interests in a way that decisions are not only politically driven or economically, but in a way that
the sustainability concept is integrated in an effective way to solve sanitation issues, lack of access to safe
sources of water and assure a high quality of life for everyone.

The complexity of managing water should not prevent us from comprehending, as the UN-Water
establishes, that “Water is a precondition for human existence and for the sustainability of the planet.”

23
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