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The systematic construction of supply and disposal lines in Europe began in the 19th century (in Germany: sewer system in 1842, water supply in 1854, gas supply in 1885). Since that time, these infrastructures have been incessantly expanded – with the result that, for example, currently the German sewer system alone amounts to a length of more than two million kilometres.

Most of these systems are located in the ground under the public road network; …

(Image: History of sewer systems: U-shaped gutter and socket pipe)

From what we know today, the oldest findings of water pipelines and drains originate from the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. They were discovered in the former Habuba Kabira at the upper reaches of the River Euphrates. In those days, three different technical variants were applied in the construction process of these lines.

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Often, they were also combined with one another:

Large sewers

(Image: History of sewer systems: Drainage shaft, Babylon)

This period of time is characterised by the drain and sewer systems in Mesopotamia and Babylon. The highly frequented temples had washing areas and toilets that were drained using socket pipelines. In the Mesopotamian palaces toilets and bathing facilities (that were partly connected to the sewer system) formed part of the living comfort.

The so-called “North Palace” of Tell Asmar, which was …

The first reports of sewage handling in Egypt were derived from the archaeological findings from the time of the second royal dynasty, namely remains of latrines that formed part of the furnishings of graves: The burial temple of King Sahure was equipped with a technically complex drain and sewer system. To construct the sewers, the builders first placed a base made of limestone that included a groove for the placement of the pipe. The subsequently …

The findings of urban settlements in what is today Pakistan and India, mainly in the valley of the River Indus and in an area in the north of Bombay, are extraordinary examples of sewage treatment technology of its time. The most important cities of this civilization along the Indus River are situated near the cities that are today known as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kot Diji and Lothal.

(Image: History of sewer systems: Wastewater discharge spout)

In …

The most famous ancient monument in the Aegean is the Palace of Knossos on the Island of Crete. The water supply of this palace was ensured by means of wells, cisterns and partly also via a water supply line. The latter was composed of a spigot and socket baked clay pipe.

The drain and sewer system consisted of a network of sewers made of stone. The used water was fed into the main sewers via service pipes and vertical shafts. The precipitation water …

In the era of the antiquity, King Solomon created the first large-scale water supply network that was named after him in the city of Jerusalem. It included the Salomon ponds, three reservoirs with a length of 120 to 160 m and a depth of 8 to 10 m, as well as an aqueduct and tunnel system that was built throughout the surrounding mountains. When Jerusalem was defeated in 70 AD, these water lines were destroyed. It was the Arabians who identified the …

(Image: History of sewer systems: Great Drain)

In the city-state of Athens, the water supply was implemented e.g. in the area of the marketplace by means of draw wells and underground cisterns. In the beginning, the fresh water lines were made of simple limestone brickwork. Later, pipes made of baked clay were used in the sewers, which also served to increasing the water’s flow velocity. Eventually, advancements in the manufacturing of the pipes allowed …

(Image: History of sewer systems: Aqueduct)

The water supply engineering and technology in the Roman Empire was particularly advanced for its time. Five different water supply methods used by the romans have been identified, they include: the open channel, tunnels, aqueducts, the line on a wall, and the pressure line.

Most of the water supply lines used the open channel method. The first Roman water line, called Aqua Appia, was built by Appius Claudius …

(Image: History of sewer systems: Marzabotto)

The housing development of the Etruscans in what is nowadays called Central Italy is of special interest with respect to the history of drainage engineering. The oldest findings have their origins in an excavated Etruscan city in the region of Bologna. The Etruscan settlements had rectangular streets lined with houses on main streets running from North to South and cross streets running from East to West. …

(Image: History of sewer systems: Rubbish- and cesspit)

During the Middle Ages, water was supplied through systems that, in comparison to those of the ancient civilisations, were more or less primitive. At that time, people either scooped up their potable water again from the rivers and streams that ran through the cities and also carried along the liquid pollutants that they fed into the water, or they procured their water from shallow dug wells …

The original invention of the water closet (toilet) goes back to Leonardo da Vinci. The invention of the “modern” water closet (as an apparatus for an odourless disposal of faecal matter) by the Englishman John Harrington can be dated back to the times between 1589 and 1596. However, it was not until 1775 that the actual patent for the water closet was granted to the English inventor Alexander Cummings, who designed a version that was based on Harrington’…

(Image: History of sewer systems: Barrel system #1)

The water supply facilities that were created during that period of time in many cities can be considered the prototypes of the central water supply. In mountainous regions the water was led in headstreams or pressure pipes made of wood, baked clay, less commonly even lead and iron, into the water reservoirs or public wells. In an unpurified condition, the surface water was fed into water towers …

(Image: History of sewer systems: Oval profile sewer made of brickwork)

“In the period of which we speak, there reigned in the cities a stench barely conceivable to us modern men and women. The streets stank of manure, the courtyards of urine, the stairwells stank of mouldering wood and rat droppings, the kitchens of spoiled cabbage and mutton fat; the unaired parlours stank of stale dust, the bedrooms of greasy sheets, damp featherbeds, and the pungently …

(Image: History of sewer systems: Installation of a liner #1)

With the introduction of the municipal water supply for all households, the problem of faecal matter disposal was superseded by the increasing sewage volumes. At the beginning of the 20th century the only discussion regarding the sewer system was whether the water-borne sewage system should be implemented using the combined or the separate system. In the combined system (which prevailed …