The History of Sewer Systems Throughout The World

Photo Courtesy: [De Agostini/De Agostini Editorial/Getty Images]

Have you ever wondered about the history of sewer systems throughout the world?

Come and join us as we explore this captivating history, full of interesting stories and intense technological advancements that saved thousands of lives and improved the world for the better.

Likewise, the rise of sewer system technology dates back thousands of years, and the innovation occurred based upon need and the growing populations all across the world.

Sewer Systems In Ancient Italy

In the 8th century BC, the Etruscan civilizations in Italy were thriving, and they had even developed sewage and drainage systems; the idea of sewer systems has been around for thousands of years. With this, pictured below are the ruins from one of these societies which had an innovative sewage system.

Photo Courtesy: [De Agostini/De Agostini Editorial/Getty Images]

The people who lived in Marzabotto (the ancient ruins pictured above in Northern Italy) had developed drainage pathways on the sides of their systems to avoid contamination with the Reno River.

Furthermore, the ancient people here had taken advantage of the natural slopes of the land to develop one of the first sewer and drainage systems.

The Engineering In Perugia

Pictured below is a colored engraving of the ancient Italian city, Perugia, which thrived most during the 6th century BC. Furthermore, in terms of the history of sewer systems,

this city is most known for developing excellent drainage systems for their waste.

Photo Courtesy: [G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images]

Since the beginning of time, sewer systems have had problems with drainage and overflow, yet this city used the natural landscape to create optimal drainage; the city had silty-loam soils,

which allow for optimal drainage which allowed for smooth flow amongst the sewer tunnels.

Sewer Systems In Pompeii

Pompeii was a city in Italy (illustrated below) that is most known for its poor demise after a volcanic eruption, yet before this disaster,

the people who had lived here had created a scattered sewer system that involved processing both rainwater and wastewater.

Photo Courtesy: [Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Moreover, Pompeii had a sewer system, but it was not as complex as today, so a lot of their wastewater did drain into the streets, creating countless health and environmental concerns.

Furthermore, this wastewater that drained into the streets explains the strategically placed steppingstones throughout the streets.

The Sewage System In Herculaneum

The town of Herculaneum had been created in the 7th century BC, and it was yet another ancient Italian city to be destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 80 AD (the ruins are pictured below).

Additionally, this town shows archaeological signs of an advanced wastewater drainage system.

Photo Courtesy: [PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Furthermore, the main drainage tactic that these people used in ancient Italy was to install drainage holes in the sidewalks; the rainwater was diverted to the town sidewalks,

while the people's wastewater was sent below to the sewers installed below the streets.

Sewers In Greece

Pictured below are ruins from the Cyclades Islands, which hosted a significant population in Greece starting in the 6th century BC. Furthermore, these ruins are now a significant archaeological site,

and they are most noted for having developed sewage systems.

Photo Courtesy: [G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images]

This ancient civilization had utilized various sizes and shapes of ceramic pipes to construct their sewage system, and they had developed public and private networks of sewage. Furthermore, the people who occupied this town also took advantage of the land and carved most of their sewage architecture into the land itself.

The Cloaca Maxima

The Cloaca Maxima is essential to the history of sewer systems, for it was a drainage system (later used for wastewater) that was created in Rome, Italy in the 6th century BC. Furthermore, the word translates to the "Great Sewer", and pictured below are people standing in the structure in the 1950s.

Photo Courtesy: [PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

The Cloaca Maxima is a network of tunnels that are over eleven feet high, and it was originally created to drain marshes to utilize more land for other structures. Furthermore, this system was switched to sewage usage after the population increased and more latrines were being installed.

The Network Of Sewers In Ostia

Pictured below are public latrines (toilets) from the 4th century BC in Italy, which belonged to the town of Ostia;

the people who lived here had developed a complete and vast network of underground sewer systems that accommodated the entire population.

Photo Courtesy: [Prisma/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Additionally, this system in Italy is still highly recognizable because it was mostly constricted underground, for most of the sewers are located under the streets (in the middle of them).

Moreover, the ancient people who lived here also installed massive terracotta shingles in their sewers.

The Advances Made In Uruk

In Iraq, the city of Uruk had developed in 3200 BC, and it is known for its advancements in sewage technology; this adds up because they were revolutionaries when it came to urbanization and were at one point one of the largest cities in the world.

Photo Courtesy: [Nik Wheeler/Corbis/Getty Images]

Furthermore, this ancient city in Iraq was one of the first to utilize bricks when constructing its latrines and accompanying structures, which aided with drainage and durability. Moreover, it is clear to see that this city set a precedent for all sewage technology to come!

Signs Of Sewage In Scotland

From 3180 BC to 2500 BC, Skara Brae (a village in Scotland, ruins pictured below) thrived and even developed its own wastewater management system.

Furthermore, this village illustrated the early usage of drainage systems in densely populated areas.

Photo Courtesy: [CM Dixon/Heritage Images/Getty Images]

The early development of a sewage system was made possible by the nearby Bay of Skaill, and the ancient people here ended up constructing public toilets, an entire drainage system throughout the city,

and specified drainage for buildings to prevent damage.

Further Developments In Greece

Pictured below is a Minoan archeological site in Greece, and the ancient people who lived here thrived around 3000 BC. With this,

the civilizations in this part of Greece had created complex sewer systems and rainwater management methods that influenced the entire history of sewage management.

Photo Courtesy: [Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

One of the key advancements that this ancient Greek society had made was the use of terracotta pipes throughout the system, for they are durable and accommodate the flow of the water. Furthermore, this society had also created one of the first evolutions toward the flushing toilet.

Pakistan Develops Wastewater Management

In the 3rd century BC, the ancient Pakistanian city, Harappa, had a large population that demanded the development of sewage systems, which led this ancient city to be a revolutionary in sewage technology.

Furthermore, the people here also utilized the land to build their systems.

Photo Courtesy: [DeAgostini/DeAgostini Editorial/Getty Images]

Moreover, most of the sewers in this city were located beside buildings,

and they were carved into the ground to create drainage for the flow of rainwater and wastewater that had plagued the city (with disease and filth) before the key inventions of this sewer system network.

The Sewers In Knossos

The ancient city of Knossos in Greece was established from 2000 BC to 1580 BC, and it is famous for its ties to mythology, and its advancements in architecture.

What you might not know, is that this ancient city is also known for its extensive sewage systems!

Photo Courtesy: [Erich Andres/United Archive/Getty Images]

This ancient Greek civilization, like most, had quickly developed the urgency to develop sewer technology when the population continued to rise,

and this is what led engineers of that time to create an underground canal-like sewer system that helped settle some of their sewage issues.

The Bocca della Verità

The Bocca della Verità was created in the 1st century AD, and even though now it is used as a tourist attraction (which is said to be able to detect liars),

some archaeologists believe that it was once used as a manhole cover for an ancient civilization in Rome.

Photo Courtesy: [Peter Bischoff/PB Archive/Getty Images]

If the archaeological prediction of this object being a manhole cover is correct, this could prove the people of ancient Rome's dedication to beautifying all parts of their city. Moreover, the civilizations of ancient Rome were the ones to contribute some of the most significant improvements to sewage systems.

Public Latrines Were Common

Pictured below are public latrines from the 2nd century, and public bathrooms such as this have been common for thousands of years (except nowadays, they look quite different!).

Furthermore, this set of public bathrooms and washbasins are located in Tunisia.

Photo Courtesy: [CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images]

Public latrines manifested countless cases of illnesses, yet there were not as many that would have been brought upon civilizations if they would have continued to use the bathrooms wherever they wanted; the bonus to public latrines is that the toilet often was attached to a hole that went several feet into the ground.

Sewage Systems In Palenque

The city of Palenque thrived from 226 to 799 AD, and this area in Mexico belonged to the Mayan culture; the Mayans had made massive innovations in the area of sewage systems,

and they were the ones to utilize underground aqueducts to manage their rain and wastewater.

Photo Courtesy: [RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images]

Not only did this Mayan civilization have flush toilets, but they also had water filters (public and private) that amazingly resemble current ceramic water filters!

Furthermore, this civilization was certainly ahead of its time when it came to developing a successful network of sewer systems.

Byzantine Cities Managed Their Sewage

In 395 AD, many Byzantine cities in Greece had flourished (ruins of one pictured below),

and the people who had lived here had developed a main and a secondary sewer drain throughout their neighborhoods, and they utilized public and private drainage techniques.

Photo Courtesy: [Prisma/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

The sewer system in this area mostly utilized ceramic pipes, and archaeologists find it evident that people were able to hook up to the public sewage system if they desired to do so.

With this, sewage systems were not perfect though, for most only worked successfully at this point in history if there was a nearby body of water to pump overflow into.

Latrines In Sabratha

Sabratha was an ancient Roman city in Libya in the 4th century BC, and it is most known for its development of extensive trade routes and connections.

Furthermore, due to the immense population that this city had, they developed efficient sewage systems.

Photo Courtesy: [Silvio FIORE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images]

Sabratha is an ancient city that is crucial to history for countless reasons, although one of the most notable ones is its mass installation of public latrines, which were connected to a complex, interconnected underground system that served thousands of people.

The Advancements In Cordoba

Cordoba was an ancient city in Spain that had a massively interconnected sewer system that served the centralized part of the city, and the people of this civilization had incorporated public latrines,

baths, and washbasins into their wastewater management design.

Photo Courtesy: [PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Furthermore, the people of this ancient city (illustrated above) had diverted much of their wastewater to nearby bodies of water, and most of the sewer system was preserved due to it being underground.

Additionally, the people in this area continued to modify the system when they installed sandstone slabs.

King Philippe-Auguste Revolutionized Public Sewage Systems

In the early 13th century, King Philippe-Auguste (depicted below) had established monumental progress for the world's sewage systems when he declared that there be open sewers in Paris, France,

and they were to be located in the middle of the freshly built streets.

Photo Courtesy: [Culture Club/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

After King Philippe-Auguste had created this addition to France, the technology continued to vastly improve and spread throughout the area of Paris. Additionally, the only downfall to the King's plan was that the wastewater went into the Thames River, which would later create a massive problem.

Lleida Generated A Sewage System

The Province of Lleida in Spain (ruins pictured below) was established in the 12th century,

and it is most known for being an ancient urban area that became significantly aware of the health effects that human waste had on the quality of life, and in turn, established complex sewer systems.

Photo Courtesy: [PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

This city had developed cesspools for their wastewater and even went as far as to place the cesspools close to the streets so that the drainage could work quickly and efficiently.

Furthermore, the development of such crucial sewage technology illustrates that authorities had invested in these projects in ancient Spain.

Sewage Farming

Pictured below is a sewage farm in 1840 in the United Kingdom; this method of farming became extensively popular after authoritative scientists declared that it improved agricultural production. Therefore, sewage farming was perfect for diverting waste and controlling sewage overflow.

Photo Courtesy: [Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Sewage farms were scientifically studied for decades, and Edwin Chadwick and Justus von Liebig were some of the individuals who approved this method of farming and wastewater management.

Furthermore, people even developed silos for the wastewater in order to be able to fertilize their fields.

The Fleet Ditch

Pictured below is an engraving of a worker who was sent to work in the Fleet Ditch in London, which is a massive sewage system that diverted most of its overflow into the Thames River;

the man who had performed maintenance on the structure was doing so in 1841.

Photo Courtesy: [Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Most of the sewer systems in London at this point in history had flowed into the Thames River, and this ended up causing a massive problem that would ignite the fire for engineers to rapidly work to create efficient and effective sewage systems for the growing world.

Maintaining The Sewer Systems

Illustrated below is a group of sewermen on October 4th, 1845 as they dig into the current sewage system to make it deeper (to accommodate more people).

Furthermore, the sewage system that they were deepening that day ran right under a main street in London.

Photo Courtesy: [Hulton Archive/Illustrated London News/Getty Images]

Maintaining sewer systems was arduous work, not to mention extremely dangerous due to the deadly diseases that workers could be exposed to; despite all this, the maintenance of the sewers had to be done in order to provide a network large enough to maintain the growing population in Europe.

Repairing Sewers

Illustrated below is a sewer gang repairing the Fleet sewer in London in 1854; even though sewer system technology had come a long way,

the systems still consistently broke down and required constant attention and maintenance in order to maintain basic functions.

Photo Courtesy: [Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images]

Sewer gangs would spend all day traveling across the city of London to repair sewers connected to public and private sewage systems, and since the networks were constantly in use, the sewer gangs found that there were always things going wrong that needed to be fixed.

The Great Stink of 1858

The Great Stink of 1858 (a cartoon depicting the incident shown below) was created after people had dumped wastewater into the Thames River for hundreds of years;

the air had smelled so putrid and there were hundreds of deaths caused by cholera due to the unsanitary conditions.

Photo Courtesy: [The Cartoon Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images]

Most people during this time noted that the Thames River was a black, sludge tar-pit full of sewage and waste,

and only after the Great Stink occurred had highly populated cities such as London started to severely address the issue of wastewater management.

Sir Edwin Chadwick Transformed The World's Sewage Systems

Sir Edwin Chadwick was known as an English economist who most notably

brought social reform to the sewage systems of the UK and in turn, the entire world.

Furthermore, Edwin had brought revolutionary change to sewer systems because he wanted to mitigate disease.

Photo Courtesy: [Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Edwin was essentially obsessed with bettering the world's sewage systems, and he brought many innovative designs and engineering elements to sewer science;

Edwin is responsible for being one of the leaders involved in solving the issue of the Great Stink which occurred in 1858.

The Genius Engineer Behind Sewer Systems

Sir Joseph William Bazalgette was another person who was crucial to the development of the world's sewer systems, and Joseph was one of the first engineers to work for the Metropolitan Board of Works;

Joseph had focused most of his career on improving the Thames River situation and drainage systems in London.

Photo Courtesy: [Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Joesph was responsible for creating countless underground sewer systems that would successfully serve the city of London for years to come.

Additionally, Joesph differed from Edwin because he did not divert sewage into farmlands, but instead into natural bodies of water.

Chadwick's Advancements

To start, Edwin Chadwick promoted various sewer technologies during his time as a social reformer, and one of his first ones was the proposal of brick sewers shaped like upside-down eggs;

this method of sewer system construction was similarly used by ancient cultures.

Photo Courtesy: [SSPL/SSPL/Getty Images]

Moreover, after more innovations had been made, Chadwick then decided that glazed earthenware pipes (like the ones pictured above) were best for sewer system construction.

Even though Chadwick was a genius, his ideas about sewer development often left out the factors of poor installations and improper use.

Sewage Systems In America

It took many decades before America had started to highly develop the sewer systems, and some of the first innovations and installments of a sewer network were made in Chicago in the 1860s (pictured below).

Furthermore, most of these changes in sewer management were brought on by the outbreak of disease.

Photo Courtesy: [Chicago History Museum/Archive Photos/Getty Images]

Even though the creation and implementation of sewer systems in Chicago helped to mitigate the cholera outbreak, the city had in turn massively polluted the Chicago River with wastewater over several decades.

With this, engineers had even suggested raising the city to create adequate sewer systems.

A Talented Designer Of Sewage Systems

William Lindley (pictured below) was yet another great inventor who helped solve the world's sewer system problem, and he had constructed countless sewage systems over the span of his career;

his improvements made with sewer systems saved millions of lives from diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

Photo Courtesy: [ullstein bild/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Furthermore, William was an English man who had built sewer networks in over 30 cities in Europe, and he even taught his trade to his children;

William was extremely successful in reducing death rates and pushing the progress forward in creating optimal wastewater management structures.

The Metropolitan Main Drainage Works

Illustrated below is the Prince of Wales in 1865 in London as he presents the new drainage system for the city of London; this piece of equipment was a part of the extensive sewage system plan created by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Furthermore, this day was a day of celebration in London as social reform in sanitation systems came to life.

Photo Courtesy: [Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

This drainage system was located in southeast London, and it was one of the leading innovations in sewage technology at the time,

leaving it to be quite fitting that a prince presents the piece of equipment that takes part in saving thousands of lives in London and across the world.

Public Urinals

Pictured below are public urinals in Paris, France, in 1875; at this point in that area's history, extensive amounts of sewage system innovations had been installed, and seen below is just a more modern form of public latrines (which were utilized by ancient cultures).

Photo Courtesy: [adoc-photos/Corbis/Getty Images]

Furthermore, these public urinals were all over France and Europe, and they helped to properly manage the wastewater that the city was creating; these urinals were a common sight, and they were nothing but normal at the turn of the 1800s before everyone had a private bathroom.

Journeying Through The Sewer Systems

Illustrated below are people in Paris in 1878 strolling through a sewer system; people had many reasons to travel through a sewer at this time; these people could have been touring new construction or receiving education on the developing sewer systems in their area.

Photo Courtesy: [Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images]

Most people were acclimated to sewers and wastewater at this point in history, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for citizens to tour the sewers with little disgust; it was crucial that average people in Paris, Europe, and across the world understood the importance of a healthy sewer system.

The Crossness Sewage Treatment Works

Pictured below is the inside of the engine house that is a part of the Crossness Sewage Treatment Works; this photo was taken in 1894 in Erith, London.

Furthermore, this photo illustrates how complex sewer systems have become across the world in a matter of a few hundred years.

Photo Courtesy: [London Metropolitan Archives/Heritage Images/Getty Images]

Additionally, this photo taken in the 1890s shows a man who has been hired to attend to the sewage pipe systems and pumps, which could cause chaos if they were to malfunction and not be immediately attended to.

With this, the development of the sewer system further instigated the industrial revolution as more jobs and systems were being created.

Sewer Work In Massachusetts

Pictured below is a sewer gang in 1896 in Massachusetts; at this point in American history, sewer systems were becoming more common, and the gang pictured below was in the process of constructing a part of the Clinton-Wachusett Sewage System.

Photo Courtesy: [Corbis/VCG/Getty Images]

America had allowed Europe to have almost perfect sewer technology before it was widely adopted, and this served as a benefit to the United States, seeing that they were starting off with luxurious technology; once America had started to build sewer systems, that technology continued to quickly evolve.

The Relationship Between Public And Private Sewage

Pictured below is a diagram made in 1900 of private sewage that is connected to a public sewage network; by the 20th century, sewer systems were becoming common in the cities and in households, and people even went as far as to install their own systems on their properties.

Photo Courtesy: [Hulton Archive/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

As urban areas grew rapidly, so did the need for sewer systems, which led to mass amounts of education being provided to commercial businesses and citizens alike in order to prevent factors such as misuse of the systems, pollution, and poor installation.

Thomas Crapper And Company

In 1902 Thomas Crapper and Company published the below image in their catalog, which was a design for the (at the time) new Syphonic Latrine.

Furthermore, Thomas Crapper started a plumbing business in 1891 and was a pioneer in sewer technology.

Photo Courtesy: [Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL/Getty Images]

Thomas Crapper (1837-1910) was responsible for creating some of the most helpful sanitary engineering designs of all time,

and he is known as one of the leading founders of sewer technology which helped save millions of lives all across the world, especially in Europe.

The Influence Of Abby Rockefeller On The World's Sewer Systems

Abby Rockefeller (1874-1948) was known

as a sewage reformer

, and she was the one to spark the most change in sanitary and sewage reform in the United States and across the world;

Abby was most concerned with the risk to human health and environmental pollution.

Photo Courtesy: [APIC/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Moreover, Abby believed that if people did not address the issue of sewage systems, then there would be irreversible consequences;

she advocated for the clean-up of sewage sludge and advancements in sewer system technology that could help to mitigate some of the downfalls of having such a system.

Minnesota's Sewage Processing

By 1917, America had developed extensive sewer system networks across the states; pictured below is a map of a sewer system in Minnesota that drained into Lake Superior,

and it was one of the hundreds of systems that were developing all across the continent.

Photo Courtesy: [Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images]

Since the 1900s, piles of maps that document the sewer systems in the United States have been accumulating; these maps are crucial to the history of sewer systems as people can later reflect on the placement of the sewers and also see where to dig up portions of the system if need be.

The Importance Of Sluice Gates

Pictured below is a sewer in London in 1939, and this photo illustrates the technological advancement of sewer sluice gates; sluice gates are used to control drainage, water levels,

and the rate at which water flows through the system, which proves that they are a revolutionary piece of equipment.

Photo Courtesy: [London Metropolitan Archives/Heritage Images/Getty Images]

These gates changed sewer systems forever, for they optimally targeted the issue of flooding and the flow of the water through the sewer system which civilizations had been struggling with for centuries; these gates are still utilized today, although more evolutions are taking place.

Out With The Old And In With The New

Pictured below are a group of workers in Germany who were sent to expose a defective sewer system in 1945; this sewer system had failed miserably and instigated a typhoid epidemic throughout the area.

Furthermore, incidents like this one have happened around the world for thousands of years.

Photo Courtesy: [RDB/ullstein bild/Getty Images]

Replacing a sewer system was a horrible job, for it put thousands of people at risk for disease, and also cost the authorities thousands of dollars to clean up and replace. With this, the need for evolution in technology continues as modern systems deteriorate.

Sewage Systems After WWII

As far as sewer systems in the United States, the technology never became cosmopolitan, and America was one of the last world powers to develop optimal wastewater management facilities.

Furthermore, after WWII, due to the boom of urban areas, people had begun to install sewage systems.

Photo Courtesy: [Bill Johnson/The Denver Post/Getty Images]

Pictured above is a septic tank that was developed after WWII, and this type of countryside tank became common as people found the need to develop their own sewer systems;

since people were installing these systems themselves, the environment has suffered immense underground pollution since then (especially in Florida).

Sewer Gangs

Once the career of sewermen had been created, sewer gangs had started to spring up all around Europe, particularly in London, and pictured below is a sewer gang in London in 1950.

Furthermore, without these sewermen and sewer gangs, the system would clog and become nonfunctional.

Photo Courtesy: [Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Moreover, the sewer gangs spent their working days unclogging sewers and maintaining them, for not only did people put things down toilets that they shouldn't have but natural debris and buildup would also develop in the sewage systems. Likewise, the development of safety standards evolved as the profession continued throughout Europe and later into North America.

The Day In The Life Of A Sewerman

Pictured below is Sid Pitfold, a sewerman who was doing some work in the London sewer in April of 1950; the career of a sewerman had emerged after major developments in sewer science, and with this job came the importance of safety.

Photo Courtesy: [Charles Hewitt/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Sid is wearing a protective gas suit and mask in the above photo because of all the detrimental effects that sewage can have on a human; this shows that the world has advanced in many ways seeing that thousands of years ago, slaves were sent down without protective gear to clean the sewage system.

Natural Disasters And Sewage Systems

In July of 1953, a massive flood had flowed through Denver, and this resulted in the flooding seen pictured below at the intersection of two main streets;

this photo represents the struggle that civilizations have had for thousands of years in terms of the effects of natural disasters on the sewer system.

Photo Courtesy: [Denver Post/Denver Post/Getty Images]

Pictured above there are enormous geyser bubbles emerging from the storm sewer, for the drainage strategies implemented in the sewer system were no match for the intense flooding that the area had experienced.

Furthermore, this point in history demonstrates how sewer technology still has innovations that need to be made.

Sewer Systems Evolve

Pictured below is a photo of the Deer Island MDC Sewer System in June of 1964, and this essential wastewater management facility is located in Boston, Massachusetts.

Furthermore, this vast development of a facility illustrates how far sewer systems evolved in the past millennia.

Photo Courtesy: [Joe Runci/The Boston Globe/Getty Images]

Furthermore, as helpful as wastewater management facilities are, they pose another environmental threat (on top of the sewage itself) because it requires more land, technology, and chemicals to maintain and operate optimally. With this, as much as sewer technology has evolved, there is always room for improvement.

Women Work With The Sewage

Pictured below are women in 1967 who were constructing an entire sewage system for a housing development in the Soviet Union (in the city of Irkutsk).

Furthermore, sewer systems had begun to pop up all over urban areas once the technology had become more standard.

Photo Courtesy: [Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images]

Moreover, depending on where you were in the world, sewer gangs could be made up of both men and women, but common civilians would also often construct their own sewage systems and wastewater management facilities for their own personal use.

Technology Continues To Improve

Pictured below is an inflatable dam being put to use in an American sewer system in September of 1969, and this photograph perfectly illustrates how far sewer technology has come since ancient Roman times.

Furthermore, this piece of technology is called a Fabridam.

Photo Courtesy: [Alan Band/Fox Photos/Getty Images]

This piece of technology helps minimize damage from natural disasters like floods, especially flash floods because it diverts the path of excess water;

this dam excels at minimizing flood damage no matter where the water is in the system and regardless of the time.

The Complex History Of Wastewater Management

Pictured below is the sewer system in NYC, which is now regulated by the EPA; in the past few decades, humans have developed sewer systems so much that they are discrete in highly populated areas, and today, America has over 15,000 wastewater management facilities.

Photo Courtesy: [Chris Hondros/Getty Images News/Getty Images]

Furthermore, society has come a tremendously long way in terms of sewer systems, from Ancient Rome to the Great Stink of 1858, all the way up to modern toilets and sewage networks, the history of these systems remains nothing but fascinating!