Percolation Drainage Systems

• In 4000 BC Iraq, people used percolation drainage systems with round, vertical cesspits under homes. Percolation drainage systems are systems that filter or trickle through. Cesspits are tanks that store waste. In 3000 BC, people in what is now modern Pakistan had latrine rooms with drains that sent waste to street sewers. Latrines are communal toilets. These sewer systems eventually sent the wastes to cesspits, or to the Indus River.
  
  

Aqueducts

• The Romans had an enormous sewer system that took 225 years to complete. The sewer was so well designed that people still use it to some extent. The Romans didn't have their homes connected to sewer systems but had to carry wastes out to public collection points. The Romans constructed a system of aqueducts, which were pipes or channels that carried water.
  
  

Moats

• People managed sewage in the middle ages by throwing it out windows. In some parts of Europe, people could file lawsuits after sewage hit them. Some people threw bodily wastes in careless places such as the corner of a room. The moats that surrounded castles were often used as a place to dispose of waste.
  
  

Water Bodies

• Some waste was disposed of in Berlin through the river tides, which washed the wastes away. Some cities improved sanitation by creating systems of carrying wastes to and from cities to the nearest body of water. However, the accumulating waste often led to dead water bodies. People eventually began to connect health with their methods of waste disposal. Some cities began using pipes to carry waste to bodies of water. Washington, D.C., was the first city that used concrete pipes.
  
  

French Sewers

• Paris created an extensive sewer system. The French were so proud of it, they had regular tours of the system. The first Paris system was built in 1200 and made of open troughs that were in the middle of the roads. This system contributed to the bubonic plague. The first underground sewer was built under the Rue Montmartre in 1370 and was gradually expanded for 400 years, but it often had maintenance issues. The sewers didn't improve until the time of Napoleon. Scientific discoveries in engineering and the understanding of public health led to the development of the sewer systems.
  
  

Cesspits and Running Water

• Early waste disposal systems involved people using their own waste as fertilizer by defecating near their homes. However, these activities lead to terrible smells. Eventually, people developed communal dumping places. These cesspits were occasionally cleaned out by scavengers, which reduced the environmental and health impact. However, in the 19th century, with the invention of running water and the flush toilet, the cesspits filled up with excrement too quickly and caused disease to spread throughout the community.