The ancient world. With the introduction of water to the household, the problem of sewerage becomes acute. As history shows, there were sewers in the ancient world: Babylon, Mohenjodaro (5000 years ago), Egypt (2500 BC) and Rome – 6th century BC. Not so long ago, archaeologists discovered the head of an ancient statue of Emperor Constantine in an ancient Roman sewer under the Forum. The ancient sewer is still partly used by the municipality.
The invention of the sewer, like the water supply, is now attributed to the Romans.
They were the first to develop a system that has not changed significantly so far in terms of principle.
It is known that in ancient Ephesus the Roman slaves had built huge public toilets. The products of the body’s natural needs flowed into a huge tank, which was cleaned out from time to time. If we think back, the modern septic tank is nothing more than a huge tank buried in the ground. The only difference is that modern septic tanks are sealed, which prevents contamination of groundwater and the ground around.
In ancient Rome, the sewer system was a complex piece of engineering. It took into account the terrain. Even pumping stations were used to lift the water to higher ground, from where it then flowed down. This system was called Cloaca Maxima. Remains of the underground Roman sewage system can still be found in the old city of Cologne today. The sewage in those days was not purified, but simply discharged into a water body. The water and sewage ran through lead pipes that lasted a long time. Later sewage systems were built in other countries as well, for example in Egypt, China, Greece and many others. The Romans also built sewers, for example in Paris.
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