history of water supply and sanitation history of water supply and sanitation the history of water supply and sanitation is one of a logistical challenge to provide clean water and sanitation systems since the dawn of civilization. where water resources, infrastructure or sanitation systems were insufficient, diseases spread and people fell sick or died prematurely. astronaut jack lousma taking a shower in space, 1974 aqueduct in petra, jordan major human settlements could initially develop only where fresh surface water was plentiful, such as near rivers or natural springs. throughout history, people have devised systems to make getting water into their communities and households and disposing of (and later also treating) wastewater more convenient. the historical focus of sewage treatment was on the conveyance of raw sewage to a natural body of water, e.g. a river or ocean, where it would be diluted and dissipated. early human habitations were often built next to water sources. rivers would often serve as a crude form of natural sewage disposal. over the millennia, technology has dramatically increased the distances across which water can be relocated. furthermore, treatment processes to purify drinking water and to treat wastewater have been improved. prehistory skara brae, a neolithic village in orkney, scotland with home furnishings including water-flushing toilets, 3180 bc–2500 bc during the neolithic era, humans dug the first permanent water wells, from where vessels could be filled and carried by hand. wells dug around 6500 bc have been found in the jezreel valley. the size of human settlements was largely dependent on nearby available water. a primitive indoor, tree bark lined, two-channel, stone, fresh and wastewater system appears to have featured in the houses of skara brae, and the barnhouse settlement, from around 3000 bce, along with a cell-like enclave in a number of houses, of skara brae, that it has been suggested may have functioned as an early indoor latrine. wastewater reuse activities waste water reuse is an ancient practice, which has been applied since the dawn of human history, and is connected to the development of sanitation provision. reuse of untreated municipal wastewater has been practiced for many centuries with the objective of diverting human waste outside of urban settlements. likewise, land application of domestic wastewater is an old and common practice, which has gone through different stages of development. domestic wastewater was used for irrigation by prehistoric civilizations (e.g. mesopotamian, indus valley, and minoan) since the bronze age (ca. 3200–1100 bc). thereafter, wastewater was used for disposal, irrigation, and fertilization purposes by hellenic civilizations and later by romans in areas surrounding cities (e.g. athens and rome). bronze and early iron ages ancient americas in ancient peru, the nazca people employed a system of interconnected wells and an underground watercourse known as puquios. mesopotamia the mesopotamians introduced clay sewer pipes around 4000 bce, with the earliest examples found in the temple of bel at nippur and at eshnunna, utilised to remove wastewater from sites, and capture rainwater, in wells. the city of uruk also demonstrates the first examples of brick constructed latrines, from 3200 bce. clay pipes were later used in the hittite city of hattusa. they had easily detachable and replaceable segments, and allowed for cleaning. ancient persia the first sanitation systems within prehistoric iran were built near the city of zabol. persian qanats and ab anbars have been used for water supply and cooling. ancient egypt the c. 2400 bce, pyramid of sahure, and adjoining temple complex at abusir, was discovered to have a network of copper drainage pipes. ancient china a chinese ceramic model of a well with a water pulley system, excavated from a tomb of the han dynasty (202 bc – 220 ad) period some of the earliest evidence of water wells are located in china. the neolithic chinese discovered and made extensive use of deep drilled groundwater for drinking. the chinese text the book of changes, originally a divination text of the western zhou dynasty (1046–771 bc), contains an entry describing how the ancient chinese maintained their wells and protected their sources of water. archaeological evidence and old chinese documents reveal that the prehistoric and ancient chinese had the aptitude and skills for digging deep water wells for drinking water as early as 6000 to 7000 years ago. a well excavated at the hemedu excavation site was believed to have been built during the neolithic era. the well was caused by four rows of logs with a square frame attached to them at the top of the well. sixty additional tile wells southwest of beijing are also believed to have been built around 600 bc for drinking and irrigation. plumbing is also known to have been used in east asia since the qin and han dynasties of china. indus valley civilization a large well and bathing platforms at harappa, remains of the city's final phase of occupation from 2200 to 1900 bce the bathroom-toilet structure of the ruler's house, on lothal's acropolis c.2350 bce bathing platform and communal drain, lothal's acropolis, c.2350 bce well, and drain, lothal's acropolis, c.2350 bce the indus valley civilization in asia shows early evidence of public water supply and sanitation. the system the indus developed and managed included a number of advanced features. an exceptional example is the indus city of lothal (c. 2350–1810 bce). in lothal the ruler's house had their own private bathing platform and latrine, which was connected to an open street drain that discharged into the towns dock. a number of the other houses of the acropolis had burnished brick bathing platforms, that drained into a covered brick sewer, held together with a gypsum-based mortar, that ran to a soak pit outside the towns walls, while the lower town offered soak jars (large buried urns, with a hole in the bottom to permit liquids to drain), the latter of which were regularly emptied and cleaned. water was supplied from two wells in the town, one in the acropolis, and the other on the edge of the dock. the urban areas of the indus valley civilization included public and private baths. sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water management system with numerous reservoirs was established. in the drainage systems, drains from houses were connected to wider public drains. many of the buildings at mohenjo-daro had two or more stories. water from the roof and upper storey bathrooms was carried through enclosed terracotta pipes or open chutes that emptied out onto the street drains. the earliest evidence of urban sanitation was seen in harappa, mohenjo-daro, and the recently discovered rakhigarhi of indus valley civilization. this urban plan included the world's first urban sanitation systems. within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. from a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. devices such as shadoofs were used to lift water to ground level. ruins from the indus valley civilization like mohenjo-daro in pakistan and dholavira in gujarat in india had settlements with some of the ancient world's most sophisticated sewage systems. they included drainage channels, rainwater harvesting, and street ducts. stepwells have mainly been used in the indian subcontinent. ancient greece the ancient greek civilization of crete, known as the minoan civilization, built advanced underground clay pipes for sanitation and water supply. their capital, knossos, had a well-organized water system for bringing in clean water, taking out waste water and storm sewage canals for overflow when there was heavy rain. people constructed flushed toilets in ancient crete, like in ancient egypt and before them at places of the indus civilization, with the facilities on crete possibly having a first flush installation for pouring water into, dating back to 16th century bc. these minoan sanitation facilities were connected to stone sewers that were regularly flushed by rain, flowing in through the collection system. in addition to sophisticated water and sewer systems they devised elaborate heating systems. the ancient greeks of athens and asia minor also used an indoor plumbing system, used for pressurized showers. the greek inventor heron used pressurized piping for fire fighting purposes in the city of alexandria. the mayans were the third earliest civilization to have employed a system of indoor plumbing using pressurized water. an inverted siphon system, along with glass covered clay pipes, was used for the first time in the palaces of crete, greece. it is still in working condition, after about 3000 years. roman empire further information: sanitation in ancient rome pont du gard, a roman aqueduct in france. in ancient rome, the cloaca maxima, considered a marvel of engineering, discharged into the tiber. public latrines were built over the cloaca maxima. beginning in the roman era a water wheel device known as a noria supplied water to aqueducts and other water distribution systems in major cities in europe and the middle east. the roman empire had indoor plumbing, meaning a system of aqueducts and pipes that terminated in homes and at public wells and fountains for people to use. rome and other nations used lead pipes; while commonly thought to be the cause of lead poisoning in the roman empire, the combination of running water which did not stay in contact with the pipe for long and the deposition of precipitation scale actually mitigated the risk from lead pipes. roman towns and garrisons in the united kingdom between 46 bc and 400 ad had complex sewer networks sometimes constructed out of hollowed-out elm logs, which were shaped so that they butted together with the down-stream pipe providing a socket for the upstream pipe. medieval and early modern ages nepal people waiting in line for water from manga hiti in the city of patan, nepal in nepal the construction of water conduits like drinking fountains and wells is considered a pious act. a drinking water supply system was developed starting at least as early as 550 ad. this dhunge dhara or hiti system consists of carved stone fountains through which water flows uninterrupted from underground sources. these are supported by numerous ponds and canals that form an elaborate network of water bodies, created as a water resource during the dry season and to help alleviate the water pressure caused by the monsoon rains. after the introduction of modern, piped water systems, starting in the late 19th century, this old system has fallen into disrepair and some parts of it are lost forever. nevertheless, many people of nepal still rely on the old hitis on a daily basis. in 2008 the dhunge dharas of the kathmandu valley produced 2.95 million litres of water per day. of the 389 stone spouts found in the kathmandu valley in 2010, 233 were still in use, serving about 10% of kathmandu's population. 68 had gone dry, 45 were lost entirely and 43 were connected to the municipal water supply instead of their original source. islamic world the comares baths at the alhambra in granada, spain (14th century) islam stresses the importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene. islamic hygienical jurisprudence, which dates back to the 7th century, has a number of elaborate rules. taharah (ritual purity) involves performing wudu (ablution) for the five daily salah (prayers), as well as regularly performing ghusl (bathing), which led to bathhouses being built across the islamic world. islamic toilet hygiene also requires washing with water after using the toilet, for purity and to minimize germs. in the abbasid caliphate (8th-13th centuries), its capital city of baghdad (iraq) had 65,000 baths, along with a sewer system. cities of the medieval islamic world had water supply systems powered by hydraulic technology that supplied drinking water along with much greater quantities of water for ritual washing, mainly in mosques and hammams (baths). bathing establishments in various cities were rated by arabic writers in travel guides. medieval islamic cities such as baghdad, córdoba (islamic spain), fez (morocco) and fustat (egypt) also had sophisticated waste disposal and sewage systems with interconnected networks of sewers. the city of fustat also had multi-storey tenement buildings (with up to six floors) with flush toilets, which were connected to a water supply system, and flues on each floor carrying waste to underground channels. al-karaji (c. 953–1029) wrote a book, the extraction of hidden waters, which