The Roman Sewage System

1529 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: An essay about roman aqueducts

Sewage Processing is very important part of our society. It is an essential part of our health as people. Having a good sewage system you can make life better. Sewage improves the environment through proper drainage and disposal of toxic wastewater. Yet in many cities around the world including Chicago, wastewater is being pumped into streams and rivers and our beautiful oceans. The impact is causing majoring damages in the marine life.
The Romans were very important in the evolution of sewer processing. In most Roman towns, people often got severely sick or died from toxic drinking water that had sewage in it. The Roman people could not handle this anymore. So they tried to find a solution to this problem. They built aqueducts to bring …show more content…

Koloski-Ostrow said, “the Romans were unprecedented in their adoption of toilets”. This is so true. If the Romans wouldn’t have put their brilliant minds together to come up with something like this, there would have been much more diseases spreading throughout the city of Rome and it would have been worse then what it already was. Toilets were the start of a new sanitation era that was unheard of in the middle ages. Even though it had its fair share of problems, over time it started to grow and the Romans took notes on how to make advancements each time.
In addition to that, there was another creation the Romans used to the better sanitation and sewage. It is called an aqueduct. An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. This was great because it was made to bring a constant flow of water from distant sources into cities and towns, supplying public baths, latrines, fountains and private …show more content…

That was a risk because the water could have sewage and other toxic things in it that could harm the humans of Rome. So it was smart that the aqueduct was built at that time when it was really needed. By the early Imperial era, the city's aqueducts supported a population of millions, and an extravagant water supply for public amenities such as baths, fountains, and latrines had become a fundamental requirement for a civilized, Roman life. Clean water is essential for a great sewage system and the Romans started to understand

Show More
Related

  • Lasting Contributions and Inventions of the Roman Empire

    440 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Romans made aqueducts throughout there empire to supply water to there public baths, however it quickly became used for drinking, and the sewage system. they had a series of aqueducts that started from the rivers, even as far away as the river Anio. The Anio and Aqua Claudia were the two biggest systems of aqueducts for the Roman Empire. All aqueducts were designed to carefully drain all waste water into the sewage systems. The aqueducts lead the citizens of Rome to have very high hygiene.

    Read More

  • The Rise of Four Empires in 300 B.C. to 200 B.C.

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ads, harbors, waterways, irrigation projects, defensive walls, or other installations. The empires energies expanded to maintain safety and enhance the economies of those empires The great wall of China, the roman roads and aqueducts, the enormous granary complex of the Inca, and the Ptolemaic irrigation works along the Nile river are major examples of the energies expanded to maintain safety and enhance the economies of those empires. Often constructed by force, all great empires built elaborate public works. The romans roadways expedited troop movements, domestic commerce, and international trade.

    Read More

  • The Impact of the Fall of The Roman Empire On Medicine And Public Health

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    They had built latrines and bath houses. With the Romans having latrines and bath houses this meant they could regularly take showers, which would keep them clean. Also having latrines meant that the public did not have dispose their waste never their houses or where they kept the drinking water, which meant they were hygienic. The Romans had also built aqueducts for clean water to get to different parts of the country. The rich got clean water straight to their houses through lead pipe.

    Read More

  • Medieval Ages vs. Rome Empire

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rome had many architectural buildings that we know of today. Many Roman building ways were copied right from how the greek people use to do theirs. Though they copied Greek style, they came up with their own style. They used many arches, some arches were used to show the wealth of a person, the fancier, the wealthier. Roman people made aqueducts. Aqueducts were able to bring the city of Rome, running water. One of the most famous aqueducts would be the Pont Du Gard, it ran for thirty miles and supplies twenty thousand gallons of water to th...

    Read More

  • Roman Illnesses and Burial Customs

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sanitation was not top priority in ancient times. The latrines were placed in public areas allowing ten to twenty people at a time, with no privacy. Toilet

    Read More

  • Roman Engineering

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...The Roman engineers maintained a rather constant downward slope, from the mountains to the city. The Roman army also built massive bridges, capable of supporting great weight. Many time an aqueduct and a bridge would be built on top of one another. This would obviously save a great deal of time and money. Roman bridges were especially important in the transportation on military units around the empire.

    Read More

  • Roman Empire Dbq

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    Natural disasters could not have been stopped, but the opposition may argue that there was no precautions but should have been, but the government, not willing to care about the people, did not attempt to help them. Rome’s military could have also helped prevent disease and help recover from storms, but they were too lazy to help out others. With most of Rome’s downfall coming from within itself, it could have easily been prevented.

    Read More

  • Greek And Roman Influence On Ancient Civilizations

    492 Words  | 1 Pages

    Today the Roman arch is one of the most innovative tools that we have borrowed and perfected from the Romans. “During construction, arches are often supported by a wooden frame. When the frame is removed, both sides of the arch press against the keystone and thereby support the arch.” The Greeks and Romans started using aqueducts, which is where we got the idea of pipelines to distribute water. Aqueducts were constructed by building large bridge like structure that sloped slightly towards the destination it was going to. We borrowed that idea and now use pipes that are pressurized and push the water towards where it is

    Read More

  • Ancient Roman Concrete

    1706 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is because, before the significant innovation of Hydraulic cement-based concrete, clean water and sewerage were contained in nothing but a, “channel lined with stone, closed on top with … flat slabs and then covered over with earth.” At first, this system was thought to work very well and help with the health of the Roman empire. However, soon these early aqueduct structures began to collapse. Due to these aqueducts not being checked daily and no one knowing about what had happened, the Romans kept using these aqueducts. However, because these early aqueducts had collapsed, many bacteria could invade the water supply and Rome’s enemies were able to deliberately poison the water. However, on top of all this, one of the worst impacts that broken aqueducts caused was severe lead-poisoning. This was because many of the early aqueduct pipes were made from lead, and without these pipes being supported, they simply fell. Due to Rome’s water supply already being quite high in lead, the fallen lead pipes proved to be too much, causing much of Rome to become severely sick. Lead-poisoning from fallen aqueducts in Rome caused over, “30 000 residents to die each year.” However, if these early aqueducts were to have been reinforced with concrete, like all of the later

    Read More

  • The Early History of Rome

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romans were very good architects and well known in the field of artistry. Roman houses were organized by wealth. The houses were inhibited by the wealthy, like wise the flats and apartments housed by the poor. Flats were known as insulae and only contained two rooms at the most, people used them only for sleeping (Trueman, History of Ancient Rome, April 21). The flats had no running baths. Roman baths were used in day-to-day life. They were supplied by lead pipes. A visitor would use a cold bath called the frigidarium, a warm bath called the tepidarium, or a hot bath called the caldarium. People in flats also did not have safe food so people...

    Read More

  • Essay On The Fall Of Western Roman Empire

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overcrowded living conditions were not a good idea. Disease spread fast this way. People who live in apartments are living right next to each other, which could make the sickness engulf the city. Lead poisoning was also not good. This is because the pipes that carried water would contaminate what they citizens drank and bathed with. Along with lead getting into water for bathing, disease spread in bathing waters. For the temperature that baths were at, the sickness loved to grow. Warm water is perfect conditions for bacteria to live in. Along with these aspects, malaria and the bubonic plague spread throughout Rome. These illnesses came over Rome and fast, especially because of how crowded Rome was. Attila the Hun even avoided Rome because of how bad the malaria was. Furthermore, these economic issues definately took part in the fall of the Western Roman

    Read More

  • Greek Bath

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people would gather and bathe together in buildings called thermae’s, and because baths were public, they were a cesspool for disease, a place for social activity, and a huge architectural achievement. Normally the idea of a bath would seem sanitary, and the Roman’s actually thought so. However, public baths were actually one of the worst contributors to death during the time that they

    Read More

  • Contributions of Ancient Civilizations

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ovements on the arch and the dome. Also, they built roads, bridges, harbors, and aqueducts, which they were most famous for. Aqueducts were a revolutionary invention that carried water from the hills to the cities. Even today, the principal of the aqueducts enables many urban areas to have water. The lasting contributions of the Roman Empire have helped to shape modern living.

    Read More

  • We Must Prevent Water Pollution

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    the disposal of garbage into a water stream. Some of the water pollution is from

    Read More

  • Essay On Causes Of Water Pollution

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    Untreated sewage can contaminate the environment and cause diseases, such as diarrhea. The sewage is mainly biodegradable and can be treated in water treatment plants, but it is a major problem in countries that are not quite developed yet.

    Read More

More about The Roman Sewage System

Open Document