Image: National Library of Medicine
More In This Article
-
Overview
Better Health for the Uncounted Urban Masses
-
Overview
Global Bazaar
On a civic scale, health brings wealth. And no society can be healthy without the proper disposal of human waste. The filthy fact is that what might seem like common convenience to many folks in developed areas is still out of reach for a significant portion of Earth's residents. The World Health Organization predicts that in four years 2.7 billion people around the globe will still lack access to basic sanitation. Diseases transmitted via contaminated water include diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis A. Worldwide, diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of death—after pneumonia—for children under the age of five.
Most of those deaths could be avoided with proper sanitation. Many people have a basic understanding about how to dispose of their waste, but poverty, politics and prejudice often get in the way.
The improvement of functional and effective sanitation has been a largely unsung force for development and infrastructure in the rise of cities throughout history. And it starts with a toilet that's more than a hole in the ground.
» View a slide show of the history of the toilet
See what we're tweeting about
12 Comments
Add CommentThe development of the toilet is not only a linear progression towards high-tech cleanliness, but also rapid transportation soil nutrients to the sea. There has also been great progress towards nutrient recycling, composting, and water efficiency.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would like to see the big name manufacturers compelled to put their name on a composting toilet. Then we may see some real innovation.
IN MOHEN JO DARO ( A Heap of Corpses:in SINDHI Language)TOWNSHIP ,NOW IN PAKISTAN,SOME 5000 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT,IN SINDHU(RIVER NAME)CIVILIZATION;THERE CAN BE SEEN WATER CANALS,DRAINING SYSTEMS,PUBLIC BATHS & TOILET SYSTEMS , ALMOST ON THE LINES OF MODERN DAY SERVICES IN A CITY.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have long believed that plumbers and garbage collectors are the true foundation of civilization and deserve far more respect than they tend to get.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn "H20 and the Waters of Forgetfulness," a chapter in his geat work IN THE MIRROR OF THE PAST, Ivan Illich traces the transformation of H20 from drinking fluid and a reflector of dreams to cleaning fluid by the mid 20th C. "In the United States the cost of sewage treatment and collection by 1980 has become the greatest expense of local government. Only schools cost more." And needless to say what comes out of our schools is not much better than the tap water which no longer can be trusted. The Water Closet or toilet got rid of smells only to infect our rivers and lakes. Civilization has its counterproductivities...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYears ago, in an apartment house, I made a "compost bucket" with a "valve" to allow food garbage to be dropped in, but no odor, or flies, get out. It consisted of a plastic grocery bag stretched over the top of a five-gallon paint bucket. The opened bottom of the bag was stretched into a line by rubber bands below on the sides of the bucket. (Some cutting to fit is needed.) I used it for a couple months without emptying it, until it was almost full and the contents had liquified and were difficult to empty. I never noticed any smell from it until it was opened. Such a valve could be made for a compost toilet.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have others ideas for a "constant flow" compost toilet and organic garbage disposal (probably using the above valves), based on a regularly rotated sloping tube perhaps made of two or more oil drums. Has anyone heard of such being used?
Please copy replies to danrob@efn.org
The Ghost Map is a very interesting book about the Broad Street Cholera Outbreak in London, 1854, and how physician John Snow discovered where it started. The first chapters on removing waste from London's cesspools before they had sewers are unforgettable; quite a labor-intensive process. Johnson, Steven (2006). The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World. Riverhead Books. p. 206. ISBN 1-59448-925-4.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDoes anyone recall Scientific American's Mathematical Games columnist, Martin Gardner's spoof of the invention of the commode by the ancient Romans (or Greeks, I cannot recall). It was in an April (of course) issue of Scientific American, but I cannot recall the year, probably a few decades ago. Very funny and well worth a reprint.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAccess to improved water and sanitation facilities does not, on its own, necessarily lead to improved health. There is now very clear evidence showing the importance of hygienic behaviour.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDr. Muhammad Naeem ul Fateh, PhD
Thanks.The post is really informative. Another thing happens in today's toilet.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://goo.gl/dup8S
I've often wondered if there's any truth to the urban legend that the flush toilet was invented during Queen Victoria's reign by Lt. William Crapper.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWikipedia says "1880s: Thomas Crapper's plumbing company built flush toilets of Giblin's design. Although not the original inventor, Crapper popularized the siphon system for emptying the tank, replacing the earlier floating valve system which was prone to leaks. Some of Crapper's designs were made by Thomas Twyford. The similarity between Crapper's name and the much older word crap is a coincidence."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDarn, there goes a favourite urban legend.
...and money, they deserve a lot more money, suppose they all go on strike..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this