title: [From the Cloaca Maxima to current sewage treatment works--historical aspects of waste disposal].
abstract: According to calculations made by the well-known hygienist Max Rubner in 1890, the annual quantity of waste made up of excreta, urine, kitchen refuse, ashes and water for general use than ran to 7,300 kgs. Thus it appears quite obvious that as early as in the ancient high cultures special waste disposal plants existed. In the Old Testament cesspools were in use, in Ancient Egypt sliding boxes served the same purpose, the Cretan palace of Knossos was provided with a really sophisticated water closet system and there is evidence that a similar facility existed in Mesopotamia. The Roman Cloaca maxima which functioned as a sanitary system for the entire capital, has never ceased to impress. With the advent of the so-called "miasma theory", public health legislations also started to take care of waste disposal, and as a result, various lavatories, slaughter-house and waste water facilities were created. When bacteriology began to establish itself, close attention was devoted to the ground water and the rivers. The "squatting closet" in Roman countries contrasted with the flush closet in England. For waste disposal, the so-called "Heidelberg barrel system" or the "Kiel exchange bucket system" were introduced. Of more recent date are the digestion chambers, the flow settling tanks and the "trickling or oxydation system" on the sprinkling fields.
mesh_terms: D004323:Drainage, Sanitary; D004534:Egypt; D004739:England; D005858:Germany; D006115:Greece; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D049711:History, Modern 1601-; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012384:Rome; D012498:Sanitary Engineering / Q000266:history*; D012722:Sewage; D014038:Toilet Facilities
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage
vernacular_title: Von der Cloaca maxima bis zur modernen Kläranlage - historische Aspekte zur Abfallbeseitigung.