Sewerage and Drainage of Towns

Early American Conditions.—At the founding of the United States, the living conditions of the great mass of the people were extremely simple. Plumbing was practically unknown. Few public water supplies and no public sewerage systems existed, and primitive methods for the removal and disposal of household wastes and excretal matters prevailed. Sewerage and Growth of Cities Coincident.—The development of sewerage systems and methods of sewage disposal has been coincident with the growth of cities.