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Which Came First, the Sewer or the Well? - v09

It seems like a simple question: Which came first, the sewer or the well? But it's much more complicated than that. The history of supply systems for drinking water is inextricably intertwined with that of systems for collecting wastewater. Sanitation practices that protect large groups of people from waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid are complex things, and the actual practices that keep us safe are a combination of both very modern technology and very old reasoning. Getting it right, though, is not only a matter of things we want to have: It's a matter of protecting human lives, especially the lives of infants and small children.

Engineering◦
Related topics:
Wastewater Treatment• Drinking Water•Civil Engineering Topics•
Which Came First: The Sewer or the Well? Brian Gongol, M.Sc., M.Ed. DJ Gongol & Associates, Inc. July 27, 2026 Kirkwood Annual Wastewater Conference Cedar Rapids, Iowa
What do you think is the oldest profession?
“Oldest” professions  Farming  Policing  Health care  Politics  Prostitution  Sales
What about water engineering and management?
► Farming leads to settlement ► Settlement requires water workers
How large do you think a community can get before you have to make decisions about water resources?
With how many people, and for how many days, could you go without a plan for water and toilets in the wilderness?
Think again: Have you ever road- tripped with children or older adults?
Any more than a few days or a few people and you hit a problem. Nature forces the issue.
One camping trip that brought it all home
History's cheat code: Settle on a riverfront
History's cheat code: River settlements Even on a seashore, settlers still want motion that brings in new water and pushes the old water away
History's cheat code: River settlements (Besides, seawater is too salty.)
The water needs to be moving ► Springs are OK ► Rivers are better
Moving water: ① Tends to be cleaner to drink ② Helps to convey contaminants away
Still water: Beautiful but troublesome
Still water: Beautiful but troublesome Pick between two bottles: ► Warm and still ► Cool and carbonated
We add bubbles (carbonation) to drinks to make them more palatable Our preference for moving, aerated water is instinctive
Indianapolis is weird: It’s big but has no navigable river
There is a river, but it’s too shallow for commercial traffic (still useful for drinking water, though)
What other large city is like that? Lincoln, Nebraska.
The oddity is visible from space
Lincoln
Lincoln City founded (as Lancaster) 1856 Named state capital 1869 First volunteer fire company 1875 City Water Works begun with first well 1882 First sanitary sewer 1888 Major typhoid fever outbreak 1911 Emergency chlorination of water supply 1912 Another major typhoid fever outbreak 1912 First WWTP (Theresa Street) 1923
Chicago
Chicago
Chicago 1834 First public well dug 1842 First water system, using Lake Michigan water from an intake pipe extending 150' into the lake 1851 City municipalizes water utility 1854 Cholera outbreak kills 5% of city 1856 Plan to raise Chicago approved 1858 First building raised 1864 Artesian well discovered by oil prospectors 1867 First water crib 1869 Chicago Water Tower 1871 Great Chicago Fire 1900 Chicago River reversed
Washington, DC
Fake picture, true story
Fake picture, true story
The Potomac is a special river
Washington, DC First water system, fed by spring water 1802 First storm sewers (circa) 1810 Water line installed to serve White House from spring about 6 blocks away 1833 First sewers installed (along Pennsylvania Avenue) (circa) 1850 Beginning of construction of Washington Aqueduct 1852 First water delivered by Washington Aqueduct 1859 Abraham Lincoln repairs a pump 1861 Washington Aqueduct completed 1863 Main period of sewer construction 1871–1874 Sewer discharges moved downstream of city (circa) 1890
That 1890s outfall is still the site of the Blue Plains treatment plant today
Philadelphia
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography “And here let me remark the convenience of having but one gutter in such a narrow street, running down its middle, instead of two, one on each side, near the footway; for where all the rain that falls on a street runs from the sides and meets in the middle, it forms there a current strong enough to wash away all the mud it meets with; but when divided into two channels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and only makes the mud it finds more fluid, so that the wheels of carriages and feet of horses throw and dash it upon the foot-pavement, which is thereby rendered foul and slippery, and sometimes splash it upon those who are walking.”
Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography “Some may think these trifling matters not worth minding or relating; but when they consider that tho' dust blown into the eyes of a single person, or into a single shop on a windy day, is but of small importance, yet the great number of the instances in a populous city, and its frequent repetitions give it weight and consequence, perhaps they will not censure very severely those who bestow some attention to affairs of this seemingly low nature. Human felicity is produc'd not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.”
The Delaware River flows NE to SW past the city` The “salt front” downstream is where seawater predominates over fresh water
Philadelphia Ben Franklin leads street cleanup campaign (circa) 1757 Yellow fever epidemic: Thousands dead 1793 Design of first large-scale well- to-distribution system in any large US city 1798 Water works construction begins 1799 Sewer system begun (first in the US) 1800 First production from water plant 1801
George Washington was still using an outhouse at Mount Vernon
London
No surprise a city grew here
London First historical record of a well, at Aldgate 1200–1300 Broad Street Pump outbreak 1854 Great Stink 1858 Sewer construction 1859–1865 Aldgate well causes a cholera outbreak: "Pump of Death” kills hundreds 1876 Parliament gets "a very admirable sewerage system, operated entirely by compressed air" 1892
https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83020847/1859-07-30/ed-1/
Syracuse
Syracuse Galermi Aqueduct serving Syracuse built - about 30 km long and highly sophisticated 480 BC Peloponnesian War. Thucydides documents "Meanwhile the Athenians destroyed their pipes of drinking-water carried underground into the city [Syracuse]" 431–404 BC Archimedes (describes principle of buoyancy, invents screw pump) 287–212 BC Archimedes in the bathtub 287–212 BC
Syracuse
Athens
Athens Wells dug in Acropolis Hill (3m-5m deep) 3500–3000 BC Ceramic pipes used for sewers at an Athenian colony 437 BC Cisterns installed to collect rainwater to supplement wells 300–400 BC
Athens Note: All city maps are on the same scale. The Acropolis (where wells were dug) is about 3 miles from the shore. Athens has very little flowing water.
Rome
Rome (all roads lead here)
Rome Cloaca Maxima starts out as a drainage ditch (circa) 600 BC First aqueduct, supplying a fountain in the cattle market 312 BC Enclosure of the Cloaca Maxima 300-200 BC Aqua Virgo aqueduct completed (6th built); still serves the Trevi Fountain today and is the only one still in service 19 BC
The current fountain was built in 1762
Rome Strabo (64 BC-24 AD) wrote: "the Romans had the best foresight in those matters which the Greeks made but little account of, such as the construction of roads and aqueducts, and of sewers that could wash out the filth of the city into the Tiber"
Rome Cloaca Maxima starts out as a drainage ditch 600 BC First aqueduct 312 BC Enclosure of the Cloaca Maxima 300–200 BC Aqua Virgo aqueduct completed 19 BC Widespread domestic sewer network in place 100 AD Renaissance inspires revivals of some abandoned aqueducts 1400s - 1500s AD
Biblical Israel God says to Moses, “Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink” (Exodus 17:6)
Biblical Israel Moses says, “Outside the camp you shall have a place set aside where you shall go. You shall keep a trowel in your equipment and, when you go outside to relieve yourself, you shall dig a hole with it and then cover up your excrement.“ (Deuteronomy 23:13-14)
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt  Obvious concern with irrigation by river water  No sewers  Rudimentary wells at best  Relied on water-carriers who moved it in jugs by hand or using donkeys
A familiar pattern
It’s not quite a tie: Wells win by a hair
Wells came first Greece: Wells came first; Greeks appear to have been the first to get both ends of a water system in place Rome: Wells first, by just a little bit London: Wells first by hundreds of years Philadelphia: Tied, within one year of each other Washington: Wells first, by about 50 years Chicago: Wells first, by about 20 years Lincoln: Wells first, by just 6 years
You can keep digging new wells, but until you have working sewers...
A fresh supply isn’t enough by itself Rome’s Cloaca Maxima encapsulates the problem: • Began by carrying stormwater • Later added sanitary waste from bathhouses and latrines Bathhouses: • A major use for the water carried by aqueducts • Paradoxically appear to have been sites where diseases spread • Public toilets were attached to public baths • Bath water was used to flush the waste into sewers • A wiping device (a sponge attached to a stick that was dipped into running water) was used in lieu of toilet paper, but the devices were shared and spread disease
There is truly only one water People are condemned to illness if you don't rehabilitate water after it's been used by humans
John Snow's breakthrough The well water was bad because unwell water contaminated it
Countless lives were wasted because civilization “forgot” good water practices from the decline of Greece until the 1850s
One last thing
Infants and toddlers were a huge share of the victims of waterborne diseases https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1850/1850b/1850b-03.pdf
One year of deaths (1850): 36,000 from cholera 6,000 from diarrhea 20,000 from dysentery
One year of deaths: 36,000 from cholera ➙10,000 under age 5 6,000 from diarrhea ➙3,600 under age 5 20,000 from dysentery ➙11,000 under age 5
The effect on life expectancy is absolutely enormous
There should be parades every year in honor of this achievement
Every day you deliver safe drinking water, convey that unwell water safely away, or rehabilitate sick water, you are saving the lives of countless babies, infants, and toddlers
Questions? Thanks for your time and attention! Brian Gongol DJ Gongol & Associates brian@gongol.net 515-979-2837 @djgongol across social media platforms
Sources • All contemporary (color) photographs are the original work of the author • Screenshots are either cited on the image or come from the public domain • Real historical images were obtained from public-domain sources • Maps were obtained from the National Atlas of the United States, which is a public-domain source • Images generated by Google Gemini artificial intelligence are intentionally absurd and used strictly for entertainment value. These include Abraham Lincoln holding a wrench, Founding Fathers at a water cooler, Archimedes in a hot tub, a water tower over the Acropolis, Julius Caesar loading a dishwasher, and Egyptian hieroglyphics holding Stanley mugs. Please do not confuse these for authentic historical images.
References (1 of 3) • https://www.class900indy.com/post/legally-speaking-the-white-river-is-navigable-the-history-of-river-travel-in-indianapolis • https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/City/Departments/LTU/Utilities/Wastewater/Collection-System • https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1419&context=bioscifacpub • https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/5/ltu/utilities/wastewater/collection-system/pipe-age.pdf • https://chicagology.com/harbor/1938waterworks/ • https://www.isws.illinois.edu/pubdoc/MP/ISWSMP-32.pdf • http://www.waterworkshistory.us/IL/Chicago/ • https://www.enjoyillinois.com/plan-your-trip/travel-inspiration/raising-chicago/ • https://drloihjournal.blogspot.com/2017/08/raising-chicago-streets-out-of-mud-in.html • https://www.chipublib.org/blogs/post/technology-that-changed-chicago-artesian-wells/ • https://chicagology.com/prefire/prefire037/ • http://www.waterworkshistory.us/DC/Washington/ • https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/who-we-are/history/history-sewerage-system • https://www.dcwater.com/about-dc-water/who-we-are/history/history-water-system • https://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnne01hert/page/n383/mode/2up (page 321) • https://www.nps.gov/places/washington-aqueduct.htm • https://philawater.pastperfectonline.com/ • https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/148/pg148.txt • https://fairmountwaterworks.org/about/history/ • https://paconservationheritage.org/stories/first-water-plant/ • https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/issues/magazine-issue/article/2021/01/the-philadelphia-municipal-water-supply-was-the- first-of-its-kind
References (2 of 3) • https://waterhistoryphl.org/articles/graf-philadelphia-water-works-history/the-centre-square-works-1801/ • https://www.mswmag.com/bytes/ 2025/01/philadelphias-historic-sewer-a-system-thats-still-flowing • https://paconservationheritage.org/stories/first-water-plant/ • https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/philadelphia-municipal-water-supply • https://water.phila.gov/history/ • https://www.heritageoflondon.org/projects/the-aldgate-pump • https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Aldgate-Pump/ • https://stevensarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/StevensNP02/id/2766 • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galermi_Aqueduct • https://amu.hal.science/hal-03089168v1/document • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Peloponnesian_War • https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7142/pg7142.txt • https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228479126_Hydrologic_and_hydraulic_science_and_technology_in_ancient_Greec e • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#Golden_wreath • https://archive.org/details/archimedes0000dijk_m6s3/page/18/mode/2up?q=bath
References (3 of 3) • https://hydriaproject.info/en/case-studies/the-water-works-in-ancient-athens-acropolis-hill/timeline • https://hydriaproject.info/en/case-studies/the-water-works-in-ancient-athens-acropolis-hill/waterworks • https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8123219_Urban_wastewater_and_stormwater_technologies_in_ancient_Greece • https://hydriaproject.info/en/case-studies/hydraulic-works-in-the-ancient-agora-of-athens/waterworks • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloaca_Maxima • https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/roman-aqueducts/ • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_aqueduct • https://www.science.org/content/article/roman-toilets-may-actually-have-been-bad-public-health • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-ancient-romans-went-to-the-bathroom-180979056/ • https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/romanforum/aquavirgo.html • https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/5C*.html • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation_in_ancient_Rome • https://www.watermuseums.net/campaigns/valuing-ancient-water-cultures/roman-aqueducts/ • https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/17 • https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/23 • https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4811298/