Cities and water supply systems
Summary
TLDRThe video script from the Waterworks Museum in Boston discusses the revolutionary impact of clean water systems on public health in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Highlighting the significant reduction in mortality rates, particularly in urban areas, the conversation underscores the importance of sanitation in combating infectious diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. The development of waterworks and sewer systems, spearheaded by public sector engineers, not only improved living conditions but also required substantial financial and political efforts, reflecting the engineering and social challenges of the time.
Takeaways
- 🏭 The Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill, Boston, showcases the machinery that made Boston sanitary during the 1800s.
- 🌟 Clean water is considered the greatest innovation for health in the US and globally over the past three centuries.
- 📉 The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the most rapid reduction in mortality rates in American history, largely due to the control of infectious diseases.
- 🏙️ Infectious diseases were more prevalent in cities due to higher population density and easier transmission among people.
- 💧 Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death, followed by waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever, which spread through contaminated water sources.
- 🦠 The construction of waterworks began with a mistake, as yellow fever, which is not waterborne, led to the establishment of a water commission in Philadelphia in the 1790s.
- 👷♂️ The development of clean water systems required an engineering class capable of undertaking massive construction projects to improve public health.
- 🔍 Sanitation and environmental engineers played a crucial role in transporting clean water over long distances to cities, often as public employees.
- 📰 These professionals established journals like 'The Journal of the American Water Works Association' to communicate and collaborate on improving urban sanitation.
- 🏛️ The construction of waterworks was a significant financial undertaking, with cities investing more in water facilities than their annual revenue in 1915.
- 🚽 The development of sewer systems was a complementary technology to clean water supply, addressing the issue of waste removal and treatment.
- 💼 Financing such large-scale projects involved overcoming political and financial challenges, including managing debt and ensuring sustainable funding.
Q & A
What was the primary focus of the Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill, Boston?
-The Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill, Boston, is focused on showcasing the machines and innovations that made Boston sanitary in the 1800s, particularly through the provision of clean water.
According to David Cutler, what is considered the greatest innovation affecting health in the last three centuries?
-David Cutler considers clean water as the greatest innovation affecting health in the last three centuries, more impactful than penicillin or heart surgery.
Why was clean water so crucial for reducing mortality rates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
-Clean water was crucial because it significantly reduced mortality rates by preventing waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever, which were major causes of death, especially in densely populated cities.
What role did engineering play in the establishment of clean water systems in American cities?
-Engineering played a critical role in establishing clean water systems, with an engineering class that could manage large-scale projects like transporting water over long distances to cities, thus improving public health.
What triggered the initial development of waterworks in Philadelphia?
-The initial development of waterworks in Philadelphia was triggered by an outbreak of yellow fever in the 1790s, leading the city to commission a clean water system designed by Benjamin Latrobe.
How were the sanitation engineers and environmental engineers involved in cleaning up American cities?
-Sanitation and environmental engineers were integral in building and managing the infrastructure needed to transport clean water and remove wastewater, thereby reducing the spread of diseases in American cities.
Why were early waterworks often constructed by independent agencies?
-Early waterworks were often constructed by independent agencies to ensure professional management and to navigate the complex political processes involved in securing water sources and funding large-scale projects.
How did American cities finance the construction of waterworks in the early 20th century?
-American cities typically financed the construction of waterworks through borrowing, with some cities accumulating significant debt to fund these essential projects, often relying on access to capital markets.
What complementary technology was developed alongside clean water systems, and why was it important?
-Sewers were the complementary technology developed alongside clean water systems, important for removing dirty water and waste from cities, preventing contamination of water sources and reducing the spread of diseases.
What challenges did early sewers face, and how were these addressed?
-Early sewers often faced challenges like inadequate capacity, leading to backups and flooding during heavy rains. These issues were addressed by expanding sewer systems and implementing larger sewer pipes and drains.
Outlines
💧 The Impact of Clean Water on Public Health
The conversation begins at the Waterworks Museum in Boston, highlighting the critical role of clean water in improving public health. David Cutler emphasizes that the provision of clean water was the most significant health innovation in the US and globally over the past three centuries. The discussion points out that the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw a significant reduction in mortality rates, primarily due to the control of infectious diseases, which were more prevalent in urban areas. Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death, followed by waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. The conversation also touches on the historical context, noting that the push for clean water systems began with a misunderstanding about yellow fever, leading to the establishment of the first clean water system in Philadelphia by Benjamin Latrobe. The importance of engineering and the development of a professional class dedicated to sanitation and environmental engineering are underscored, as well as the financial and political challenges of constructing and maintaining these systems.
🏙️ Financing and Development of Sanitation Infrastructure
This segment delves into the financial and operational aspects of building sanitation infrastructure, such as water facilities and sewer systems. It discusses the challenges faced by cities in financing these projects, including the risk of defaulting on debt. The conversation points out that larger cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and New Orleans were able to access capital more readily, which facilitated the development of their waterworks. The discussion also highlights the importance of engineering talent and the ability to execute large-scale projects, even during periods of perceived corruption in local governments. The historical example of the Erie Canal is mentioned as a successful debt-financed project that preceded the Croton aqueducts, demonstrating the potential for significant achievements despite financial risks.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Waterworks Museum
💡Clean Water
💡Infectious Disease
💡Tuberculosis
💡Waterborne Disease
💡Sanitation Engineers
💡Public Health
💡Waterworks
💡Sewers
💡Mortality Reduction
💡Engineering Class
💡Political Process
💡Corrupt Legislators
💡Erie Canal
Highlights
The Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill, Boston, showcases the machines that made Boston sanitary in the 1800s.
Clean water is considered the greatest innovation affecting health in the US and around the world over the past three centuries.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the most rapid mortality reductions in American history, primarily due to the control of infectious diseases.
Infectious diseases were more prevalent in cities due to denser populations and easier transmission.
Tuberculosis and waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid fever were leading causes of death in the 19th century.
The waterworks movement aimed to disinfect cities and began with a mistaken association with yellow fever, leading to the establishment of the first clean water system in Philadelphia.
Benjamin Latrobe, a British engineer, was instrumental in setting up the first clean water system in Philadelphia.
The development of clean water systems required a specialized engineering class to manage large-scale construction projects.
Sanitation and environmental engineers played a crucial role in transporting clean water over long distances to cities.
Public employees were often responsible for the construction and operation of waterworks, separated from political processes.
Professional journals like 'The Journal of the American Water Works Association' facilitated communication among sanitation professionals.
Waterworks were often independent agencies, funded by operational money from supplying water.
The construction of waterworks was a significant financial undertaking, often exceeding a city's annual revenue.
Sewers were a complementary technology to waterworks, essential for removing and treating waste water.
Early sewer systems faced challenges, such as being overwhelmed during heavy rains, leading to streets becoming temporary sewers.
The development of indoor toilets and water closets was a significant technological advancement during this period.
Financing waterworks projects was complex, involving debt financing and the management of corrupt political practices.
Large cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Boston were among the first to develop waterworks due to better access to capital.
The success of projects like the Erie Canal set a positive precedent for debt-financed infrastructure projects.
Transcripts
ED GLAESER: We are at the Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill,
here in Boston, which is an amazing place, filled with the machines that
made Boston sanitary in the 1800s.
DAVID CUTLER: What you're looking at here is probably
the greatest innovation affecting health in the US
and around the world in three centuries.
GLAESER: Clean water?
More than penicillin?
More than any form of heart surgery?
CUTLER: If you look in the data, there's
a golden age of mortality reductions in the late 19th century,
early in the 20th century, where mortality fell more rapidly
than at any period in American history.
Most of what was killing people was infectious disease.
GLAESER: And more so in cities than in rural areas.
CUTLER: Much more so in cities.
Infectious disease spreads from person to person.
So the denser is the population, the more it spreads.
GLAESER: The easier it is to spread.
CUTLER: The leading cause of death at the
time was tuberculosis, which is primarily airborne.
But the second leading cause of death or causes were really waterborne disease:
cholera, typhoid fever, a whole host of bacteria that live in the water
and would circulate through from human waste
into groundwater or into streams and rivers.
And that would then be used for drinking.
GLAESER: And then people would die.
CUTLER: People would die.
And so throughout the 19th and the 20th centuries,
you had immense outbreaks of infectious diseases.
In city after city, roughly every decade or so,
you'd see this big outbreak of disease.
GLAESER: Now this waterworks mania
that made our cities-- far from infecting our cities,
it disinfected our cities, begins with a mistake, right?
It begins with a disease that is not in fact waterborne,
but that led to a watering commission in Philadelphia on the 1790s.
CUTLER: Yellow fever, which we now think
of as a tropical disease in low income countries,
where it still is, yellow fever was prominent in areas of the US
that got very hot and had lots of mosquitoes.
But the good thing that comes from it is that Philadelphia
decides to build a waterworks.
So, they hire Benjamin Latrobe, he of British nationality
who goes on to build the capital in the US.
And Philadelphia sets up the first clean water system, giving proof
to one of the things that you need.
You need a kind of engineering class that can go ahead and do it,
so an engineering class that can bring this mammoth construction
to bear to improve the people's health.
This is the great wave of engineering, one of the great waves of engineering.
So this is sanitation engineers and environmental engineers and people
who learn how to transport water, 20 miles in the case of Boston,
40 miles in the case of New York, get clean water to cities.
Interestingly, they're all public employees.
So they all get hired by the public sector.
They get taken out of the political process, which
fights for decades and decades over how we're going to get water,
where we're going to get water.
And they bring sort of a professional class.
They start their own journals, "The Journal of the American Water Works
Association" and "The Water Works Journal," and so on.
And they're communicating with each other.
And they're basically cleaning up America's cities.
GLAESER: And are they typically independent agencies,
independent entities?
CUTLER: Often they're independent agencies.
Typically they would get some operational money
from supplying the water.
So, often on an ongoing basis, they would do that.
But the actual construction of the waterworks is very, very involved.
To give you a sense, in 1915, the typical American city
has more invested in their water facilities, their cleaning
and pumping facilities, than an entire year's worth of city revenue.
So actually getting the money to do this is a big deal.
You have to understand you want it.
The political process has to figure out where the water is
and how are they going to get it.
GLAESER: Part of the sanitation problem is bringing the water in,
but the other point is getting the waste, getting the waste out.
So sewers happen somewhat at the same time, somewhat later.
And they have somewhat similar, but also somewhat distinct issues, right?
CUTLER: The sewers are the complementary technology.
So you need to get the clean water in, and you
need to get the dirty water away.
And you need to treat it and do all sorts of things.
And you need to make sure that you're not dumping your sewer
into some other city down the river.
So this sewer technology-- it improves as well.
You know, there are stories about the early sewers--
and again, many of these were the sort of private companies-- the early sewers
that were not big enough for the areas they were serving.
And so whenever you had a big rain storm, they would be like cesspools.
And they get back up.
GLAESER: Yeah, that still happens in Cambridge, doesn't it?
CUTLER: Around the world, it's probably fairly common.
And so the streets would become just kind of big sewers.
And so you had to have the complementary technology to sort of dig up everything
and to put the huge sewer pipes and the sewer drains everywhere
and to drain it from individual houses.
Remember, this a period of time where we're
inventing the sort of indoor toilet, indoor water closet.
So no more outhouses and outdoor waste.
So that's actually another very big technological issue.
GLAESER: And how did they pay for all of this?
How did how the finance of this work?
CUTLER: You can imagine with a series of corrupt legislators how borrowing could
get out of hand.
So, you go through waves where cities would build up debt
and then they would default on the debt and so on.
And so you have to actually develop a system to do that.
That's probably why, that's one of the reasons why the first big waterworks
are in big cities--
New York, Philadelphia, Boston, New Orleans,
all of these cities, which were big and had readier access to capital,
before you get into the smaller cities that
are going to be defaulting on debt for whom it's difficult to know how they're
going to pay back.
GLAESER: And I'm always struck that New York had the salutary
example of the Erie Canal that it occurred maybe 15
years before the Croton aqueducts, which was also debt financed.
And it worked out marvelously well.
CUTLER: When you have that people, when you have the engineering talent,
and you can do it, you can do amazing things.
And so this is an era where there are lots
of great things being done, even at a period of time
that we think of as sort of the height of corruption of local, municipal,
state, and city governments.
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)