Cities and water supply systems

Summary

The 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

00:00

💧 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.

05:01

🏙️ 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.

Keywords

💡Waterworks Museum

The Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill, Boston, is a historical site that showcases the machinery that contributed to the sanitation of Boston in the 1800s. It serves as a symbol of the technological advancements in water treatment and is central to the video's theme of the importance of clean water systems in improving public health.

💡Clean Water

Clean water is essential for preventing the spread of waterborne diseases and is highlighted in the video as one of the most significant health innovations in history. The script emphasizes its role in reducing mortality rates more effectively than any other medical advancement, illustrating its critical importance in the context of public health.

💡Infectious Disease

Infectious diseases, such as cholera and typhoid fever, were the leading causes of death in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in densely populated urban areas. The video discusses how the spread of these diseases was facilitated by poor water quality, making the development of clean water systems a crucial factor in combating these health threats.

💡Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, mentioned in the script as the leading cause of death at the time, is primarily an airborne disease. However, its mention underscores the broader context of rampant infectious diseases during the period, highlighting the urgency for improved sanitation measures, including clean water systems.

💡Waterborne Disease

Waterborne diseases are illnesses caused by pathogens transmitted through contaminated water. The script discusses how these diseases were prevalent due to the lack of proper water treatment, and the development of clean water systems played a pivotal role in mitigating their impact on public health.

💡Sanitation Engineers

Sanitation engineers are professionals who specialize in the design and implementation of systems to provide clean water and remove waste. The video credits these engineers as key figures in the 'great wave of engineering' that led to the construction of waterworks and improved sanitation in American cities.

💡Public Health

Public health is the focus of the video, with the discussion centering on how advancements in water treatment and sanitation have had a profound impact on reducing mortality rates and improving overall health. The script illustrates this by comparing the effectiveness of clean water to that of medical innovations like penicillin and heart surgery.

💡Waterworks

Waterworks refers to the infrastructure and systems used for the supply and distribution of water. In the script, the development of waterworks in cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and New York is highlighted as a critical step in providing clean water, which in turn drastically reduced the spread of infectious diseases.

💡Sewers

Sewers are an essential complementary technology to waterworks, as they are responsible for the removal and treatment of wastewater. The script discusses the development of sewer systems as a necessary part of urban sanitation, emphasizing the need to manage both the introduction of clean water and the disposal of waste.

💡Mortality Reduction

Mortality reduction refers to the decrease in death rates over time. The video script points to the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a 'golden age' of mortality reduction in the US, largely attributed to advancements in sanitation, including the provision of clean water and the management of wastewater through sewers.

💡Engineering Class

The term 'engineering class' in the script refers to the group of skilled professionals who were responsible for the construction and operation of waterworks and sewer systems. Their expertise was crucial in overcoming the technical challenges of transporting clean water over long distances and creating effective sanitation systems.

💡Political Process

The political process is mentioned in the context of the challenges faced in securing funding and making decisions about the development of water and sewer infrastructure. The script notes that sanitation engineers were often public employees, somewhat removed from the political process, which allowed them to focus on professional solutions to sanitation issues.

💡Corrupt Legislators

Corrupt legislators are referenced in the script to illustrate the potential pitfalls of financing large-scale infrastructure projects like waterworks. The discussion suggests that without proper oversight and management, such projects could lead to excessive borrowing and financial mismanagement by those in power.

💡Erie Canal

The Erie Canal is brought up in the script as a successful example of debt-financed infrastructure that preceded the development of waterworks. It serves as a historical precedent for the potential benefits and risks associated with large-scale public works projects, emphasizing the importance of proper planning and execution.

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.