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What's That Floating in The Moat?

© Sharon K. West

The disposal of human waste has been a messy problem throughout history. Food being the joy that it is also causes a heap of trouble after the human body transforms it from a savory, delicious commodity into stinky, bacteria-laden goo. As a result, a great deal of ingenuity has been devoted to finding ways to make the emergence of it more pleasant, as well as to its collection and disposal.

Of course, primitive peoples used nature itself, but as they came together into people groups, they began to designate certain places within their living areas for toilet purposes. The first indication of plumbing dates back to 8000 B.C. in Scotland in the form of pipes or troughs that carried water and wastes to a nearby creek. Around 4000 years later in Iraq, evidence was found that appears to be cesspits under homes. Another discovery indicated that from 3000 to 2000 B.C., peoples in the area of modern-day Pakistan began reserving separate latrine rooms in their houses. Also during that time, flush toilets started to be used on the Isle of Crete. These were overhead reservoirs filled and flushed by servants or slaves.

According to Webster's, the word "toilet" comes from the French "toilette," meaning "a cloth covering used in shaving or hairdressing." Somewhere in the course of history, the name of this dressing room item became a modest word referring to relieving oneself.

The building of special infrastructures came to a halt following the fall of Rome, but the search continued to provide some means of indoor waste collection. Inventors came up with the chamber pot, close stool, and necessary chairs, which solved the problem of having to go outdoors but created another of how the waste was to be carried away. Then the tossing of wastes out of doors or overhead windows came into practice. The courtesy of a man walking nearest the street when accompanying a lady on a sidewalk came about so that he could take the hit instead of her from any wastes being thrown out. The street was also cleaner nearest the buildings. Shouting "Gardez L'eau" ("watch out for the water") became the polite thing to do when tossing waste. This remains in British vocabulary today with "loo" being slang for the toilet. One could also legally collect damages from being hit by wastes.

During the course of history, people became accustomed to the stench, although at one point, the Thames River was so full of sewage that it became a dead river. In 1857, the stench from it was such that the English parliament could not meet. Even heavy curtains soaked in lime and hung over the windows could not keep the odor out.

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