History of the sewerage systems

The sewerage systems of the cities go back to antiquity and facilities have been found of sewage in prehistoric places of Crete and in the old Assyrian cities. Although its original function was the drainage, that is to say the collection of rainwater and the currents of the land to reduce illumination; that drained on the main sewers, located at greater depth. These rooms the water table; in ancient Greece there are cataloged remains of latrines grouped in rooms underground, square or circular, with holes in the ceiling for ventilation and our days; caused that by the origina channels of pluvial they traveled great amounts of matter they were located in palaces and other public buildings. The custom of other citizens of throw the rubbish to the streets, the "water goes!" that in some places has remained almost Towards the end of the Middle Ages, black wells began to be used in Europe, the content of which was used organic; what ultimately made this system be abandoned over time, due to the bad smells that produced and the focus of infections that this practice constituted.

As fertilizer, or was poured into water courses and untapped land. The system did not offer already in the Renaissance, the ancient custom of building drains, normally in the form of good results in areas of high rainfall or with superficial aquifers; and the epidemics of plague and other diseases continued to be frequent and devastating. To tackle the problem, of channels and ditches on the sides of the street, whose function was to drive natural waters and rain, as the pouring into the main channel in different outlets. This system was the one used in It can still be seen in some towns of Castile. Another solution adopted when the population settled at the confluence of several rainwater basins was the diversion of natural watercourses from smaller in several branches or "esguevas" that collected all the contributions of filth in the city, cities such as Burgos or precisely Valladolid.