Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
ts, manufacturers sought out market opportunities in
products with no value, i.e. waste from their primary operation. Animal charcoal
dirtied during the clari
To multiply their pro
cation of sugars could not be revived endlessly: it was
considered a waste up until 1810 when it began to be used as a fertilizer (containing
a high concentration of phosphorus). In such a way, used animal charcoal soon
became more expensive than unused animal charcoal. Cotton waste from textile
mills
began to be used, like rags, for papermaking.
As late as 1882, the hygienist Henri Napias summarized the goal:
—
particularly in Manchester
—
In industry, there
must not be any actual scrap, and everything must be used either for industry itself
or for agriculture [translation]
“
.
28
”
7.3.3 An Uneven Situation
Hygienic requirements on the one hand and agricultural and industrial demand for
urban excreta on the other, had unequal effects on the management of waste. In big
cities, and particularly in the capitals, hygienic policies were quickly established
(which does not imply that small and mid-size cities did not demonstrate innova-
tion, as illustrated in the English borough of Croydon
29
). In large part, these policies
led to the recalibration of arterial systems, street paving, water distribution, col-
lection of wastewaters in gutters or sewers, and reorganization of the collection
services of urban excreta.
30
A distinction can be made among these cities between those who chose to
immediately adopt the combined sewerage system and those who resisted. In fact,
home water distribution was established in London as early as the 18th century and
created a corollary need for water drainage. The solution quickly became to dis-
charge the used water into sewers, then in the Thames. The growing use of water-
closets with
ushing systems prompted the removal of pit privies (a gradual and
relative removal such that the systems were often used together). As a consequence,
drainage became an issue of wastewater and the need for recycling led, in many
cases, to the use of wastewater for agricultural irrigation purposes in sewage
elds
(as in Milan or Chamb
ry). In other cities, including Paris, water was distributed to
homes much later: it was
é
rst used to clean streets, and the system of pit privies
remained prevalent. Here, innovations in the management of sewage removal from
cesspools and the production of human fertilizers were numerous and assisted in
making sewage disposal a very lucrative economic sector. The
,
31
the fertilization of land by spreading fresh sewage, was used in Northern France and
Holland. Widely used in China, this method was adopted throughout Europe during
“
Flemish method
”
28
Napias (
1882
).
29
Goddard and Sheail (
2001
).
30
See for instance: Melosi (
2000
), V
ö
gele (
1998
) and Frioux (
2013
).
31
Moll and Mille (
1857
).
