Baudrillart stated that “the entire population owes its well-being to this thorough
metamorphosis” [32].
3 Waste-Oriented Management Leading to Linearity (1905
to Today)
3.1 The Sacrifice of the Seine (1905–1968)
The transformation of Paris human excreta management from unsuccessful to
successful circularity took place in a few decades between 1890 and 1910. However,
several aspects explain that the circularity reached in the 1900s would be the
maximum value for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Fossil deposits of N or P were discovered in the nineteenth century, and the
chemical fertiliser industry grew. In 1913, the Haber-Bosch process made it possible
to produce chemical N fertiliser from the N in the air (N 2 ). Urban fertilisers became
less and less attractive to farmers [33]. Sewage spreading required large surfaces,
and the benefits of agricultural production did not cover the costs of spreading: in the
1900s, operational costs were more than ten times higher than the revenue of sewage
farms [28].
In the 1900s, the population of Paris started to stabilise, in contrast to the
population of the conurbation. The suburb sewage had to be managed, and sewage
farms needed to be extended. When World War I began, most projects were
interrupted: thereafter, sewage farms were not extended and their surface peaked
in 1906.
4 In the meantime, flush toilets had been adopted by the population. The
campaign of house owners against sewers, which took place in the second half of the
nineteenth century in Paris, was outstripped by the demand for flush toilets and
sewers by households. After Paris, flush toilets began to spread to the suburbs
(Fig. 8).
In 1905, authorisation was given by the Conseil Général de la Seine to test the
intensive bacterial treatment of sewage. Human excreta and sewage were less and
less considered as a resource and acquired the new status of waste. The Schéma
général d’assainissement de la Seine, adopted in 1929, endorsed this point of view
and promoted WWTPs as the way to achieve sanitation. Sanitary aspects dominated
the relationship towards human excreta and Pierre Koch from the French Higher
Council for Public Health
5 stated in 1933 that “wastewater had to be destroyed”
[4]. Wastewater irrigation decreased, but wastewater intensive treatment did not
relay it. Circularity began to decline and pollution to rise. Whereas most pollution
was widespread in the soil, underground water, rivers and air in the nineteenth
4 New sewage farm extension projects were still studied after World War I, but they were not
implemented.
5 Conseil Supérieur de l’Hygiène Publique de France.
Past and Future Trajectories of Human Excreta Management Systems: Paris. . .
129
metamorphosis” [32].
3 Waste-Oriented Management Leading to Linearity (1905
to Today)
3.1 The Sacrifice of the Seine (1905–1968)
The transformation of Paris human excreta management from unsuccessful to
successful circularity took place in a few decades between 1890 and 1910. However,
several aspects explain that the circularity reached in the 1900s would be the
maximum value for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Fossil deposits of N or P were discovered in the nineteenth century, and the
chemical fertiliser industry grew. In 1913, the Haber-Bosch process made it possible
to produce chemical N fertiliser from the N in the air (N 2 ). Urban fertilisers became
less and less attractive to farmers [33]. Sewage spreading required large surfaces,
and the benefits of agricultural production did not cover the costs of spreading: in the
1900s, operational costs were more than ten times higher than the revenue of sewage
farms [28].
In the 1900s, the population of Paris started to stabilise, in contrast to the
population of the conurbation. The suburb sewage had to be managed, and sewage
farms needed to be extended. When World War I began, most projects were
interrupted: thereafter, sewage farms were not extended and their surface peaked
in 1906.
4 In the meantime, flush toilets had been adopted by the population. The
campaign of house owners against sewers, which took place in the second half of the
nineteenth century in Paris, was outstripped by the demand for flush toilets and
sewers by households. After Paris, flush toilets began to spread to the suburbs
(Fig. 8).
In 1905, authorisation was given by the Conseil Général de la Seine to test the
intensive bacterial treatment of sewage. Human excreta and sewage were less and
less considered as a resource and acquired the new status of waste. The Schéma
général d’assainissement de la Seine, adopted in 1929, endorsed this point of view
and promoted WWTPs as the way to achieve sanitation. Sanitary aspects dominated
the relationship towards human excreta and Pierre Koch from the French Higher
Council for Public Health
5 stated in 1933 that “wastewater had to be destroyed”
[4]. Wastewater irrigation decreased, but wastewater intensive treatment did not
relay it. Circularity began to decline and pollution to rise. Whereas most pollution
was widespread in the soil, underground water, rivers and air in the nineteenth
4 New sewage farm extension projects were still studied after World War I, but they were not
implemented.
5 Conseil Supérieur de l’Hygiène Publique de France.
Past and Future Trajectories of Human Excreta Management Systems: Paris. . .
129