1 Introduction
It has been said that pollution is mostly a resource out of place. That is, most natural
things are subject to change and recycle, but when they are exposed to a new
environment or are present in excessively high concentrations, they interfere with
the natural system.
When Homo sapiens evolved, knowledge also evolved, with its application,
thinking. At first there were only a few humans around, and they did not upset the
balance of nature. However, by thinking they developed tools, created housing, and
controlled fire. They developed agriculture and controlled animals. They seemingly
overcame nature and were able to survive longer. They learned to control diseases
and to ameliorate human imperfections. But their desire was not only health,
longevity, and reproduction but also comfort. In order to provide these comforts,
agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, and communications were developed using chemicals that were either harmful to the environment in certain concentrations, or were persistent so that they would not deteriorate. We are now
starting to realize the consequences of all human activities. Also, nearly all these
activities involve water in some fashion.
Before disease transmission was understood, pollution control was most likely
influenced by the presence of foul odors. This could be considered an aesthetic
problem or an air pollution concern. Body wastes and other decomposing materials
generally have an undesirable odor, thus creating an aversion to them. Thus
decomposing matter was usually removed as far as possible from the cave or other
housing. Unknowingly, this controlled the spread of many diseases.
However, humans’ gregarious nature caused them to congregate into communities, leading to the large cities of today. This has resulted in human wastes
where they are not desirable. Inadequate management of human wastes has been
traced to many of the great plagues of the Middle Ages. The commonly accepted
first incidence of relating human wastes to disease is attributed to studies of a
cholera epidemic in London in 1849 by Dr. John Snow. Through an epidemiological
study, he traced the incidence of cholera to a well that was contaminated by human
wastes in a certain block of housing. Whether or not the story is true that he resolved
the problem by removing the handle from the pump, Dr. Snow did show the
relationship between human wastes and disease. These findings were independent
of the development of the microscope by Pasteur in France only a few years later.
This led to the removal of human wastes from homes and the modern concept of
water carriage of wastes. This also resulted in gross water pollution problems
downstream from the sewage discharge. Thus early pollution control efforts were
related to public health.
Most frequently cities were located along bodies of water, which could be used as
a source of food supply and as a source of power, and the water itself could be used
for drinking, for manufacturing processes, for transportation of raw and
manufactured goods, and as a recipient of the wastes from all these sources. It was
found that the increased organic load exceeded the reaeration capacity of the stream
232
D. B. Aulenbach et al.
It has been said that pollution is mostly a resource out of place. That is, most natural
things are subject to change and recycle, but when they are exposed to a new
environment or are present in excessively high concentrations, they interfere with
the natural system.
When Homo sapiens evolved, knowledge also evolved, with its application,
thinking. At first there were only a few humans around, and they did not upset the
balance of nature. However, by thinking they developed tools, created housing, and
controlled fire. They developed agriculture and controlled animals. They seemingly
overcame nature and were able to survive longer. They learned to control diseases
and to ameliorate human imperfections. But their desire was not only health,
longevity, and reproduction but also comfort. In order to provide these comforts,
agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, and communications were developed using chemicals that were either harmful to the environment in certain concentrations, or were persistent so that they would not deteriorate. We are now
starting to realize the consequences of all human activities. Also, nearly all these
activities involve water in some fashion.
Before disease transmission was understood, pollution control was most likely
influenced by the presence of foul odors. This could be considered an aesthetic
problem or an air pollution concern. Body wastes and other decomposing materials
generally have an undesirable odor, thus creating an aversion to them. Thus
decomposing matter was usually removed as far as possible from the cave or other
housing. Unknowingly, this controlled the spread of many diseases.
However, humans’ gregarious nature caused them to congregate into communities, leading to the large cities of today. This has resulted in human wastes
where they are not desirable. Inadequate management of human wastes has been
traced to many of the great plagues of the Middle Ages. The commonly accepted
first incidence of relating human wastes to disease is attributed to studies of a
cholera epidemic in London in 1849 by Dr. John Snow. Through an epidemiological
study, he traced the incidence of cholera to a well that was contaminated by human
wastes in a certain block of housing. Whether or not the story is true that he resolved
the problem by removing the handle from the pump, Dr. Snow did show the
relationship between human wastes and disease. These findings were independent
of the development of the microscope by Pasteur in France only a few years later.
This led to the removal of human wastes from homes and the modern concept of
water carriage of wastes. This also resulted in gross water pollution problems
downstream from the sewage discharge. Thus early pollution control efforts were
related to public health.
Most frequently cities were located along bodies of water, which could be used as
a source of food supply and as a source of power, and the water itself could be used
for drinking, for manufacturing processes, for transportation of raw and
manufactured goods, and as a recipient of the wastes from all these sources. It was
found that the increased organic load exceeded the reaeration capacity of the stream
232
D. B. Aulenbach et al.