How did the roman sewage work?

Answer 1

The Romans had underground drainage canals. The most famous of was the Cloaca Maxima, which was the main sewer of the city of Rome. The sewage canals in the city of Rome emptied in the River Tiber. Most houses were not connected to the sewers. The poor of Rome, the majority of the population, did not have running water. They lived in the upper floors of the insulae, apartment blocks six-seven floors high. They lived in overcrowded rooms and went there only to sleep. They ate outdoors, went to outdoors public toilet and to the public baths. The public toilets had Plumbing which connected them to the sewers or to a cesspit. The water from the baths was discharged into the sewers to flush them. The water came from the aqueducts. The public toilets were often outdoors and were communal places with no privacy which could accommodate dozens of people. Men, women and children sat next to each other and had conversations and shared gossip. They were also places where politician could go to canvas. Many street corners in the city had urinal pots. The urine was collected by fullers because stale urine was used as a bleach to whiten cloth and tanners used it in the tanning process.

Despite the public toilets, slopping out was widespread and waste thrown onto the streets was a common problem. Many streets of Rome were angled towards their centre and the waste was collected into gutters. Laws providing compensation for those hit by the waste while walking in the street were introduced. Affluent people lived on the lower floors of the insulae and their apartments had running water. The waste was taken to the main cesspits by gravity-fed pipes. The very rich who lived in the domus (detached house) could afford a bathroom complete with bathtub.