Potable water and sanitation in Tenochtitlan: Aztec culture

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Becerril ◽  
B. Jiménez

A source of clean drinking water is essential, and the Aztecs were quite advanced in providing it. While London still drew its drinking water from the polluted Thames River as late as 1854, the Aztecs brought potable water to Tenochtitlán from springs on the mainland by means of the aqueduct built by Nezahualcoyotl between 1466 and 1478. A second aqueduct was constructed in 1,499–1,500 by the ruler Ahuizotl when the first aqueduct became inadequate. Although the Aztecs had no citywide drainage system, and much of the wastewater ended up in the lake surrounding the city, they had a system to handle human waste by means of privies in all public places and many private dwellings from which excrement was collected in canoes. The excrement was applied as fertilizer to chinampas (floating parcels of land) or sold in the market to be used for tanning animal hides. Urine was collected in pottery vessels to be used later as a mordant for dyeing cloth. The Tenochtitlán environment was obviously healthy for its time, especially in comparison to European cities. Public and personal hygiene contributed to minimize the incidence and severity of illnesses.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 3938-3943
Author(s):  
Ayperi Bayish Kyzy ◽  
Munarbek B. Nazymov ◽  
Turganbay Zhusupali Uulu ◽  
Sveta S. Toktobaeva ◽  
Ashirbek B. Topchubaev

The underground waters of the Ak-Buura valleys located among the mountains and the Mady underground water deposit located on the southern out skirts of the Mady village are of great value in providing clean drinking water to the city of Osh. The water horizons of the alluvial-proluvial plains in the Ak-Buura river valley and the Mady ground water deposit are of great importance to the use of ground water to provide the population with clean drinking water.


2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
E. Arthur ◽  
A. Z. Imoro

Tamale is one of the rapidly growing cities in Ghana which is faced with numerous sanitation and hygiene problems. Markets generate large volumes of wastes due to their functions. Poor waste management in markets poses a threat to public health. This study sought to assess traders’ knowledge and practice of environmental sanitation and personal hygiene. It also sought to identify the environmental sanitation challenges in the market. Questionnaire surveys, interviews, and personal observations were employed for data collection. The traders demonstrated fair knowledge on environmental sanitation but most did not practice recommended sanitation practices. Moreover, both males (50.1%) and females (49.9%) demonstrated good knowledge of personal hygiene and practiced it. The study identified poor drainage systems, lack of potable water, inadequate waste bins, littering, pilling of wastes, poor wastewater handling as major environmental challenges in the market. The findings of this study underline the need for bolstering up environmental education and hygiene promotion activities in public places like markets. It is also recommended that the toilet facility within the market get replace or renovated. The need for sanitation equipment and tools like waste bins should be met by the Metropolitan Assembly, as well as supports from NGOs and other bodies.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-200
Author(s):  
B. Nguyen

Paris is one of the very few cities in the world equipped with a dual network system: the drinking water network is duplicated by a totally independent non-potable water network which possesses its own means of production, storage and distribution pipes. In this second network there circulates untreated water characterized by pressure lower than that observed in the drinking water network. The fact that the constraints governing non-potable water are less than for drinking water is reflected in lower margins in relation to comparative production and storage capacity. Non-potable water in Paris has existed for two centuries; it is very inexpensive and its use in large quantities forms part of the landscape to which Parisians are accustomed. 98% of non-potable water consumption are restricted to the uses of water linked to urban concentration for the comfort or safety of town dwellers: hydrants, fountains, street cleaning, watering of public gardens, flushing of the sewers etc. Therefore, the main consumer being the city of Paris, the operation of the non-potable water network differs in many ways from that applied to the drinking water network. The economic context, the technical implications and the ecological repercussions of the use of non-potable water provide an alternative solution to the exclusive use of drinking water which seems to be efficient and attractive. This exceptional situation does not only offer advantages especially when one analyses the consequences for the network of waste water or the cost of maintaining a dual pipe network.


EDIS ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 2003 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy H. Simonne

Having enough clean drinking water is a top priority during any emergency! A normally active person needs atleast two quarts of water each day. However, needs vary depending on the weather and an individual’s age andhealth status. When clean water is not available, we need to purify all water before using it for drinking, preparingfood, or personal hygiene. Many methods for purifying water are available, but none (by itself) is perfect. Often,a combination of more than one methods works best. This document is FCS9195, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611. First published: May 2003.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Mahbubur Rahman ◽  
A. B. M. Abdullah ◽  
Md. Wahid Murad

This study is an attempt to empirically determine and analyse the factors that significantly influence the perceptions of and vulnerability to an earthquake disaster that struck a community located in the Hazaribagh area of Dhaka South City, Bangladesh. The empirical results reveal a significant relationship between a number of sociodemographic factors and the community’s perceptions of and level of vulnerability to an earthquake disaster. The critical factors we have determined as significantly influencing these community perceptions and sense of vulnerability to earthquake disaster include: “level of education”, “preserve the drinking water, “uncovered drainage system”, “unplanned commercial and business apartments”, “unplanned tannery”, “first aid equipment”, and “family size”. We argue that while an earthquake disaster is a natural phenomenon, people’s vulnerabilities to it are in most cases caused by their societies and the governments” actions and inactions when facing such a situation.


Author(s):  
Koustubh Karande ◽  
Shalini Tandon ◽  
Ritesh Vijay ◽  
Sunali Khanna ◽  
Tuhin Banerji ◽  
...  

Abstract Unlike urban and semi-urban settlements where the potable water is supplied through a water treatment plant and a distribution network, in rural low-income settings, the provision of the water treatment plant for all villages is not feasible for a developing country like India. The most affordable and reliable way to provide clean drinking water is treatment at the consumer end. This research is aimed to assess occurrence of water-borne diseases based on personal hygiene and quality of drinking water source. Of the households, 4,237 in 15 selected villages were surveyed for personal hygiene using a questionnaire. Water samples were collected from all major water sources in the villages and analyzed for chemical and bacteriological properties. For water and personal hygiene, quality indices were calculated, and a mathematical model was developed using multiple linear regression analysis. The regression concluded that personal hygiene has a more significant effect on the occurrence of water-borne diseases than the quality of water source in the study area. Personal hygiene is one of the health factors neglected by the people specifically in rural India. Therefore, India needs to run campaigns like Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan (Clean India Mission), which was mainly aimed to reduce open defecation, to promote personal hygiene and to reduce the prevalence of water-borne diseases.


Author(s):  
Kartik Balkrishna Patil

Lack of clean drinking water in rural areas is a huge problem during the occurrences of floods and other environmental disasters. Often, it takes a long time to transport potable water to these areas resulting in health issues for the residents. In this research, a solar power-based water purification system using PCM to produce clean drinking water in flood-affected areas or remote areas where potable water is difficult to obtain is proposed. Purification reduces the concentration of particulate matter including suspended particles, parasites, bacteria, algae, viruses, and fungi as well as reduces the concentration of a range of dissolved and particulate matter. The purification system available is not easy to get for poor people. So we are using a different technique for water purification system is solar distillation technique, which is very cheap and convenient. These Thermosyphon purification system is a modification of conventional solar still but the efficiency achieved is much higher then the conventional solar still. There are 5 major components in our design consists of Upper basin, Lower basin, Thermosyphon system, Diffusion still, and PCM chamber. The dirty water inlet is taken into Lower basin, upper basin, and diffusion still. Initially the temperature of water in the lower basin is low, so to increase the temperature of the water, thermosyphon loop system is connected with the lower basin. The energy from the lower basin is transferred to the condensing cover and the side walls of the tank which is been wasted to surroundings will be captured by upper basin and diffusion still. In diffusion still, there will be a successive plate, so energy from sidewalls will be evaporated and will be diffuse in a thin gap and it will get condense of the facing surface and that water will be collected in the outlet. We will be adding phase-changing material, which helps the purification to work on in absence of sunlight. So our basic design of the project is to increase the rate of evaporation and condensation process.


Author(s):  
Andrew Thacker

This innovative book examines the development of modernism in four European cities: London, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. Focusing upon how literary and cultural outsiders represented various spaces in these cities, it draws upon contemporary theories of affect, mood, and literary geography to offer an original account of the geographical emotions of modernism. It considers three broad features of urban modernism: the built environment of the particular cities, such as cafés or transport systems; the cultural institutions of publishing that underpinned the development of modernism in these locations; and the complex perceptions of writers and artists who were outsiders to the four cities. Particular attention is thus given to the transnational qualities of modernism by examining figures whose view of the cities considered is that of migrants, exiles, or strangers. The writers and artists discussed include Mulk Raj Anand, Gwendolyn Bennett, Bryher, Blaise Cendrars, Joseph Conrad, T. S. Eliot, Christopher Isherwood, Hope Mirlees, Noami Mitchison, Jean Rhys, Sam Selon, and Stephen Spender.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ali Nasser Hilo

The low level of water in rivers in Iraq leads to poor water quality, on that basis; we need to assess Iraq's water resources for uses of irrigation and drinking water. This study present a model accounts for ground water quality by using a water quality index (WQI) for the region defined between the city of Kut and the city of Badra in Wasit province. this study relies on a system of wells set up along the path through the Badra –Kut  and around it  up to 78 wells. The study showed poor quality of ground water in the region of study and it is unsuitability for irrigation and drinking water, as well as provided a solution to the water accumulated in the Shuwayja to reduce the bad effect on groundwater by using a system of branch and collection canals  then pumping at the effluent  of Al  Shuwayja in seasons of rainy season ..Water quality index calculated depend on the basis of various physic-chemical parameters as PH, Ec , TDS, TSS, Nacl , SO4 ,Na , and  Mg. The resultant and analytical are present with use of Arch GIS program – geostastical analysis for the water index and water quality parameters


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1259-1264
Author(s):  
Kiril Lisichkov ◽  
Katerina Atkovska ◽  
Neven Trajchevski ◽  
Orce Popovski ◽  
Nadica Todorovska

The presence of some chemical compounds at higher levels than maximum permissible concentrations (MPC) in the drinking water, suggests of water resources pollution. In this paper the following elements were analyzed: total arsenic, cadmium, lead, cooper and zinc. Twelve samples of water from the water supply system from the city of Skopje were examined during one year from three different springs. Also, ten samples of bottled water from three producers from the Macedonian market were tested.The determined average mass concentrations of total As, Cd(II), Pb(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) in the analyzed water samples from the water supply system are 1.35 μg/l, 0.06 μg/l, 0.6 μg/l, 0.9 μg/l and 1,12 μg/l, respectively, and for the tested bottled water, the mean values ranges from 0.56 - 0.83 μg total As / l, 0.053 - 0.056 μg Cd(II)/l, 0.51 - 0.54 μg Pb(II)/l , 0.6 - 0.87 μg Cu(II)/l and 0.68 - 0.8 μg Zn(II)/l water.The following instrumental analytical methods and techniques were used for the analysis of the tested samples of drinking water: flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), atomic absorption spectroscopy with hydride cеll, electrothermal atomic absorption spectroscopy.The obtained results are shown in tables and graphic form. According to the obtained results a comparative analysis was carried out indicate that it is a water of good quality that can be used in different branches of the process industry.The obtained results in this paper do not exceed the values of the MPC of the Republic of Macedonia prescribed by the legal regulations for the drinking water, which confirm the health safety of the drinking water from the water supply system in the city of Skopje and the packed waters from the Macedonian market in relation to the tested elements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document