ABSTRACT
When the Brooklyn Waterworks opened in 1859, it was one of America's most advanced water and sewer systems. Yet after Brooklyn was annexed by New York City, the waterworks' history slipped into obscurity, despite having a now-famous champion: the "poet of America," Walt Whitman, whose brother worked on the project. This article shows the Brooklyn poet's fierce, multiyear lobbying effort for the waterworks in various newspapers and introduces a wealth of newly recovered Whitman writings on the issue. As a journalist, Whitman exemplifies the nineteenth-century press as an intermediary between expert engineers and popular readers. The poet brought precise expertise, translated engineers' technical arguments into everyday language for his readers, and fought the resulting day-to-day political battles over construction in print. Whitman, then, is an underappreciated case study of the confluence of technology, public health, and local journalism.
Subject(s)
Journalism , History, 19th Century , New York City , Journalism/history , Sanitary Engineering/history , Humans , Newspapers as Topic/history , Public Health/historyABSTRACT
Public health has always been, and remains, an interdisciplinary field, and engineering was closely aligned with public health for many years. Indeed, the branch of engineering that has been known at various times as sanitary engineering, public health engineering, or environmental engineering was integral to the emergence of public health as a distinct discipline. However, in the United States (U.S.) during the 20th century, the academic preparation and practice of this branch of engineering became largely separated from public health. Various factors contributed to this separation, including an evolution in leadership roles within public health; increasing specialization within public health; and the emerging environmental movement, which led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with its emphasis on the natural environment. In this paper, we consider these factors in turn. We also present a case study example of public health engineering in current practice in the U.S. that has had large-scale positive health impacts through improving water and sanitation services in Native American and Alaska Native communities. We also consider briefly how to educate engineers to work in public health in the modern world, and the benefits and challenges associated with that process. We close by discussing the global implications of public health engineering and the need to re-integrate engineering into public health practice and strengthen the connection between the two fields.
Subject(s)
Engineering/history , Engineering/statistics & numerical data , Public Health/history , Public Health/statistics & numerical data , Sanitation/history , Water Supply/history , History, 20th Century , Humans , Indians, North American , Sanitary Engineering/history , Sanitary Engineering/methods , United StatesABSTRACT
Research into the work of Szachna Eliasz Cynamon in the Rio Doce Valley Program (1952-1960) is presented. The key sources are from the Department of Archives and Documentation and the Department of Sanitation and Environmental Health at Fiocruz, as well as the family's own archive. At the time, the rates of malaria in the region were high. Born in Poland, Cynamon migrated to Brazil in the 1930s while still a child, where he graduated in sanitary engineering. He was hired to work in Colatina (Espírito Santo) and Governador Valadares (Minas Gerais) between 1952 and 1960, focusing on sewage and water treatment and supply, while also holding sanitation education courses for the local people as part of a Brazil-USA cooperation agreement.
Subject(s)
Sanitary Engineering/history , Brazil , Health Education/history , History, 20th Century , Poland , Sanitation/historyABSTRACT
Resumo Apresenta pesquisa acerca da atuação de Szachna Eliasz Cynamon no Programa Vale do Rio Doce (1952-1960). Privilegiamos como fonte de consulta os acervos dos departamentos de Arquivo e Documentação e de Saneamento e Saúde Ambiental, na Fiocruz, e o ainda pertencente à família. Na época, a região contava com altos índices de malária. Cynamon, nascido na Polônia e imigrado ainda criança nos anos 1930 para o Brasil, onde se graduaria em engenharia sanitária, foi contratado para atuar em Colatina (ES) e em Governador Valadares (MG), entre 1952 e 1960. Nessas localidades, dedicou-se ao tratamento e abastecimento de água e esgoto sanitário, além de realizar cursos de educação sanitária para a população local, como parte de acordo de cooperação Brasil-EUA.
Abstract Research into the work of Szachna Eliasz Cynamon in the Rio Doce Valley Program (1952-1960) is presented. The key sources are from the Department of Archives and Documentation and the Department of Sanitation and Environmental Health at Fiocruz, as well as the family's own archive. At the time, the rates of malaria in the region were high. Born in Poland, Cynamon migrated to Brazil in the 1930s while still a child, where he graduated in sanitary engineering. He was hired to work in Colatina (Espírito Santo) and Governador Valadares (Minas Gerais) between 1952 and 1960, focusing on sewage and water treatment and supply, while also holding sanitation education courses for the local people as part of a Brazil-USA cooperation agreement.
Subject(s)
Sanitary Engineering/history , Poland , Brazil , Sanitation/history , Health Education/historySubject(s)
Urban Health/history , Agriculture/history , Air Pollution/history , Animals , Architecture/history , Cholera/history , Cities/history , Conservation of Natural Resources/history , Disease Outbreaks/history , Droughts/history , Heat Stroke/history , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , History, Ancient , History, Medieval , Housing/history , Humans , Noise , Ozone/history , Ozone/radiation effects , Plague/history , Quarantine/history , Railroads/history , Rivers , Sanitary Engineering/history , Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome/history , Urban Population/statistics & numerical data , Urbanization/history , Vehicle Emissions , Water Supply/historyABSTRACT
In the city of Bari (Italy), during the 19th century, energetic political battles were carried out between the administrators and governors in order to ensure the population the primary resource for life: the water. In this town, there were no rivers or drinking water sources; the thirsty population drank from public and private cisterns for collecting rainwater. The condition of the pavement, poor maintenance of the reservoirs and the presence of absorbent cesspits in the vicinity of the wells were often the cause of pathogenic microorganisms' infiltration, such as viruses, bacteria or parasites, which were responsible for the most common digestive disorders. This paper aims to highlight the ties between political campaigns for the construction of the aqueduct and the recognition by the scientific community and governors of the causal link between certain diseases and infected water. The case of the city of Bari is exemplary because, according to the statistics of the causes of death, the hygienic conditions of the city changed parallel to the development of urban infrastructures, which radically intensified with the construction of the Apulian aqueduct in 1915, and the sewage system in 1920.
Subject(s)
Intestinal Diseases/history , Sanitation/history , Water Supply/history , History, 19th Century , Humans , Intestinal Diseases/etiology , Intestinal Diseases/prevention & control , Italy , Politics , Sanitary Engineering/historySubject(s)
Sanitation/history , Communicable Disease Control/history , Communicable Diseases/history , Engineering/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Public Health/economics , Public Health/history , Public Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitary Engineering/history , Sanitation/economics , Sanitation/legislation & jurisprudence , Sewage , United KingdomABSTRACT
It is now universally accepted that utilization of lead for domestic purposes and water distribution presents a major health hazard. The ancient Roman world was unaware of these risks. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. Lead isotopes in sediments from the harbor of Imperial Rome register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages. They demonstrate that the lead pipes of the water distribution system increased Pb contents in drinking water of the capital city by up to two orders of magnitude over the natural background. The Pb isotope record shows that the discontinuities in the pollution of the Tiber by lead are intimately entwined with the major issues affecting Late Antique Rome and its water distribution system.
Subject(s)
Lead Poisoning/history , Water Pollution, Chemical/history , Geologic Sediments/analysis , History, Ancient , History, Medieval , Humans , Isotopes/analysis , Isotopes/history , Lead/analysis , Lead/history , Rivers/chemistry , Rome , Sanitary Engineering/history , Water Supply/analysis , Water Supply/historyABSTRACT
Hundreds of years ago, the ancient Chinese implemented several outstanding projects to cope with the changing climate and violent floods. Some of these projects are still in use today. These projects evolved from the experience and knowledge accumulated through the long coexistence of people with nature. The concepts behind these ancient stormwater management practices, such as low-impact development and sustainable drainage systems, are similar to the technology applied in modern stormwater management. This paper presents the cases of the Hani Terrace in Yunnan and the Fushou drainage system of Ganzhou in Jiangxi. The ancient Chinese knowledge behind these cases is seen in the design concepts and the features of these projects. These features help us to understand better their applications in the contemporary environment. In today's more complex environment, integrating traditional and advanced philosophy with modern technologies is extremely useful in building urban and rural stormwater management systems in China.
Subject(s)
Cities/history , Sanitary Engineering/history , Agriculture/history , China , History, Ancient , Hydrology , Oryza , PondsABSTRACT
An often overlooked issue in the discussion of sustainable development is that of municipal solid waste management. Yet solid waste management is pervasive in all sustainable development objectives: its management, or lack thereof, can have major implications for the health of the environment, economy and society. This article argues the need for a governance dimension in the sustainability model, taking into account implementation strategies, monitoring and institutional controls. This focus heavily relies on integrated publicprivate partnerships and deliberative democracy approaches in order to achieve sustainability within the solid waste management sector. In this article, national and local policies in Brazil are analysed, primarily focusing on the inclusion of informal waste collection into municipal solid waste management schemes. The city of Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, which is world-renowned for its innovative sustainable development policies, is used to frame and illustrate the case.
Subject(s)
Conservation of Natural Resources , Economics , Public Health , Public-Private Sector Partnerships , Sanitation , Waste Management , Brazil/ethnology , Conservation of Natural Resources/economics , Conservation of Natural Resources/history , Conservation of Natural Resources/legislation & jurisprudence , Economics/history , Economics/legislation & jurisprudence , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Public Health/economics , Public Health/education , Public Health/history , Public Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Public-Private Sector Partnerships/economics , Public-Private Sector Partnerships/history , Public-Private Sector Partnerships/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitary Engineering/economics , Sanitary Engineering/education , Sanitary Engineering/history , Sanitary Engineering/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitation/economics , Sanitation/history , Sanitation/legislation & jurisprudence , Waste Management/economics , Waste Management/history , Waste Management/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
Conta a trajetória marcante de Szachana Eliasz Cynamon, que dedicou sua vida à saúde pública e ao saneamento ambiental. Foi um dos fundadores da Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca (ENSP), e como tal, foi responsável pela formação de inúmeros profissionais no campo da engenharia sanitária ao longo do território brasileiro, deixando importantes contribuições em tecnologia para o saneamento ambiental.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Sanitary Engineering/history , Sanitation/history , Public Health/historyABSTRACT
Conta a trajetória marcante de Szachana Eliasz Cynamon, que dedicou sua vida à saúde pública e ao saneamento ambiental. Foi um dos fundadores da Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca (ENSP), e como tal, foi responsável pela formação de inúmeros profissionais no campo da engenharia sanitária ao longo do território brasileiro, deixando importantes contribuições em tecnologia para o saneamento ambiental.
Subject(s)
Male , Female , Humans , Public Health/history , Sanitary Engineering/history , Sanitation/historyABSTRACT
Conta a trajetória marcante de Szachana Eliasz Cynamon, que dedicou sua vida à saúde pública e ao saneamento ambiental. Foi um dos fundadores da Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca (ENSP), e como tal, foi responsável pela formação de inúmeros profissionais no campo da engenharia sanitária ao longo do território brasileiro, deixando importantes contribuições em tecnologia para o saneamento ambiental. (AU)
Subject(s)
Public Health/history , Sanitation/history , Sanitary Engineering/history , BrazilABSTRACT
This article examines the making of a modern colonial city through the rhetoric of 'improvement' and 'progress' in relation to water. The reference is to the history of water in the city of Delhi and what may be called 'the first science of environment' in a colonial urban context, with a focus not so much on the 'extent' of water supply and drainage, and its (in)adequacy in the colonial city, as on concerns around the '(im)purity' of water, narratives of pollution, technologies of purity and the transformations they effected in a colonial context. In doing so it hopes to build upon a rich tradition of writings on urban water, its modernisation as also its location within a colonial regime, being suggestive of a framework in which we may consider water both as infrastructure and as environment, as much a network of pipes and drains as matters of pollution and well-being, as much a story of the search for and protection of the source as of the fate of the sink into which it ultimately flows.
Subject(s)
Cities , Government , Public Health , Sanitation , Water Quality , Water Supply , Cities/economics , Cities/ethnology , Cities/history , Cities/legislation & jurisprudence , Government/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , India/ethnology , Public Facilities/economics , Public Facilities/history , Public Facilities/legislation & jurisprudence , Public Health/economics , Public Health/education , Public Health/history , Public Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitary Engineering/economics , Sanitary Engineering/education , Sanitary Engineering/history , Sanitary Engineering/legislation & jurisprudence , Sanitation/economics , Sanitation/history , Sanitation/legislation & jurisprudence , Water Pollution/economics , Water Pollution/history , Water Pollution/legislation & jurisprudence , Water Supply/economics , Water Supply/history , Water Supply/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
Without the modern tools of surveillance, or the ability to develop a national vaccination campaign, local health departments were often on their own in preparing and combating the spread of the disease during the influenza epidemic of 1918. This article reviews the state of public health before the epidemic, seeking to place the reaction to the disease in the context of the evolution of public health. The epidemic struck at a critical time in the history of the nation and of public health, and we must explore not only the tools and technologies that were available to practitioners at the time, but also the authority provided by local and state public health practitioners to apply these tools. Much of public health was rooted in the experiences and practices developed over the previous century in responding to often dramatic outbreaks of cholera, yellow fever, typhoid, and a host of other infectious diseases.
Subject(s)
Disease Outbreaks/history , Influenza, Human/history , Public Health Practice/history , History, 20th Century , Humans , Influenza, Human/epidemiology , Sanitary Engineering/history , United States/epidemiology , Urban Population/historyABSTRACT
It has been frequently claimed that cholera epidemics, both in the 19th century and today, were and can be the key stimulus for procurement of safe water and sanitation, an idea that I call "cholera forcing." "Technology forcing" refers to imposition of exogenous factors that suddenly make possible achievements that had not seemed so; cholera has been seen in this light. I argue that this view oversimplifies and underrepresents the importance of industrialization in securing water supplies. Careful study of the financial, political, and administrative foundations of such changes will be more fruitful.