Ancient Greek Sewage

Most Greek towns had no sewage system, and just latrines for bathrooms. According to Aristophanes, a lot of men just went in the street, wherever they happened to be. Because their sewage just drained into the nearest stream or river, the water in towns was not safe to drink. So the bigger Greek cities like Athens or Corinth built public fountains, with the water piped in from out of town, where it was cleaner.

A Greek public fountain

Greek women spent a lot of their time going to the public fountain to get water. They had to carry home all the water that their family drank, or cooked with, or washed in, or did laundry in, or cleaned with. Richer women sent their slaves, but poor women went themselves. People thought of these trips to the fountain as dangerous for women, who might meet strange men there. And it was very heavy to carry the water. But the trips to get water were also a good chance for women to see their friends, as you can see here in this picture.

To find out more about Greek water and sewage systems, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your local library:

Eyewitness: Ancient Greece , by Anne Pearson. For kids.

Water Management in Ancient Greek Cities, by Dora P. Crouch (1993). By a specialist, for specialists.

Roman sewage page
Greek science page
Greek Architecture page
Main Ancient Greece page