Sanitation in the Victorian Era

During the Victorian Era, urban centers were becoming overcrowded, the streets filled with garbage and human waste. The government was not concerned with cleanliness and filth was the norm of everyday life. Epidemics of smallpox, cholera, and typhoid occurred in Europe and North America in the mid 1800s. The desperation of this situation led to sanitation improvements, but progress was slow because there was debate in the scientific community as to whether there was a connection between the two. In 1883, a scientist isolated the germ for cholera under a microscope, confirming the beliefs of sanitary reformers.

As awareness around the connection between disease and sanitation spread, sanitation reform developed. Sewers and privies become increasingly common in wealthy neighborhoods while the poor were last to benefit. The poor used common privy pits found in tenement buildings or their backyards. Social reform movements develop calling for changes in the environment and the morality of the poor. Edwin Chadwick was Britain’s leading health reformer in the 19th century, credited for highlighting the connection between overcrowded conditions, lack of adequate disposal for human waste, and diseases. In 1842 London passed its first Public Health Act. In 1872, London legislature passed the Metropolis Water Act, which condensed eight separate water companies into one because standardizing a sewage system was paramount in the effort to serve all inhabitants of the city. 

Besides the problems with trapped sewer gas, exploding sewer lines, and disease, the most embarrassing dilemma associated with the new water closets was the noise they created. Morality and prudeness dominated life and Victorians abhorred anger or any display of extreme emotion. They tried hard to deny natural emotions and bodily functions, going to great lengths to hide the action. Furniture from this time reflects these attitudes with attempts to hide the presence of the offensive chamber pot. The “wash-hand stand” from 1883 was enclosed in a bureau with the washstand opening to accommodate a basin, soap dish, and a comb box. Below was a space capable of holding the chamber pot. “Close-stools” and “night tables” tried to distract from the act of defecating with music. One type of close-stool played chamber music when the lid was lifted. The night table also played music when its door was opened to the chamber pot. The music helped to relieve anxiety from the embarrassment of it all. Victorians were especially embarrassed by the noise from flushing.

Problems associated with the water closet-lack of a sufficient water supply, smell, and noise-led to the development of alternative methods. The Reverend Mouler of Britain invented the “earth closet.” which used the “silent” earth, or ash, rather than noisy water to clean the bowl. A pull handle opened a hopper releasing earth to cover the excrement lying in the bowl beneath the seat. Dr. Vivian Poore invented an “ecological closet” which was similar to the earth closet as it used earth to catch the waste.

The combination of major disease epidemics and the influx of people to city centers during the Industrial Revolution is what finally led to the government intervention of laws concerning waste disposal for a healthier environment.  The social and sanitary reform of this period is evidence of a growing intolerance for filth during this time. New technologies, scientific advancements and shifting progressive attitudes helped to usher in the modern toilets and sewer systems that we take for granted today.