Sanitation+-+Bobby,+Benjamin,+Peter,+and+Dave

__** Solutions to Problems of Sanitation during the Progressive Era **__ **__Peter, Bobby, Benjamin, Dave Ji Wooooo__**

The Progressive Era was an era of social reform, and one of the primary focuses of reform was sanitation. It didn't take a doctor to figure out that many social conditions arising from the increasing urbanization and industrialization of the U.S. were avoidable causes of a higher rate of communicable disease and mortality among the general public. When the notion that sanitation reform help mitigate the prevalence of disease outbreaks, it became an integral part of the Progressive movement to utilize the government as an agent for the general welfare. Issues pertaining to sanitation are multifaceted; that is, there are numerous problems that must be addressed and even be resolved in order to enhance the public welfare in United States. Four problems will be addresses in our website: Public Exposure to Waste, Public Bathrooms, Germ Theory, and Diseases and Tenement Housing.

__Public Exposure to Waste: Sewage and Garbage (Peter Park)__
The U.S. experienced a colossal population boom during the late-19th century and early-20th century. From 1840 to 1920, the U.S. urban population increased from about 1.8 million to more than 54 million (Pizzi). As city dwellers increased in number and lived in highly-packed densities in urban areas, human and industrial waste increased and strained the minimal resources devoted to dealing with the waste. The increase in the amount of waste was compounded by a lack of options and knowhow of how to dispose of waste, including human waste (i.e.: fecal matter) and garbage. As waste continued to pile up in the city streets, public exposure to unsightly, unhygienic, and disease-inducing waste increased, and the relation between unhygienic waste and disease became all too clear. It naturally followed that many prevalent disease outbreaks of this time, such as cholera, typhoid, and yellow fever, were caused by preventable causes in uncleanliness and lack of public sanitation.
 * The Problem: Waste**

// " Come what events there may be to affect the physical, social, political, or commercial interests of the city, let it be borne in mind that Sanitary Science and its preventive skill are of more value to our fellow beings and to this city [New York] than all the curative arts of medicine and surgery; that the evils which now bear so heavily upon the poorer classes already seriously endanger the sanitary safety of all other classes, and multiply the social perils and public burdens of the city; that a practical and comprehensive application of sanitary knowledge in specific works of improvement is both necessary and competent to rescue the city from existing evils, and to guard it from the far greater perils that are impending; that a careful regard for human life and welfare is an unerring index of social advancement; and that it is an imperative demand of civilization and a duty of humanity to seek out and restrain the preventable sources of disease, debasement, and pauperism, which, in the city of New York, are found closely allied." (//Report of the Council of Hygiene and Public Health of the Citizens, 1865)

Above is the conclusion of the Citizens' Association of New York's 1865 report on the sanitary conditions in New York City. The report first and foremost concluded that ‘sanitary science’ was of more value to people than curative medicine and surgery; it asserted that the prevention of disease through enhanced sanitary measures was much more effective than curing the disease. It also went on to state that such sanitary measures are an “unerring index of social advancement” in their prevention of diseases that seriously endanger the safety of all social classes. Most importantly, it clearly asserted that sanitation was the answer to rescue the city from preventable sources of disease, and thus, gave justification to the rise of progressive sanitation reforms in dealing with waste and with other preventable causes of disease.

The increase in human and industrial waste is in many ways inevitable, for it is a natural byproduct of the industrialization, urbanization, and population growth of this time period. However, limiting the public exposure to waste is the key to the "Sanitary Science" and to mitigating the effects of waste-induced disease on society. We have narrowed down the reasons for the tremendously high amount of waste on the streets exposed to the public. First, the lack of sanitary disposal of sewage (i.e.: human waste) often induces people to dump it on the streets. People also dump garbage on the streets for similar reasons – lack of effective disposal options. Furthermore, the waste found on the streets is left to pile up; nobody is cleaning up after themselves. Because of these three reasons, waste is amassing on the streets, and combined with high population density and public exposure, the waste causes high rates of disease among the general public. As such, the measures that can be done to combat this problem are to provide a method for disposing of sewage, a garbage disposal method, and street cleaners to clean up the public waste.
 * What Can Be Done?**


 * Comprehensive Plan**

First, we will construct a complete sewage system that will remove concentrations of human waste from the community into bodies of water after suitable treatment. A common practice of the time to dispose of human waste was to throw it on the streets with the public arbitrarily and indiscriminately exposed to rotting, disease-spreading fecal matter. Such a problem can be avoided by constructing a sewage system for every major American city, designed to transport two things: stormwater runoff – which has the potential to open contagion to the exposed public during rain – and sewage of human waste. A well-designed sewage system will completely protect home dwellers from the contents of sewage once it enters the system, prevent the escape of sewage contents that could spread disease, and move the waste-filled sewage to a safe location away from the city into full bodies of water. Our recommended sewage system is the Shone Hydro-Pneumatic system of sewerage – successfully used in industrial London circa this time period – which is comprised of two separate systems for stormwater runoff and sewage. At the starting point of lateral pipelines, the minimum depth at which the sewer pipes are laid should be enough to make house connections and have a layer of soil to protect pipes from damage from external factors, such as frost. To ensure against water pollution of the bodies of water to which the sewage goes, chemical treatment and sedimentation systems should be added to the the sewage system to ensure that clean water emerges from the sewage to enter the bodies of water; treatment of sewage can be accomplished by using a chemical precipitation sewage treatment plant. -- Second, we will establish a reliable system of garbage disposal. A major element of avoiding the predicament of having rotting, unhygienic garbage dumped on the street is to provide households a consistent means of disposing of that garbage elsewhere. Under this garbage disposal system, there would be a designated area where citizens may place their garbage. Then, on a weekly basis, a horse-cart driver would go around the city to collect the garbage from these designated areas and bring the amassed garbage away from public exposure, such as buried in a government landfill. To work, this system requires a constant and dependable agent of garbage collection and disposal that people can always expect: the government. As such, we will appeal to the state legislature to make garbage disposal a mandatory priority of its comprising municipal governments. Then, we will advise the municipal government as an independent, nonprofit organization. The government-run garbage disposal will be done in tandem with a private company with expertise and experience in transportation/disposal of wastes, so as to maximize efficiency while maintaining the public nature of the program to serve the people. -- Third, we will create a mechanism for cleaning the streets of the unhygienic muck and garbage. Even with a garbage disposal system, the streets will never be completely clear of unwanted waste and trash. As such, a reliable system of street-sweeping and cleaning would go miles in ensuring a garbage-free public. Workers would be hired by the municipal government to sweep the streets of any unsightly and/or potentially disease-inducing waste. Not only will this create jobs, but this action will also ensure that garbage doesn’t pile up in the city streets, and thus protect the public health. As with garbage disposal, street cleaning requires consistency and reliability, so the government is suited to run this, as well. We will again appeal to the state legislature to make street cleaning a mandatory priority of comprising municipal governments, and advise the municipal government in the establishment of this street-cleaning operation as an independent, nonprofit organization. This operation will require the training and employment of street cleaners paid for by taxpayers, but the sanitation and health benefits of clean public streets are well worth the investment. -- All waste-related social activities and reform movements will be done with the partnership and financial support of the American Public Health Association (APHA), a prominent social organization that strives for Sanitary Science education, public health reform, and combat of communicable diseases.

__**Public Bathrooms (Bobby Choi)**__
 * The Problem**

The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought thousands people into American cities from around the globe. Where in 1860 cities housed only 19.8% of the American population, by 1900 they contained 39.7%. Such a quickly expanding population requires amenities to meet its growing needs, but the rate of growth far out paced the rate at which cities could provide new services for their people. One such service that needed to be met was that of waste management (i.e.: that via toilets). Filthy tenements began housing workers in excess of their intended limits, and where people go, waste will follow. Apartments with only one bathroom began servicing as many as one hundred people at a time, often without a proper flushing toilet that led into the sewers, which was an invention that had yet to come into popular or practical use. Instead they might make use of large septic tanks filled with ash, which would be emptied every week by so called “Night-Soil Men.” This arrangement was not sufficient for dealing with the growing amount of human excrement festering within the cities. The tanks of waste would begin to leak or overflow as hundreds of people queued to use the few restrooms available.

The most noted result of these unhygienic conditions was an increase in water born diseases such as cholera. It came to be understood that cholera was caused by contaminated water—not by bad air, as many had thought at that time. The bacteria Vibrio cholerae that causes cholera is most often found in waters around areas of severe overpopulation, and thus, over waste. The few restrooms that people could use would overflow and contaminate bodies of water with the contents of their septic tanks. Not only that, but people would begin to go outside of restrooms to avoid having to wait in the long queues. Their exposed waste would then be washed away into bodies of water. Cases of cholera became so frequent that the disease became known as King Cholera for the control that it exerted over people’s lives. Other diseases such as typhoid, guinea worm disease, and intestinal worms also became prevalent as a result of improper waste disposal. The solution to these problems of disease and waste management can be found in providing the public with public restroom facilities, each connected to the sewers. As I will show, with a little aid from the government, this solution will pay for itself.
 * What Can Be Done?**

If the government of the United States could aid in the funding, it would be simple to implement a plan of action similar to that of Great Britain during this time period. Free standing restrooms and restrooms in unused spaces between buildings could be built in the cities, especially in areas of large amounts of human traffic. The convenience and prevalence of these amenities would encourage using them over finding a spot to relieve oneself in public. In addition, to discourage such behavior, a poster campaign would begin a process of social ostracism whereby the public comes to discourage and taboo the practice. The arguments used in such works would appeal to reason, by citing evidence proving that excrement flowing into drinking water is one of the leading causes of cholera, as well as to people’s sense of manners, by presenting media that makes a social outcast of such public poopers. Finally, these toilets would pay for their own maintenance by charging a one penny fee for their use. Not only would such a fee pay for maitenence, we have every reason to believe, thanks to the example of Great Britain, that there is a profit to be made in establishing and charging for these public restrooms.
 * Comprehensive Plan**

__**Germ Theory (Benjamin Byeon)**__

//The Problem// 1. During the late 1800s, the public denied the germ theory of disease. The theory was not fully understood, and so it could convince the public. People expected the water they drink to be free of diseases and the streets they walk to be clean. As the urban population grew, the sanitation of America was worse. Ignorant of the germ theory, people were vulnerable to contagious diseases. However, physicians began to delve deeper into the problem. They agreed with Pasteur that the spontaneous generation theory was wrong, and worked on the germ theory. Germ theory states that specific diseases are caused by specific microscopic organisms. Finally, the germ theory was understood among physicians. However, the public needed to be aware of germ theory, but more importantly, the ways that germs can disperse from one person to another. The public was skeptical. Therefore, more public awareness was required along with changes in the everyday hygiene.

//“...the germ-theory was first brought into notice it// //met with small favor in the United States.// //For the knowledge of the facts which lie at the basis of the// //germ-theory, and of the work being done to elucidate its problems,// //Americans were obliged to rely upon a foreign literature,// //not readily accessible. The investigators were unknown to them// //and it was not easy to distinguish at a distance the competent// //from the incompetent, or amid conflicting statements, to select// //the true. Hence there is little wonder that Americans were// //ready to wait awhile to see what would come of this new thing.// //But ten years have wrought great changes, and what was theory// //has become fact, the investigators in this department of knowledge// //are now well known to us, and a vast amount of literature// //upon the subject has been placed in our hands. It is therefore// //fitting that we should from time to time take occasion to review,// //as will be here attempted, the work which has thus far been accomplished.”// - from "The Present State of the Germ-Theory of Disease" by Charlie Chapin

From this primary source, one can tell that scientists finally understood what the germ theory was. They felt the need to spread the knowledge of germ theory to people because the scientists knew that such education would enhance the sanitation problem in America. However, the problem was the public. The public did not accept germ theory and a solution was needed. As soon as germ theory was understood, another problem needed to be solved. Scientists needed to find a way to make the public be aware of germ theory and how it is the main reason there are epidemics and contagious illnesses.

//What can be done?// One thing that can increase awareness in the public is to have schools teach about germ theory. Also, there can be advertisements and campaigns made throughout the city as posters, newspapers, or radio broadcasts. With continuous advertisements and education, the germ theory will be accepted to the public. However, there are things that cannot be done. For example, it is not possible to administer a health care program or an act guaranteeing free cure for diseases due to issues with money and the vast population of natives and immigrants. Although physicians understood the germ theory, it does not mean that there will not be any further diseases because microorganisms continually evolve. Thus, it is not possible for people not to get any more diseases. However, if germ theory were to emerge as the leading scientific theory on disease communication, then the public health measures aimed at combatting these diseases will be institutionalized to follow the theory and thus have greater impact than if it had been based on a false theory, such as the miasma theory. Not only that, but people's lifestyles would become geared towards avoiding germs altogether, such as developing the habit of washing hands, which can represent monumental strides in sanitation and public health.

//Comprehensive Plan// The education branch of the government should integrate a biology course, focusing only on germ theory, in all levels of school (kindergarten to university). As a student gets older, he or she would learn more in depth about germ theory. In second grade, a student would learn to wash their hands frequently and understand the basics of germ theory (disease can be contagious and ways of prevention). In upper level studies, students would learn about the science behind germ theory. Also, the government should provide funds to schools so that students can receive free education until elementary school. Funds would come from taxes the millionaires pay; these taxes would be a new act stating that anyone who has earned themselves as a millionaire must pay 10% annual tax to the government in the effort to help the rest of the public. There should also be administration on child labor; children should be not be working at least once per week and instead get educated. In addition, there should be an agency or organization where government officials make sure working conditions are safe for people. If not, the employers should pay 10% of their income as a fine. By doing this, the public would naturally gain knowledge of germ theory. Also, there should be more about germ theory through medias like poster, newspapers, books, and radio broadcasts. Also, advertising germ theory in festivals or in writing is another aspect the government should work on. The government should initiate a new department in the government branch by adding a government health agency, where scientists would gather together with advertisers/editors. Scientists would work on preventing diseases from spreading and studying more about germs. Advertisers/editors would be with the scientists to work on campaigns. Also, the federal government would give support for laboratories. There are two benefits in this mass advertisement: 1.decrease illness 2.bring more people into the scientific field. By making students more interested in the field of medical science, there would be more students willing to study this field, which would lead America to have a strong medical field. Since students would be exposed to such science at a young age in school, advancements in medical science would happen quicker as more students would begin studying and researching in the medical science.

To make this plan happen, we would collect statistics of the number of people who died from diseases and run demonstrations. We would advertise this plan through newspapers and radio broadcasts so that the government can hopefully realize the necessity of change. Also,we would write proposals endlessly to implement this plan into the government and emphasize on the point that more people die due to the ignorance of germ theory, and that the only way to improve such conditions is to initiate an education system. We would also run scientific experiments by comparing two groups of people (people who are aware and not aware of germ theory) and which group survives better. The result would be that people who are aware of germ theory and follow the directions to prevent from getting sick would be better off than the group who was not aware of germ theory. With this evidence that the public needs to be aware of germ theory, we would send this data to the government and make campaigns. We would win by showing evidences of how public awareness of germ theory would hone the longevity of people; we would win like how Brandeis did in the Muller vs Oregon trial in 1908. We would make a compromise with the government by promising that we can accomplish this goal within 5 years and that the government needs to fund us so that we can make a stable organization, along with small government help. We would work cooperatively with the government.

__**4.Disease and Tenement Housing (David Kim)**__

//The Problem// Throughout the early twentieth century America, when Industrialism was at its peak, the rapid proliferation of harmful diseases arose as one of the utmost concerns for millions of Americans. How and why did various diseases arise? Which aspects of Americans' lifestyle accounted for this nationwide catastrophe? When the poor living conditions are thoroughly examined, it becomes quite evident that the increase in mortality rate by diseases was by no means a coincidence. In fact, this crisis was unavoidable and a natural ramification of industrialism in US.

That tenement housing was the foremost cause of the degradation of public health is irrefutable. Tenement, narrow and low-rise apartment building, was the most prevalent form of refuge during late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Because most of the rooms in a tenement were built for a single family, "families with five or more children were crammed into tiny two-room spaces..." This predicament was exacerbated by increasing American population. For instance, between 1850 to 1900, the population increased "more than threefold, from about 23.2 million in 1850 to 76.2 million in 1900". 8.8 million more arrived from 1901 to 1910. Thus, it was not a surprise that tenements could not accommodate the increasing population density ensued from continuous influx of immigration. Other serious issues involved with tenement housing included limited access to clean water, lack of air-conditioning, windows, proper heating, and primitive sewage and ventilation systems. These detrimental elements of tenement housing set a hospitable ground for diseases to flourish. The foremost troubling aspect of tenements was limited access to clean water and inadequate sewage system. Because mosquitoes laid eggs in polluted water, malaria and yellow fever became prevalent. Inevitably, dirty water also facilitated the dispersion of water-borne illnesses, such as cholera, typhoid, guinea worm disease, intestinal worms, trachoma. Other serious matters arose from overcrowding. According to Dr. Hermann M. Biggs, a scholar who scrutinized problems embodied in tenement, stated that it was the main factor for tuberculosis, a disease hard to eradicate without proper ventilation and sunlight. In 1900, thirty-five per cent of deaths for those between the age of fifteen to thirty-five died of tuberculosis. Lack of proper heating also weakened one's immune system, increasing the likeliness of getting sick. Overcrowding also compelled people, sick or not, to be in direct contact, thereby expediting the contagion of deadly sicknesses. Hence, it is undeniable that tenement housing played a vital role in aggravating the welfare of the Americans.

//What can be done?// Further dissemination of disease could be prevented and, perhaps, eradicated by effectively examining the cause of various diseases and applying this knowledge to transform tenements into "homes", a true refuge for millions. For instance, malaria and yellow fever are water-borne diseases; thus, providing cleaner water would decrease the number of people dying from these ailments. Or tuberculosis could be exterminated by building apartments with more windows, thereby allowing more fresh air and sunlight to enter the rooms. As such, tracing the sources of the diseases is an effective way to deal with them.

//Comprehensive Plan//

If we were a non-government organization fighting against insanitary conditions of tenement housing, the following proposals would be made. Foremost, it is crucial to educate the public that the spread of the malignant sicknesses is attributed to their living conditions. Not many were aware that several aspects of tenements were the very causes of this nationwide issue. Thus, public lectures would be taken place, possibly funded by medical institutes, educating the public of the importance and need of better, cleaner lifestyle. Educating the public is crucial because it is the first step for them to take action for their own welfare with their own initiatives. Furthermore, to capture the government's attention, petition for better construction of homes would be prepared. Doing so would let the government be aware of the degree of discontent among its people on tenement housing. Hopefully, these petitions would gain copious signatures and thereby have an impact on the legislations relating the sanitation. Furthermore, if the government notices these conditions, it may fund medical companies for research and development on vaccinations. Or, the government may even take a decisive action and fund construction corporations to build taller apartments with elaborate sewage and ventilation systems.

Bibliography:
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Images:

http://www.uic.edu/depts/oee/susi/research_reform.html

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http://www.ablogabouthistory.com/2010/10/22/19th-century-new-york-city-was-one-dirty-place/

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