Document Details

Water and Wastes: A Retrospective Assessment of Wastewater Technology in the United States, 1800-1932

Joel A. Tarr, James McCurley III, Francis C. McMichael, Terry Yosie | April 2nd, 1984


This article derives largely from our NSF report on wastewater technology. The specific objects of the research were to identify the processes and key decision points involved in the evolution of wastewater technology of human waste disposal, to explore both its primary and secondary social and institutional effects, and to examine the development of public policy toward water pollution problems. In addition, the report dealt with the role played by values in the implementation of technology, as well as the effect of the technology on values. The essential aims of the project were to increase our understanding of water-related environmental problems and to inform policymakers about the larger context of contemporary wastewater questions.

Keywords

history, infrastructure, wastewater