Western Treatment Plant Explorer : Teacher Resources : Resource 2
Resource 2
Melbourne before sewerage ¹
The Koori tribes who lived near the River Yarra before European settlement did not have much of a problem with waste disposal because decomposers, like fungi and bacteria, soon broke down human waste left in the bush. The decomposing waste helped the structure of the soil and provided minerals that plants needed for healthy growth. The environment was recycling human wastes.
The problems really started with European settlement. As the population of early Melbourne grew, so did the amount of human waste. The environment could no longer keep up. The waste was dumped in cesspits or holes in the ground until eventually open channels were dug to drain the wastewater into the Yarra.
There must have been a real stink about early Melbourne, for it was often called 'Smelbourne'.
By the late 1800s, however, most homes were using a pan system. The pan that was in the 'dunny' shed at the bottom of the garden was emptied every week by nightmen who took the waste away and dumped it on paddocks, where it was ploughed into the soil.
Ploughing night soil into the paddocks.
As the river water had become unfit for use by 1846, Melbourne City Council began pumping clean water to a filter near the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders Streets. Handcarts delivered the water around the city from there. It took longer to deal with the problem of wastewater, but eventually conditions became so bad that in 1888 a Royal Commission was appointed. An engineer called James Mansergh proposed that a sewage treatment plant should be built at Werribee. Work began in 1892, sewers were built and in 1897 the first homes were connected.
James Mansergh.
Review questions
- What does 'euphemism' mean?
- Make a list of euphemisms that mean 'the place where people dispose of their faeces and urine'. Start your list with the word you use at home.
- Draw a cartoon that shows chamber pots being emptied into the street from an upstairs window.
- Kangaroos and their ancestors have been around in Australia for millions of years. Why are we not knee-deep in enormous amounts of kangaroo waste?
- Can you give some reasons why it was so important to develop a proper sewage treatment system and separate water supply for Melbourne?
¹ Based on an activity from: Keith McTaggart and Paul Saddler 1993, Flushing Dunnies, Melbourne Water and Science Teachers Association of Victoria.