Paris Underground Sewer System
The early sewers were still open which didn t do much to help prevent disease.
Paris underground sewer system. Paris s underground sewer system is the biggest in the world. In paris there are two different sets of underground water pipes. These underground sewers exactly replicate the streets overhead. The first closed sewer constructed in paris was designed by hugues aubird in 1370 on rue montmartre montmartre street and was 300 meters long.
One system and set of water pipes carries untreated non potable water from the ourcq canal and the seine. All buildings in the city are connected to the sewers. Via flickr cc hugo clément. Today paris has over 2 000km of sewer tunnels collecting 1 2 million cubic meters of wastewater every day and work is not done yet in modernizing this massively complex sewer system.
In this paris underground city the streets have the same name and the same parisian street sign than their corresponding streets on the surface so impossible to get lost. The paris sewers system has 2 400 km of tunnels and galleries. Paris first sewers were built in 1370 before then waste just ran down a channel in the middle of the road. Before heading to paris pick up your copy of the rough guide to paris.
So in the 1800s baron haussman designed a new system with underground tunnels for drinking and non drinking water as well as waste. The sewer system plays a key part in h. The waste and wastewater are carried off to treatment plants. The design father of the complex system of sewers under paris was eugéne belguard.
Besides the sanitary function of the sewers in paris they were also a source of tourism. They are not directly released into the seine river. This water reservoir was designed by the engineer eugène belgrand the father of the current sewer system in paris between 1868 and 1873 to feed with drinkable water the southern part of paris. During the time of victor hugo in 1850 baron haussmann engineered separate underground passages for drinking water and sewage using iron piping and digging techniques made possible by the industrial revolution and in 1878 the system was 360 miles long.
This is definitely the most awesome site of underground paris which looks like a beautiful underground cathedral with arched stone walkways in every. The original purpose of designing and constructing a closed sewer in paris was less so for waste management as much as it was to hold back the stench coming from the odorous waste water. Humes an american novelist was a cofounder of the paris review. In paris a series of cholera epidemics in the 1830s began the reawakening.
One supplies untreated water for tasks such as flushing the streets of paris. A complex system of new sewers called les egouts were constructed in the 1840s 1890s and became the pride of paris. Humes 1958 novel the underground city.