However, despite this revival of intellect, many European towns use lead pipes in the early fifteenth century. Centuries beforehand, this lesson was learned the hard way by the Romans who stayed away from the poisonous metal. As the nasty affects of lead poisoning slowly became associated with the lead pipes, many European towns turned to using iron pipes to irrigate their water. This was actual one of the most obvious staples of the Renaissance -- the re-assimilation of Greek and Latin knowledge and roots. Classical ideas of art, philosophy, and science re-entered the European mind frame.
With this came many scientific improvements to the accessing and controlling of water supplies throughout the European countryside. As the Black Plague swept through the cities and towns of Europe, many began to understand such diseases were associated with the general sanitation and cleanliness of local water supplies. In fact, Europe's main sources of water had continually been threatened with the introduction of waste from the earliest uses of piping as irrigation systems. As this knowledge became more widely accepted, many towns and cities implemented rules and regulations concerning the discarding of waste and waste water. Few designated areas far outside the town and away from water supplies then became the more acceptable areas for waste, which then reduced the cross contamination of drinking and irrigation water with waste water.
One of the biggest improvements in the control and allocation of water resources came near the tail end of the Renaissance in Europe. In and around the seventeenth century, many private organizations and companies began to take control of water supplies and irrigation systems. As private organizations took control of water resources, water became a commodity. In many more affluent areas, companies began the process of bringing plumbing into private...
Once done by the ancient Romans centuries before, this early version of indoor plumbing as we know it today was ciphered into homes from reservoirs via iron pipes. This made water, in the form of in-house plumbing, a status symbol of the rich and aristocracy. As iron became more affordable, this began to change, and iron cast founding became the favorite for main waterways and piping systems. This made the demand for indoor plumbing greater, therefore creating more suppliers in the form of privatized companies. By 1789, water was more accessible and cleaner than ever before in the hills and valleys of
Western Europe. What accompanied the
privatization of water supplies was the rise of a mercantile system in Europe as the reigning economic system which favored the merchant class. As water became more and more of a commodity, it was adopted into the mercantile system and sold to citizens around the continent.
And so, as Europe entered into a new scientific age of
enlightenment, the privatization of water supplies continued and became the basis for the control of water as we see it today. Although most city's control their own water through government departments, they act in very similar ways as the old methods. On top of that, many private companies still control much of the world's
water supply through the new forms of
capitalism where bottles of water are sold to citizens despite the government's allocation of water through indoor plumbing. However, through tracking the development of civilization in
comparison with the development of the larger society, one can see the relationship between them. This relationship will only continue to flourish -- for water is essential to all life.
