Perhaps, all over the world Venice is second only to one city in romanticism - Paris. Gondoliers, canals instead of streets, fresh sea breezes from the Adriatic - what could be better? But often practical people come up with the question: "How is the sewage system in Venice?" Perplexity and rumors add that the city is constantly saturated with the smell of urine and feces. Let's deal with both questions.
Typical solutions do not fit
Venice is a rather large city by European standards: more than 260 thousand people. However, only a part lives on the continental part, while the rest - on the islands, which made the city so famous. Of course, the sewage system in Venice simply cannot be the same as in other cities in the world.
To lay pipes, thousands of plumbers divers would have to work for several years, and even if they could find suitable heavy equipment for digging soil at the bottom of deep channels.
It is also impossible to lay pipes at or above water level. In the second case, this would spoil the appearance of the city, which the Venetians are rightly proud of. And in the first it would also hinder the movement of water transport.
So you can’t use typical solutions here. Now let's see how the sewage system in Venice is arranged.
Hot flushes
For many centuries, the sewage system in this glorious city was simply ... absent. Yes, residents had to pour waste products directly into the canals. Fortunately, nature itself helped them cope with this complexity. The fact is that four times a day the water level changes here - two high tides and two low tides, like clockwise. Due to this, at low tide, water, along with all sewage, went into the open sea, and a few hours later fresh sea came into its place, without any impurities.
All the sewage was carried to the Venetian lagoon, which has a very decent size - about 10 kilometers wide and almost 57 kilometers in length. Of course, for an area of about 570 square kilometers, several tens of tons of human waste per day do not pose any danger. In addition, many marine inhabitants actively used this - the number of microorganisms for which this waste is a breeding ground has increased significantly. As a result, many marine inhabitants settled here, accustomed to eating these microorganisms - from mollusks to small fish, in pursuit of which larger individuals began to swim into the lagoon.
Thus, the Venetians for many centuries killed two birds with one stone - they got rid of sewage, and at the same time fed fish, which fishermen actively caught, providing townspeople with fresh seafood.
System upgrade
Of course, after reading the previous paragraph, many readers will ask: "How does the sewage system in Venice today?" Are the inhabitants of this beautiful, such a romantic city still living the same way as many centuries ago, getting rid of sewage, simply pouring them into open channels?
You can calm down and not worry. Many years have passed since then, much has changed, science and technology have advanced significantly, which allows us to completely solve the problem of removing sewage from the city.
So, how is the sewage system in Venice today? In fact, it is absent, as well as in the years when the city was just under construction. The problem was solved in a non-standard way.
A septic tank was installed in each house - approximately the same as that installed in many private cottages. It also separates waste into liquid and solid, passing the first through filters, and collecting the second in a special container. As a result, the relatively purified liquid is discharged into the channels, as before.
But in order to accelerate the removal of sewage, three artificial canals were arranged, providing a much more powerful current throughout the city. The tides have become even more intense, there is not a single corner left in the city that is not affected by the current. Solid waste accumulates in septic tanks, and specialists are already engaged in it.
Crawler boats
If we talk about how the sewage system was made in Venice, we can not help but mention the scavengers. On land, this work is carried out by truck specialists. But in a city where there are almost no roads, but there are enough canals, this duty lies entirely with boats.
Specially designed vessels, equipped with the latest technology, quickly pump out sewage accumulated in septic tanks, and then dispose of them at appropriate landfills.
Of course, the constant work of specialists in unpleasant conditions, and even equipped with highly specialized equipment, is expensive for the city budget. But still, it’s easier than laying a full sewer at the bottom of the channels.
The truth about smells
Now that we’ve figured out what sewage system in Venice, we’ll start with the next question: is there really a fetid cloud constantly hanging over the city?
Fortunately not. The romantic city smells in the winter and summer only of the salty sea. Rumors of stench are spread by ill-wishers, and are picked up by people who have never been here.
On the one hand, the amount of sewage is too small. Try pouring a tablespoon of urine into a bucket of water - there will be no smell. And in millions of cubic meters of sea water, liquid wastes dissolve just as easily.
In addition, a cool breeze blows almost constantly from the sea, which blows the wind from Venice, bringing residents freshness and purity.
So, if you have a trip to this glorious city, you definitely should not worry about an unpleasant smell.
Conclusion
On this our article comes to an end. Now you know how the sewers are arranged in Venice, and also read something about its history. We hope that the article broadened your horizons and was interesting!