Detail showing a "hand-hole," a pipe with a detachable section used for maintenance access, circa 1899.

Cady Staley and Geo. S. Pierson, The Separate System of Sewerage, Its Theory and Construction, Third Edition (New York: D. Van Nostrand, Co., 1899), p. 133.

A fresh air inlet was sometimes used in place of a manhole. While cheaper than a manhole, it had the disadvantage of not being large enough to insert tools for cleaning. Circa 1899.

Cady Staley and Geo. S. Pierson, The Separate System of Sewerage, Its Theory and Construction, Third Edition (New York: D. Van Nostrand, Co., 1899), p. 135.

This table and the three following provide a detailed record of sewage maintenance and construction operations in the U.S. in 1907.

Table Showing Data (for the Fiscal Year 1907) Relative to Sewerage and Sewage Disposal in Certain American Cities and Towns. Part I.

Source: "Sewerage Statistics: Collected and Tabulated by the Sanitary Section of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers," Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, Volume 42, No. 3 (March 1909), insert between pp. 146-147.

Table Showing Data (for the Fiscal Year 1907) Relative to Sewerage and Sewage Disposal in Certain American Cities and Towns. Part II.

Source: "Sewerage Statistics: Collected and Tabulated by the Sanitary Section of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers," Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, Volume 42, No. 3 (March 1909), insert between pp. 146-147.

Table Showing Data (for the Fiscal Year 1907) Relative to Sewerage and Sewage Disposal in Certain American Cities and Towns. Part III.

Source: "Sewerage Statistics: Collected and Tabulated by the Sanitary Section of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers," Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, Volume 42, No. 3 (March 1909), insert between pp. 146-147.

Table of Data Relating to the Maintenance of Sewerage Systems.

Source: "Sewerage Statistics: Collected and Tabulated by the Sanitary Section of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers," Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, Volume 42, No. 3 (March 1909), insert between pp. 146-147.

Example of root intrusion into a collector sewer, Eastern Europe. Date unknown.

Source: Richard Beck, recieved from the private collection of Dr. Wolfgang Wagner, University of Berlin, Germany.

Illustration of the complexities of repairing a particular utility in amongst a maze of other utilities, Eastern Europe. Date unknown.

Source: Richard Beck, recieved from the private collection of Dr. Wolfgang Wagner, University of Berlin, Germany.

Sewer worker, Eastern Europe. Date unknown.

Source: Richard Beck, recieved from the private collection of Dr. Wolfgang Wagner, University of Berlin, Germany.

No. 7 Strickler ratchet pipe cutter at work in a trench, circa 1916.

Source: "Cutting Pipe in the Trench," Municipal Engineering, Volume LI, No. 1 (July 1916), p. 32.

International Nickel Co. at District Sewer Department. Men turning gear wheel. Circa 1920-1950. Photographer: Theodor Horydczak, ca. 1890-1971.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Theodor Horydczak Collection. Reproduction No. LC-H814-T-1248-045 DLC. All rights reserved.

Checking sewers in Bisbee, Arizona. April 1940. Photographer: Russell Lee, 1903-?.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, Reproduction No. LC-USF33-012677-M1 DLC. All rights reserved.

Poster showing brick pipe conditions, graded from 1 to 5. Part of a sewerage rehabilitation manual.

Source: Courtesy of Bruno de Ville d'Avray, Mairie de Paris / Direction de la protection de l'environnement, Section de l'assainissement de Paris; and Lucien Finel, previous Deputy to the Mayor of Paris (in charge of water and sanitation management).

Poster showing typical pipe conditions, graded from 1 to 5. Part of a sewerage rehabilitation manual.

Source: Courtesy of Bruno de Ville d'Avray, Mairie de Paris / Direction de la protection de l'environnement, Section de l'assainissement de Paris; and Lucien Finel, previous Deputy to the Mayor of Paris (in charge of water and sanitation management).

Patent for cleaning apparatus, 1916. Patented by G. W. Otterson on January 4, 1916. U.S. Patent No. 1,166,712. See full text description. (Use back button to return to graphics section.)

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov. Thanks to Tom Bates for finding and contributing this patent.