Source: Collection of Jon C. Schladweiler, Historian, Arizona Water & Pollution Contol Association.

Source: Collection of Jon C. Schladweiler, Historian, Arizona Water & Pollution Contol Association.

Source: Collection of Jon C. Schladweiler, Historian, Arizona Water & Pollution Contol Association.

Awards presented to schoolchildren on Sewerage Day in Japan for artwork.

Source: Making Great Breakthroughs - All about the Sewage Works in Japan (Japan Sewage Works Association: Tokyo, ca. 2002), p. 50.

Fashion show held on a sewerage construction site in Japan, circa 2000.

Source: Making Great Breakthroughs - All about the Sewage Works in Japan (Japan Sewage Works Association: Tokyo, ca. 2002), p. 22.

Poster showing the use of hydrographs in sewer monitoring and the record they make of non-sewerage events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (425 kb)

Detailed information can be found in The Days of Our (Sewer) Lives

Source: Kevin Enfinger, P.E., ADS Environmental Services, Huntsville, Alabama.

The Warsaw Uprising was a struggle of the Polish underground to liberate Warsaw in 1944. With the Soviet army approaching from the east, and German armies in full retreat, insurgents believed the liberation would take only a week. Germany, however, determined to hold Warsaw, so the uprising, which lasted from 08/01/44 to 10/02/44, was brutally crushed. Sewers were used by the insurgents for travel and escape. The following text from Warsaw Uprising 1944 describes their importance. (Photos about sewers in the Warsaw Uprising can be seen at the website also.)

"From the early weeks of August of 1944, partisans used Warsaw's sewers as a means of transportation between separated districts.
The clearance of the passages varied; the smallest that could be negotiated were 3 feet high and 2 feet wide. Where the passages were tall enough for adults to walk upright, the sludge level was significantly higher, aggravated by a strong current. The semicircular floor was very slippery and covered with debris, including corpses. Partisans controlled sewer traffic by issuing permits and guarding the manholes. Since all traffic was 'one way' and passing was impossible, schedules were created to organize the flow.

From the end of August, sewers were used as the final evacuation route for partisans and civilians and for regular courier traffic. The most successful Old Town evacuation enabled 5,300 people (including 150 German POWs) to escape into City Centre and Jolibord.

Not until ate August did the Germans realize that the partisans were traveling through the sewers. The Germans then tried to disrupt the traffic through the sewers by throwing in hand grenades, pouring in acrid gas, laying mines, building obstacles, and dumping and igniting gasoline. At the end of September, 150 evacuating Mokotov defenders accidentally exited into a German-held area and were executed on the spot."

Source: Steve Harding, Pima County Wastewater Management Department. Thanks to Mr. Wietold Kiezun for historical information.

Source: Steve Harding, Pima County Wastewater Management Department.

Source: Unknown.