[makattack]

...and then from the moat they drew out water during times of drought, like if monsoons were late....

[Aishah]

I guess if the water was seriously boiled before drinking there wouldn't be a problem.

[alouise]

Originally Posted by Aishah

I guess if the water was seriously boiled before drinking there wouldn't be a problem.

Except if it were mistaken for eau de toilette. Note not

[delhiwala]

So what was the system in vogue in Western countries before the invention of Flush Toilets ?

I hope it's not a dumb question ?

[Nick-H]

Bucket and Chuckit

... as the system used on cruising yachts too small to have a fitted toilet is still known.

The bucket was emptied out of the window, shortly after giving a warning shout. It is said that the word "loo" originates from the shout, "Gardez L'eau" (or however one might spell that in French; I can barely manage English).

Rural folk, of course, could dig holes.

[federica]

Originally Posted by delhiwala

So what was the system in vogue in Western countries before the invention of Flush Toilets ?

In rural areas, a hole next to the dunghill, inside a wooden hut. The door usually had a heart shaped hole
Very similar to Goan pig toilets.

[iwanttogoback]

So what was the system in vogue in Western countries before the invention of Flush Toilets ?

it depends on the country,and how long its history is.

i have been reading about the western settlement of my city, an event not quite 200 years old yet.

originally it was a matter of disposing of your waste on your property by burning or burying. i would imagine that people used a bucket, or a hole.

later, people had pans in their toilets that could be removed. at night, the night soil man would come and empty the pan into a cart and the contents disposed of. it was quite common for laneways to run along the backs of properties and for the toilets to be located at the back fence so the night soil man did not have to walk past your house.

septic tanks are still used here in areas where it would be prohibitively expensive to provide sewerage, eg the hills area to the east. i grew up in the hills, and the memory of the stink when the septic tank had to be pumped is still quite clear!

[Aishah]

The 'outdoor dunny' - a very common term for those outside toilets. If no night soil man was available, then for country folk a huge pit was dug and the toilet placed above. Lime was thrown from time to time down the pit and phenol type chemicals (I vaguely remember carbolic fluid - very strong smelling stuff also used from the time I stayed with rels in the country, when a child).

Nowadays - when sewer facilities are unavailable - septic toilets are the solution. And all toilets are inside the house.
There are also composting toilets available, but not so 'nice' looking.

[Hal]

I lived in a bush camp in Northern Ontario for 3 years with just an outhouse. When it was 40 below outside, it was a bit chilly. And once or twice a season we would have to knock the growing pile over, because rather than settle out into the pit, it froze and and started climbing up towards your bum.

So we'd take turns going in there with a big piece of wood so we could knock down the sh*t mountain.

I realize this has nothing to do with Indian toilets, but it does shed some light on the difficulties of sewage systems in other parts of the world. We didn't even have a sink to pee in.

[AwayFromHome]

Originally Posted by Nick-H

Bucket and Chuckit

... as the system used on cruising yachts too small to have a fitted toilet is still known.

The bucket was emptied out of the window, shortly after giving a warning shout. It is said that the word "loo" originates from the shout, "Gardez L'eau" (or however one might spell that in French; I can barely manage English).

Rural folk, of course, could dig holes.

Enough, already!

[capt_mahajan]

Originally Posted by AwayFromHome

Enough, already!

Ok.

Then I won't tell you about 250 of us guys sharing 8 or so toilet cubicles (which didn't really flush) for ten months- and that the cubicles had no doors or curtains.

[AwayFromHome]

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

Ok.

Then I won't tell you about 250 of us guys sharing 8 or so toilet cubicles (which didn't really flush) for ten months- and that the cubicles had no doors or curtains.

Capt, Did you really have to go that far?

I don't want to be in the vicinity of 250 guys, let alone the other sordid details.
But you survived, so Congrats are in order.
You are a braver man than I.
But please, enough (I beseek)!

[nikhilsegel]

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

Ok.

Then I won't tell you about 250 of us guys sharing 8 or so toilet cubicles (which didn't really flush) for ten months- and that the cubicles had no doors or curtains.

Capt.

Then there was always NCC camp.. where we were first made to dig the trench and then place the wooden planks with the holes in em on top .. somehow .. while crapping one could see all the hues of everyone elses shit below for some reason .. Yuckity

Slumdog millionaire's Amitabh Bachchan Scene anyone?

Cheers

[theyyamdancer]

OK, since we are into 'worst toilets I have ever seen' - my personal best, I mean worst, experience was while taking the Tragic Bus (I mean the Magic Bus) from Athens to Paris in 1980 and the motorway toilets in former Yuogoslavia had to be seen to be believed. I have still not recovered from the trauma.

[Haylo]

Originally Posted by AwayFromHome

Enough, already!

So you don't want me to go into details of the "flying pasty" then?

Nick's right, before flush toilets people used chamber pots and then simply emptied them out of their window into the street below. Considering that this was in the days before street lighting, you can imagine how unpleasant the streets were, especially if walking at night...

This is why I have so little patience with the attitude of some Westerners towards toilet arrangements - or not - in India. You'd think that they came from countries where this sort of thing never happened - they don't seem to understand that there's nothing particularly dirty about Indians or India, it's just that as a country it hasn't fully caught up with the ways in which our infrastructure has since moved on.