History of water supply and sanitation
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The history of water supply and sanitation is one of a logistical challenge to provide clean water and sanitation systems since the dawn of civilization. Where water resources, infrastructure or sanitation systems were insufficient, diseases spread and people fell sick or died prematurely.
Qanat in Kashan surfacing within the Fin Garden; it is thought to have served Iran's Sialk area for thousands of years.
Astronaut Jack Lousma taking a shower in space, 1974
Skara Brae, a Neolithic village in Orkney, Scotland with home furnishings including water-flushing toilets, 3180 BC–2500 BC
A Chinese ceramic model of a well with a water pulley system, excavated from a tomb of the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) period
Ab anbar
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An ab anbar is a traditional reservoir or cistern of drinking water in Greater Iran in antiquity.
An ab anbar with double domes and windcatchers in the central desert city of Naeen, near Yazd
A sardaba in Uzbekistan
Sardar-e Bozorg Ab Anbar, in Qazvin, is the largest single domed ab anbar in Iran.
The sar-dar of Haj Kazem Ab Anbar in Qazvin, as sketched by French explorer Dieulafoy in the mid-1800s.