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Reviews
| Brief History of Wells and Toilets: The Case of Finland (Kaivot Ja Kaymälät: Johdatus Historiaan Esimerkkinä Suomi). By Petri S. Juuti; English translation by Katri Wallenius. Tampere, Finland: KehräMedia e-book, 2005. 160 pp., map, illus., tables, notes, bibl. [in English and Finnish]. (ISBN 951-98151-3-9) available as PDF <http://www.sewerhistory.org/articles/whregion/finland/wells_and_toilets.pdf>.
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The historical phrase "Crowded like the outhouse of the ribbon factory" is one of the many anecdotes the reader of the book Brief History of Finnish Wells and Toilets will encounter. The factory referenced is the Inka ribbon factory in Killinkoski, a city located north of Tampere, in western Finland.
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This brief, soft-cover book is a casually written examination of wells and toilets set within the social and historical context of the growing country of Finland. The author traces the vernacular development of wells and toilets, first in the Finnish countryside, then to the castles, and finally into the newly founded of cities of the late-13th century. He explains and illustrates the different styles of waste management, whether on a rural farm or during wartime. A final examination discusses what is now known as the "water issue" and some possible creative solutions to ensuring a healthy future for those people living outside of metropolitan areas, the "scattered settlements" of today's Finland.
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The first chapter introduces the reader to the different types of wells and toilets in Finland: natural spring, pit, dug, tube, and drilled. Short descriptions and photographs of each type follow. The author details eight toilet types, from pit and covered pit, to the flush toilet and chemical toilet. A chart and discussion relate the methods and consequences of various waste-treatment methods. The book also briefly discusses methods of lifting water from wells, from hand lifting to internal combustion engine.
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The discussion of wells and toilets in rural areas begins at the opening of the second chapter with photographs of an ice pick and a Finnish woman doing laundry in an open area on an otherwise ice-covered lake. This bleak beginning continues with illustrations of other implements from rural life, including windmills, collective wells with counterpoise lifts, and a 1950s version of a Finnish-made Nira pump. According to the author, this best-known brand of pressure-based cast-iron hand pump was a staple for water pumping in Finland's rural areas and is currently used in areas around the world where a simple design is economically necessary and hand power is plentiful. The author draws some of the information for this chapter from The Finnish Encyclopedia for Womenfolk and The Finnish Farmer's Handbook. One of the many short facts he includes in the text is this: a 1952 estimate suggested that each day, the total kilometers covered by Finnish women carrying water was 400,000—"the distance between the Earth and Moon and back" (p. 41).
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Chapter 3 focuses on centralized water supply and sanitation, in other words, wells and toilets that served castles and cities. Water acquisition differed little between rural and urban areas before the 19th century. City water supplies came from a variety of sources, including the local castle's well and surrounding spring wells. Early cities built public wells, and water was usually free of charge. At the end of the 19th century, Helsinki had 24 to 28 public wells for its citizens. Private wells were perhaps 10 times that number. During the dry summer and winter periods, these wells occasionally dried up.
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Every castle (the author refers to three castles and one hill fort in this chapter) required a reliable water source and preferably a well located inside its walls. However, the best locations for such defenses—hills, ridges, and rocky islands—were typically void of water. Moreover, since water quality varied, the water served in castles was usually in the form of beer, of which several liters per capita were consumed each day. In fact, the Olavinlinna castle had its own brewery. Castle toilets, or bay privies, because of their bay window shape, hung on the outside of the castle walls, usually over water. At Olavinlinna the change of the tides provided the necessary flushing operation.
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In the final chapter, the author discusses environmental concerns and modern engineering challenges for wells and toilets. With its approximately 188,000 bodies of water, Finland has a lot of water. According to a report issued by UNESCO in 2003, Finland has the best water in the world. The New Water Poverty Index found Finland to be the richest country in the world in terms of water resources. The author suggests that the good situation today is a result of proper choices made in the past. The solutions to early water problems were implemented in the late-19th and early-20th centuries in urban areas and 20 years later in rural areas.
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Juuti believes that the greatest challenge today is to find a solution for wastewater treatment in areas of scattered settlement. One suggestion he puts forward is to replace water toilets with composting toilets with urine separation and, of course, a significant change of attitude. He rejects cookie-cutter solutions, advocating different solutions for different conditions and arguing that wells and toilets will be essential to solving the wastewater problem.
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Juuti is a docent of environmental history and senior researcher at the Department of History, University of Tampere. His major areas of interest include water supply and sanitation. He produced most of the contemporary photographs that illustrate the text.
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Brief History of Wells and Toilets has both Finnish and English text, with the English text on the right-hand pages. Illustration captions are in both Finnish and English. Each chapter contains a plethora of historical facts, folk stories, and the occasional Finnish word (in the English text) that paints a very colorful view of life closely connected to the well and toilet. Historical photographs, period cartoons and advertisements, and data tables join to illustrate the text. Juuti includes four pages of references for those who want to read more.
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Occasional misspelled words and a sometimes-awkward Finnish translation to English mar the book slightly. Reproduction of photographs and illustrations is decent. The paper is thin, however, and printing from the previous or following page bleeds through and is a slight distraction.
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| Nonetheless, the book provides a nice level of enlightenment about the history of the Finnish well and toilet. The author does a nice job of exploring technological and environmental history, going back to early Finnish history in order to set the stage for current Finnish sanitation issues. He also brings into play gender-related issues and generously illustrates the role that women played under the strenuous task of providing two elements vital for life. |
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