Miniature of flush toilet of Mohenjo-Daro

On the territory of modern Pakistan, the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro (literally ‘Mound of the Dead Men’) was discovered; the city of the Indus Valley Civilisation built about 2600 BC. It was destroyed about nine hundred years later. Mohenjo-Daro went down in history as the mystery city, because the catastrophe that destroyed it came almost instantly. There is even a version that it was the nuclear explosion.

Toilets in the houses of Mohenjo-Daro were built in the form of brick boxes. Through vertical drainage channels sewage flowed down into sewers that extend outside the city or into cesspools. According to archaeologists, there could have been public toilets in the city.

The Mohenjo-Daro sewage system is considered the first in the world. The canals of the city sewer system were finished with bricks, and on top they were laid with specially treated limestone for disinfection.

All channels were deepened to 60 cm into the ground. Over the large drains protruding arches were arranged, where walking paths were located. From the canals, sewage flowed into brick sumps, where solid particles precipitated and liquid flowed out through a drain. The sediment obtained during the cleaning of sedimentation tanks was used to fertilize the soil.