There was an excellent drainage system of filthy water. Narrow and wide drains were made in proper oredr for the outlet of dirty water. Narrow drains had been covered by bricks and wide drains by large marble slabs. The stinking water had been brought together with wide drains to flow it out from the cities.
One of the most remarkable achievements of the Indus Valley people was their sophisticated city planningof which their drainage and sanitary system was significant.
Features:
Highly efficient drainage system:Almost every house had a bathroom. The bath and kitchen waters, as well as drainage from the latrines, and the roof drainage entered the street drains through tightly brick-lined puts, which was connected to the main sewerwhich inturn was connected to the bigger sewerage outlets, which ensured the channel of dirt out of the city. The main drain was covered by brick slabs or corbelled brickarchesEg: Great Bath at Moen-Jo-Daro and Lothal sanitation.
In order to check the maintenance,inspection holes were provided.
Theyhad elaborate brick-linked drainage system for the removal of rainwater
For water, the big houses had their own wells,other wells would serve groups of smaller houses.
In some houses thedrainage water discharged into large pottery jars places in the street at the foot of the vertical drains in the street walls and in few houses there were pits which mayhave been the ancient precursors of our present day septic tanks and grit chambers.
Underground drainage at Lothal is the most unique. It shows a expert mansonry with sewer watertight; drops at regular intervals acted like an automatic cleaning device. A wooden screen at the end of the drains held back solid wastes.
Houses also had rubbish chutes built into the walls and Public rubbish bins were also provided at convenient places.
Mohenjadaro:
It has the worlds first known main drainage system. It has acentral system that connected every household in the city. Every house had a drinking waterwell with a private bathroom. Earthenware waste pipes carried sewage from each home into coveredchannels that ran along the centres of the city’s main streets into the nearby agricultural fields, rivers, orstreams.
The drains took waste from kitchens, bathrooms, and indoor toilets. The main drains even hadmovable stone slabs as inspection points. The houses had excellent plumbing facilities for provision ofwater. Toilets had brick seats. The toilet was flushed with water from jars.
The waste flowed out through clay pipes into a drain in the street. Waste was carried away alongthe drains to ‘soak pits’ (cesspits), Cleaners dug out the pit and took the waste away. They also took awayrubbish from bins on the side of houses. Each street and lane had one or two drainage channels, with brickor stone covers, which could be lifted to remove obstructions in the drains.