Sewer

A surprising exploration of sewers and what they reveal about our contemporary world.

Why should we care about sewers, and what can they teach us about ourselves? In fact, sewers—and the stuff that travels through them—reveal a lot about how humans live. They provide a window into the goods we buy and discard, the design and management of our cities, what we cook and eat, and how we get sick. In Sewer, Jessica Leigh Hester plumbs the history of our human waste systems to show how we influence environments far beyond our toilets.

Sifting through the muck, Hester offers a fresh approach to questions about urbanization, public health, infrastructure, ecology, sustainability, consumerism, and our own values. She illuminates super sewers, fatbergs, waste treatment centers, and the afterlife of sewage. Without understanding sewers, any attempt to steward the future is incomplete.

This book is the latest in the Object Lessons series. Published in association with The Atlantic, it explores the hidden lives of ordinary things and what they can teach us about ourselves and the modern world.