A Rochdale Corporation pail closet. The seated area is on the right. The chamber on the left was for the disposal of common household waste.
A pail closet or pail privy or dirt closet was a room used for the disposal of human excreta, under the "pail system" (or Rochdale system) of waste removal. The "closet" (a word which had long meant "toilet" in one usage) was a small outhouse (privy) which contained a seat, underneath which a portable receptacle was placed. This bucket (pail), into which the user would defecate, was removed and emptied by the local authority on a regular basis. The contents, known euphemistically as night soil, would either be incinerated or composted into fertiliser.
Although the more advanced water closet (flush toilet) was popular in wealthy homes, the lack of an adequate water supply and poor sewerage meant that in 19th-century England, in working-class neighbourhoods, towns and cities often chose dry conservancy methods of waste disposal. The pail closet was an evolution of the midden closet (privy midden), an impractical and unsanitary amenity considered a nuisance to public health. The pail system was popular in France and England, particularly in the historic Lancashire town of Rochdale, from which the system commonly took its name. The pail closet was not without its own problems; if the pail was not emptied on a regular basis, it overflowed and became unhygienic. Some manufacturers lined the pail with absorbent materials, and other designs used mixtures of dry earth or ash to disguise the smell.
Improved water supplies and sewerage systems in England led directly to the replacement of the pail closet during the early 20th century. Municipal collection of pail toilets (dunnies) continued in Australia into the second half of the twentieth century. In the western world, the pail closet has now been almost completely replaced by the flush toilet. However, similar systems still exist in less developed countries, and are discussed at sanitation.
A pailcloset or pail privy or dirt closet was a room used for the disposal of human excreta, under the "pail system" (or Rochdale system) of waste removal...
construction" and "usually wet and very foul". They were replaced eventually by pailclosets and flush toilets. Similar systems still exist in some developing countries...
the Church of England and inventor of the dry earth toilet, a type of pailcloset. Moule, sixth son of George Moule, solicitor and banker, was born at...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
contractors for larger-scale disposal. Historically, this was known as the pailcloset; the municipality employed workers, often known as "nightmen" (from night...
used euphemism for human excreta collected from cesspools, privies, pailclosets, pit latrines, privy middens, septic tanks, etc. This material was removed...
be dug out as more modern sewage disposal systems, such as pailclosets and water closets, became increasingly widespread in 19th-century England. The...
A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC); see also toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Officials' Uniform Plumbing Code, section 409.2.2, requires that "all water closet seats, except those within dwelling units or for private use, shall be of...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
A bucket toilet is a basic form of a dry toilet whereby a bucket (pail) is used to collect excreta. Usually, feces and urine are collected together in...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
a pailcloset system, with access for the municipal collection of the night soil. As universal town sewerage advanced, flush toilets (water closets) were...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
downstream, edge of the town. Limited capacity and high costs meant that a Pailcloset system continued to be used for poorer neighbourhoods. As the town expanded...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
Close stool Dansker Garderobe Gong farmer Groom of the Stool Night soil Pailcloset Privy midden Reredorter See also Ecological sanitation History of water...
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