Water and Waste

In every house, there are two very important pipes: the water pipe and the waste pipe. Both play an essential role in keeping the house functional. Connected to their vast, magical network, they ensure we get clean water in our homes and safely dispose of our waste.

It wasn't always like this.

People would draw the water they drink from public pumps or rivers, they would discard of their waste in cesspools or primitive sewers. Fun times. So fun that, for instance, in 1858, there was an "event" unambiguously named the Great Stink. London was engulfed in such a stench that it even disrupted work at the parliament. This foul odor came from overly poluted River Thames. And yes, this is the same River Thames that provided water for London's wretched citizens.

Imagine...

Nowadays, we don't need to worry about getting clean water or disposing of waste. We turn on the tap, and clear water comes out. We go to the bathroom, and stuff dissapears with a push of a button. These magical pipes are usually centrally managed by some kind institution, and connecting to them often requires navigating a variety of forms and procedures.

Even if you are not connected to these networks, you still gonna need to get some permits. You can’t simply dig a well wherever you want or dispose of waste however you please. Nope. There are rules, forms to be filled, and hoops to be jumped over. All of this "just" to keep water and waste strictly separated.

Apparently, bureaucracy isn’t always inherently bad - sometimes it helps keep your water free from shit. In these cases, it can be quite helpfull, even if you have to give up some freedom to do whatever you like. It might make building your house a bit slower, but its still better than the alternative. Ask any londoner from 1858.

You might be wondering where I'm going with all this. But I promise that there is an analogy to be made here that connects water and waste systems with modern software development.

How? Well, building software is similar to building a city. You will need to build water wells and pumps, but also cesspools and sewer sytems. By this point I think we can all agree that its not good to build a water pump near a cesspool, and building a cesspool near a water pump should also be frowned upon.

Before moving on, let me be clear: I'm not saying that there is software that is gonna be good like water and other that is bad like shit. Both water and waste management is indispensible to a well functioning city, one is not better than the other. You'd want both in your city. You need both.

So what should you do? You work for a fast-paced, revolutionary, mission-driven company where everyone is pushing all the time. Water wells are popping left and right. Cesspools are appearing top and bottom. Water pumps everwyhere. Sewers dumping everything into the nearest river.

What now?

Well, first things first. Are you in charge of this mess? Yes? Then it's easy. Implement some rules, add some bureoucracy to the system. Ensure no one is building pumps near cesspools. Don't make them impossible to build - you still need them. Just be sure you have the guardrails in place to keep them separate.

Most of the time, you are not in charge. However, you still have options:

Stand on your mountains - do your due deligence yourself. If you don't trust the people around you, then it's up to you. Look around and check things yourself. If you need to get rid of waste, do it responsibly - don't be a dick. If you are building a water pump, ensure its not drawing water from a polluted lake or near a cemetery. Do your due deligence. Is it more work? Yes, a lot more work, but that's how you survive in this scenario.

But, choose your battles carefully. A neighbor wants to draw water from a shit lake? Sure, just don't go eat at his house. A neighbor wants to build a sewer near your pump? Don't let him. Even if you couln't singlehandedly change 19th century london, you could still survive. Even if no one else believed you or your germ therory. If you don’t like doing all this work, or you don’t think it’s worth it, then build your house somewhere else.

If you still have the energy, you can try the John Snow approach. The real-life John Snow, considered one of the founders of early germ theory. At a time when most people blamed “miasmas” or bad air for disease, Snow argued that cholera spread through contaminated water and got to work. He collected data, he talked to people about, he collected more data, he conviced local authorities to take measures. He genuinely cared, a lot. In 1854, in the middle of the Broad Street cholera outbreak, Snow convinced offivials to remove the handle of a pump he suspected was the source of the epidemic. By mapping all the cases of the outbreak he pinpointed this single pump as the focus of the infection. His essay, Mode of communication Cholera¹, is an astonishing work, and stragely easy to read (at least for what I was expecting from an 19th century essay from a doctor).

So, what does this all mean? What did we learn from all this? So, what does it all mean? What did we learn from all this rambling? Pumps and cesspools are both essential. Bureaucracy is not always bad. Build too fast, and technology will eventually catch up with you, leaving you stuck with a major stink (and a hefty bill for lime) If you believe in what you preach, remove the handle from the infected pump. In the end whether you’re shaping a city or building software, the work isn’t easy and no one has all the answers. But as long as you keep water and waste separated, you’ll stand a better chance of avoiding your own Great Stink.