Carl A. Zimring (Editor) Carl A. Zimring is professor of sustainability studies in the Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies at Pratt Institute. He is the author of Aluminum Upcycled, Clean and White, and The Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste, and co-author of Technology and the Environment in History, among other titles.Steven H. Corey (Editor) Steven H. Corey is professor of history and dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Columbia College Chicago. He co-authored America’s Urban History and Garbage! The History of Politics and Trash in New York City and co-edited The American Urban Reader: History and Theory.

Water, so crucial to economic prosperity, requires a built environment—infrastructure—not only to ensure profit, but also to sustain the people who depend on it for survival. When most New Yorkers—indeed most Americans—think of “infrastructure,” they envision roads and bridges. This volume takes a different track, focusing on facilities and practices for handling wastewater, sewerage, and garbage. These essays provide both broad scope and important local detail. We need more works like this that focus on concentrated human populations in metropolitan areas.