Latrine and Water Pipe @museum.de

SUMELOCENNA had an urban sewer system. The sewer was probably the central sewer, CLOACA MAXIMA, which transported waste from the settlement to the Neckar River. Conveniently, a public toilet, a LATRINA, had been set up directly above it.

Residential and craftsmen's quarters were rarely connected to the sewer system and therefore did not have their own flush toilets.

Ancient latrines were public in the truest sense of the word: people would meet here, sit next to each other, and chat with their neighbors. The size of the facility and the worn steps indicate that it was used frequently. Above the seats, the wall was painted with colorful frescoes in red, yellow, purple, and green from the late second century.

SUMELOCENNA is the only town on the right bank of the Rhine where a brick-built fresh water pipeline has been found to date.

The spring was discovered in 1893 above the village of Obernau, more than 7 kilometers away. The brick water pipe flowed into a collection tank in the area of today's Rottenburg state prison. Its gradient of 0.33 percent enabled it to deliver 74 liters of fresh water per second. From the collection tank, it could be fed into the various buildings via a complex system of dike pipes. Numerous iron dike pipes have been found in the urban area; these were used to connect the pipes drilled from wooden logs.

The water supply in the residential and artisan quarters was not always reliable. The residents usually had to make do with wells.