The sterilization and disinfection machines: sanitation and public health in the late Ottoman Empire

Abstract

This article focuses on sanitation technology, particularly sterilization (etüv makinesi), and disinfection machines (pulverizatör) used at quarantine stations, hospitals, and also mounted on ships and trains to prevent the spread of contagious diseases in the late Ottoman Empire. As a result of the contemporary developments in sanitation technology, the scientific discussions held at the international sanitary and hygiene conferences, and the health inspectors’ reports, the sterilization and disinfection machines became the main tools of Ottoman sanitary reform efforts to protect public health in the late Ottoman Empire. Despite controversies including a dispute between the French Consulate and the Ottoman officials about who owned the patent rights to the machine and the logistical problems related to their distribution, the sterilization and disinfection machines were extensively used against epidemics in the Empire. This article traces how the Ottomans implemented this sanitation technology, first by importing, later ‘re-inventing’, and finally adopting it throughout the Empire in the late nineteenth century.