Plumbing has come a long way, but only in the last tenth of a millennium.
Many of you who have spent time in Europe no doubt have visited some of the imposing medieval castles that dot its landscape. You may have taken note of the little anterooms that served as privies, with openings to the outside through which human waste was deposited in the surrounding moat. One can appreciate how the foul content might have made many foes think twice about trying to breach those otherwise unimposing water barriers.
Imagine the stench endured by medieval kings and queens and their minions on hot summer days! History is filled with examples of regals succumbing at an early age to water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery. If this was the lot of kings and queens, think of how miserable life must have been for the peasants.