Technology issue

[TopHat]

Hi!

I've got this society in a kind of renaissance setting. They have not discovered electricity, gun powder doesn't exist in this world. Their technology is mechanical.
However i'd like them to have sewers and tapwater.

My problem is that I have no idea what a society like this would look like, because I have nothing to compare to. I'm not familiar with any society in any time that would look like this. If they have reached the technological point of having tapwater, what else should they have discovered/invented?

I also welcome any suggestions and links to any websites/material of societies with a mechanical technology.

Yours,
TopHat.

 

[skip.knox]

Tapwater is tricky because it requires pumps. You could get away with something if you sited a house below a lake. See Swiss Family Robinson for ideas there. Is tapwater really important? Because there are serious difficulties there, both in the requirement of pumping stations and in keeping the water clean. Most people didn't drink water anyway, they drank wine, so what would be the point of having tapwater?

Take a look at ancient Rome. There are even books and articles on the topic of the sewers of Rome. They had sewers at least as far back as the 300sBC, maybe the 400s. It's been a while since I read my Livy.

I'm not sure what a "mechanical technology" would mean, but you should think about what they *do* have rather than what they don't. Do they use water power? Steam power? Animal power? Magical power? Wind power?

What sort of machines do you want them to have? A mill? A clock? A horseless carriage?

 

[TopHat]

I see.

In that case maybe i should skip the tapwater, it's not vital for the story i'm writing.

I guess I was a little unclear when I wrote "mechanical technology", I apologize. I'll give you a quick background story:
In this world there are two nations, seperated by a big ocean. In the west people live in a kind of medieval setting that accepts magic and wizards as something natural. I'd like to think of this country in a classic medieval style along with the technology available at that time.

In the east nation, however, magic is completely forbidden by religion (religion has a very strong presence and power in this society). I want this nation to be more technologically advanced. However, they haven't discovered electricity (yet) and gunpowder doesn't exist. The problem is I don't know what the next technological step is from medieval technology. I'm thinking gears, fine mechanics like clockkworks for example, maybe steam.

 

[CupofJoe]

As long as their metallurgy is up to it, clockwork and spring power should be easy to work in.
And if they got that, you could make an argument that rudimentary steam power was possible. Maybe not steam trains but pumping engines and the like. Pumping engines could make a canal system a lot more versatile...
Those skills would probably be reflected in their architecture too [metal and glass cathedrals?]
There were lots of chemistry that was being discovered/worked out towards the end of the Middle Ages in our world...
TTFN

 

[TopHat]

Makes sense

I've done some research and the technology I have in mind appearently has a name: Clock Punk! What are some of the do's and dont's of Clock Punk? What sort of inventions are possible with clockwork and spring-power? Is there any inventions that's not possible with Clock Punk? What can you get away with?

Yours,
TopHat.

 

[skip.knox]

The way to learn, TopHat, is to read. We can't tell you the rules because the rules don't exist. People derive them by reading lots of novels of a particular type, notice patterns, and extract common characteristics.

If you're looking for a model, you could go with 18thc. Think Colonial America. Read history books. Look for books with "daily life" as a keyword. There are websites devoted to colonial America, including one about Williamsburg. I'm sure there are European versions but I have no pointers there.

If you want to move forward a touch, do Napoleonic Europe. That gets you to 1815. Or go as late as the Victorian Era. The whole 19thc is the stomping grounds for steampunk and its variations.

As you can see, Renaissance is rather earlier.

But there's one huge potential problem here. You want this era, but you don't want gunpowder. That's a real problem because much of what made these societies was influenced by firearms and cannons. If you want most of that society but without gunpowder, you'll have to do some careful refactoring.