I have an old house built in 1912. I have access to all the permits through the city and the water main line was installed the year it was built, but the sewer line was not put in until the 1939! So I am wondering what the bathroom/kitchen situation would be like? I imagine for a kitchen sink they would have a large basin that they could fill up with water but they would have to drain it into a bucket to dump outside? How would the bathroom work? There must have been an out house? This is a craftsman bungalow in a residential area. I love old houses and am just interested in picturing how they lived.
There could have easily have been a septic tank and a drain field that would handle all the waste water from the kitchen as well as the toilets, even in 1912. I mean, it's possible that they could have built an outhouse and had the kitchen sink just drain out into the yard , but if there was city water brought into the house in 1912, they would likely also have installed indoor bathrooms then as well.
H. Vandervoort Walsh: The Construction of the Small House (1923)