The construction of large fountain structures, fed by aqueducts carrying running water from distant locations to the urban nuclei, occurred in the context of public hygiene during the Archaic period (6th c. BC). Typical examples are the Eupalinian Aqueduct on Samos, the Fountain of Theagenes in Megara, as well as the ambitious public water system constructed in Athens at the end of the 6th c. BC, during the period of the tyrant Peisistratos and his successors, as indicated by the terracotta water pipe segments of the water supply conduit.
Private dwellings occasionally possessed running water and toilets. The elimination needs of the urban population were met by chamber pots (variously called amides, skoramides, lassana), whose contents were emptied into cesspits, the koprones. Private professionals, the koprologoi undertook to transport waste outside the cities; this was subsequently used as fertilizer in the fields.
During the Hellenistic period, latrines began to make their appearance in public buildings such as gymnasia and thermae. However, public latrines are a characteristic of Roman urban culture.