The History of Plumbing

Plumbing is one of the most important technological discoveries in the history of mankind. We rely on plumbing for hydration, waste management, cleaning and much more. Without it, the world as we know it would not exist. It took thousands of years and hundreds of innovations to get plumbing to where it is today. From the primitive plumbing systems of the Indus River to the complexity we see today, let's take a deeper look into the wonderful history of plumbing:

1700 B.C
The Indus River civilizations created the first sewage system on record. They used underground tunnels, wooden spouts and a grid system that was far ahead of their time.

312 B.C 
The Romans invented the aqueduct system to carry fresh water into the capital city. At their peak, the aqueducts were carrying over 1 billion liters of water a day!

1596 
John Harrington, the godson of Queen Elizabeth, invents the first flushing toilet in England. The original toilet was called “The John,” and that nickname still stands today.

1854 
A cholera outbreak in England forces governments around the world to take sewage seriously. A year later, Chicago became the first American city to build a comprehensive sewer system.

1890
The world's first drinking water treatment systems are built in Massachusetts to reduce microbial contamination. The techniques they invented there are still in existence today!

1920
Tank toilets emerged on the market and reduced previous water consumption by 40%. The tank was made possible when William E. Sloan invented the flush-o-meter 10 years prior. The flush-o-meter used the pressure from the water supply system to help flush waste down the drain. Both of these inventions helped conserve as much as 200 million gallons of water a day.

1966
Due to a copper shortage, plastic piping was invented as an alternative. Today, we refer to this plastic piping as PVC pipe.

Present
The plumbing industry employs close to 500,000 people per year and grossed over $100 billion dollars in 2015.

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#FlashBackFriday | Invention of the Toilet

Can you imagine your home without a toilet? Hard to believe, isn’t it? Well, many centuries ago, people didn’t have toilets. Instead, they had other hygiene practices. And it wasn’t until 1956 that the first modern flushable toilet was invented.

Want to know more about the evolution of this essential plumbing fixture? If so, then read on:

What was the first flushable toilet?

The first device is described as a two-foot deep oval bowl that needed to be fed water from an upstairs cistern. This pot required 7.5 gallons of water, but when water was lacking, up to 20 people could use it before flushing. In doing so, they could conserve more water. Next came the invention of the S-shaped pipe below the toilet bowl, which used water to create “a seal preventing sewer gas from entering the toilet”. But it wasn’t until the 19th century that the first successful flushable toilet was manufactured, with a better tank-filling mechanism, closer to the one we have today.

Who invented it? 

Sir John Harington, the godson of Queen Elizabeth I, described the very first two-foot oval bowl. Harrington called this the Metamorphosis of Ajax - a pun on the term “a jakes”, which was slang for toilets. While these devices were popular for people to use, it wasn’t until 1775 that Alexander Cummings granted the first patent for a flush toilet. Then, it was Thomas Crapper who built the very first widely successful, flushable toilet. Although many names attribute to the invention of the toilet, it took many years for this device to become what it is today - easy-to-use and highly functionable.

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