Everyone has a favorite invention. But according to Vince Staten — author of Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench? — the most amazing modern invention is the flushing toilet. “It takes the things we don’t want and it exorcises them from our houses. And it does it all without electricity or even a battery,” he writes.

History of Plumbing

Plumbing was developed as early as 2500 B.C. Archeologists have discovered drainage construction in pyramid temples in Egypt. According to Roto-Rooter Plumbing Services, excavators found a brass drain pipe running from the upper temple along the connecting masonry causeway to the outer temple on the river in a pyramid temple built by King Tutankhamen’s father-in-law.

“History of Plumbing” articles on www.plumbingsupply.com document the rudimentary plumbing of ancient civilizations. Archeologists found evidence of a positive flushing water closet used by King Minos of Crete around 1700 B.C. Early plumbing engineers took advantage of the steep grade of the land to devise a drainage system with lavatories, sinks and manholes. Rainwater from the roofs and the courts, and the overflows from the cisterns carried the water down into buried drains of pottery pipe.

Pipe, first made from wood or earthenware, was later made of lead. (The Latin term “plumbus” means lead, thus a plumber was a worker in lead.) Roman plumbers dealt with everything involving supply and waste — they soldered, installed and repaired pipe and worked on roofs and gutters, sewers and drains. The Romans were known for building huge aqueducts conveying millions of gallons of water daily to public baths and latrines.

These plumbing innovations were simply ways to make life pleasant for city residents. There was no connection to disease control just yet, but later it became clear that plumbers and sanitary engineers were the key to defeating the deadly microscopic creatures associated with waste.

In populated areas, the problem of waste disposal quickly became a health hazard. Although sewers and piping existed, sanitation did not. Take, for example, 14th century England. Every street emptied into a channel of the sewer. Some patricians and nobleman had outlets to their houses, but everyone else carried out their chamber pots and, hopefully, threw the contents into a channel. Unfortunately drains ran helter skelter — some too big, some too small, many running uphill or at angles — and became clogged and overflowed. The rivers of the Thames, Fleet and Walbrook became open sewers, and the idea of disease transmitted through water and waste began to take root.

In 1848, England passed the National Public Health Act which mandated some kind of sanitary arrangement in every house — a flushing toilet, a privy or an ash pit. The government released five million British pounds for sanitary research and engineering, and began to build a sound sewer system. According to Roto-Rooter’s History of Plumbing facts, progress was slow — it was an enormous job — but people were warming to the concept of sanitation.

The Necessary

The first flush toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harington. He made a “necessary” for his godmother Queen Elizabeth. Although he was ridiculed by his peers for his device, they both used it. It was almost 200 years later that the idea took hold again. But, as Bob Kordulak, code authority for the Plumbing- Heating-Cooling Contractors National Association, describes “one new product inspired other new products and the end user determined its importance.”

Plumbing & Mechanical magazine notes the progression of toilet inventions in England:

• In 1775 Alexander Cummings reinvented Harington’s device. The water supply was brought low into the bowl and, thanks to a string valve closure, some water remained after each flush.
  
• In 1778 Joseph Bramah developed a valve on the bottom of the bowl that worked on a hinge. He installed over 6,000 toilets by 1797.
  
• In 1861, Thomas Crapper improved the water closet by inventing a pull-chain system for powerful flushing and an airtight seal between the toilet and the floor.
  
• In 1885 Thomas Twyford, a pottery maker, built the first trapless toilet in a one-piece, all-china design. (The toilets to date had been made of wood or metal.) He teamed up with Crapper; Twyford made the bowls and Crapper made the inner workings.

Across the Atlantic, Americans were using copper or crockery chamber pots. Outhouses, a small building constructed over an open pit, were also popular. Soon American inventors, paralleling their English predecessors, began to develop the indoor water closet. An American chronology from Plumbing & Mechanical:

• In 1875 James T. Henry and William Campbell awarded a patent for a water closet that resembled the twin-basin water closets developed in England.
  
• In 1870 John Randall Mann was granted a patent for a siphonic closet. Three pipes delivered water into the basin; one fed the flushing rim, one discharged water into the basin and the third provided the after flush.
  
• Thomas Kennedy later improved on Mann’s design with system that needed only two delivery pipes. Then William Howell eliminated the lower trap in 1890, leaving one delivery pipe.

Between 1900 and 1932, the U.S. Patent Office received applications for 350 new water closet designs, including the flushometer valve, a backflow preventer, reverse trap toilets. But American inventions were lagging behind the English water closets, and most closets were imported. By the century’s end, American manufacturers caught up with English inventors and offered models that included decorations in the bowl’s interior, pedestal designs and hand painted patterns of birds, flowers and fruit.

Consumer Comfort Continues

A complete history of sanitary science would take volumes. What about the invention of the English Regency Shower in 1810? Or the creation of toilet paper by the British Perforated Paper Company in 1880?

“The plumbing industry is loaded with great inventions — from the invention of the water closet to the invention of the T & P relief valve, and everything in between. The more important question would be what is the greatest innovation in the plumbing industry that started to address the health and disease problems associated with sanitation for thousands of years,” says Kordulak. “In my opinion, the greatest change began in the six years beginning in 1883 and ending in 1889. Three institutions that are still in existence today were formed. They were the National Association of Master Plumbers (now PHCCNA), The Master and Hot Water Fitters Association (now MCAA) and United Association (UA plumbers union). They realized that in order to bring the industry out of the dark ages and address the health problems with the sanitation industry, training and education were needed.”

Between 1900 and 1932, the U.S. Patent Office received applications for 350 new water closet designs, including the flushometer valve, a backflow preventer, reverse trap toilets.

It might please you to know that advances in plumbing technology continue today, creating an explosion of new features in the bathroom from heated towel bars to power-flush toilets. Kohler Co., a global leader in products for the kitchen and bath, recently created the only toilet with horsepower. KOHLER® Power Lite features a .2-HP pump to provide “outstanding flushing action.” A feature also allows users to select either a 1.0-gallon or 1.4-gallon flush, depending on their individual needs. This dual-flush option can save an average household approximately 2,000 gallons of water each year.

“Putting an electrical outlet behind the toilet is a common practice in Europe and the Far East,” says Michael Chandler, marketing manager-sanitary products for Kohler. “That’s not necessarily the case in the United States, however. Installing a 120-volt, GFCI outlet behind the toilet during the rough-in stages of home construction or a remodeling project is simple and inexpensive, and allows builders to bring all the benefits and advantages of new technology into the bathroom for their customers.”