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By Laura Jean Whitcomb
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.” |
