The Tale Behind Your Tank: Plumbing History

THE TALE BEHIND YOUR TANK: PLUMBING HISTORY Ever spare a thought for the history of modern plumbing? Its pipes run deep! 3000 BC: Menes, the ruler of Egypt, constructs rudimentary system of irrigation ditches, canals, and basins. 2500 BC: Sit-down toilets appear in Harappa-modern day India. 2100 BC: Stone toilets debut in Egypt. Egyptians begin burying them with the dead for the afterlife. 1500 BC: Early sewer system and a version of flush toilets created in Crete. 432 BC: Greek inventors design lead bathtubs. 206 BC: King of China's Western Dynasty, Han, designs the world's first bathroom. It has a stone toilet and running water. 52 AD: Romans build system with 220 aqueducts. 600: Toilet paper appears in China. 1596: First version of modern bathroom built by Sir John Harrington for Queen Elizabeth I. It includes a cistern of water for a rudimentary sink. 1775: Alexander Cumming designs prototype for modern flushing toilet. 1829: Boston's Tremont Hotel adds indoor plumbing-the first hotel in the world to do so. 1885: Chicago builds the first major sewage system in the U.S. 1880s: 1929-1954: Thomas Crapper (really) Sales of plumbing equipment invents the siphonic system, for homes rise 367%. which sets the stage for the modern toilet. 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 2010: Indoor plumbing is the norm, but U.S. Census finds a small percentage of homes still lack it. DID YOUu KNOW..? Rome's impressive aqueducts may be to blame for the collapse of the empire. Historians suspect the lead pipes may have poisoned the ruling class. :::: Plumbing advancements ceased during the Middle Ages, and disease abounded. In 1871, Tucson, AZ had 3,000 residents and one bathtub. The first in-home tub was installed in a home in Cleveland, OH. It weighed almost 1 ton. Infographic provided by: Sources: http://www.duluthtrading.com/features/ All Plumbing, Inc. plumbing_timeline.aspx ALL PLUMBING,INC. SERVICE, PARTS INSTALLATION http://www.muswell-hill.com/foxandco/pages/history.htm http://wydaily.com/2013/09/05/hometown-concert-to- benefit-residents-without-indoor-plumbing/ www.allplumbingva.com http://www.plumbingsupply.com/pmamerica.html (PERCENT)