Plumbing Technologies through the Ages
Today the average person in the UK is largely unaware of the importance of plumbing technology, normally taking for granted a high pressure shower and a modern flushed toilet. It is rare that someone in the modern world takes the time to learn about the way plumbing technology has advanced or the history of plumbing in general. This history is interesting and offers some surprising outcomes.
It was largely during the centuries when Greeks and the Romans ruled the known world that plumbing systems made their way into urban settings. The Greeks and Romans used plumbing to take clean water to the cities and houses and dirty water away from public bathing houses which was done mostly via a network of aqueducts during the Romans’ rule. In fact, the Roman way of aqueducts and lead piping was considered sufficient until the nineteenth century when underground piping systems took the place of the aqueduct system.
Pipes were constructed mostly from lead during ancient times and aqueducts were pieced together from stone and clay. However, this is no longer the case in modern times. Today, steel, brass, copper and plastic are the most popular building materials for plumbing and piping systems. Lead is no longer used to make pipes because the toxicity of lead is considered to be too high.
It is largely because of the Roman bath houses that western plumbing exists in its current form. When the bath houses were first constructed bathing happened during the daylight hours only because the water in the baths was changed no more than once a day. It is important to remember that the Romans did not know about bacteria or how disease was truly spread. For ancient Romans, a single change of bathwater each day was all they thought was necessary.
Perhaps more important than the public baths and aqueducts, though, is the evolution of the modern toilet. The toilet that is so familiar to the modern western world was first invented around 2800 BC in Mohenjo-Darco and was made from a seat placed upon a pile of bricks. In those times only the highest class of society was allowed to use the toilet. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that the western world adopted the sit-down toilet that was popular with the ancient Romans.
Once the western world had adopted the sit down toilets and aqueduct structures of the Roman Empire, the plumbing technology surrounding them expanded very quickly. Within one hundred years, plumbing technology and toilets have gone from the aqueducts of the Roman Empire to the modern efficiencies that most citizens in the United Kingdom take for granted these days.
Today pipes and plumbing fixtures are mostly located underground and the sewage drains and cesspools of ancient times have been almost completely eradicated and replaced. As technology continues to advance, the cleanliness and efficiency of plumbing and toilets will become more efficient and clean.
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