10 Interesting Plumbing Facts
Fun Facts From Your Auckland Plumber
Heres A few facts about plumbing that you may find interesting.
The Worlds Most Famous Plumber
The Worlds most famous plumber goes by the name of Mario. Does the name ring a bell? That’s because he was the star of Nintendos Mario Brothers.
He went on to become super Mario, and has starred in almost 200 games over the years.
Water Pipes
Water pipes have been used for thousands of years using a variety of materials. The ancient Egyptians used copper in their piping. The Romans later used lead piping which is where the word plumber actually originates from (Plumbum) meaning lead. Wooded and asbestos pipes have also been used.
First Flushing Toilet
The first flushing toilet was discovered in Crete in 1500BC in the palace of king minas. Flush toilets continued to be used until the fall of the Roman empire, which caused the technology to be lost for many centuries.
Modern Flushing Toilet
There are several people credited with inventing the modern flush toilet, including Alexander Cumming in 1775 and Thomas Crapper in the mid 19th century. The actual inventor was Sir John Herrington back in 1596, and his first name has been associated with toilets ever since.
Talking Toilets
In Japan they take their toilet time seriously, and some of their voice-activated toilets respond to many different commands. Some play music, some have heated seats and some have bidets, making going to the bathroom an interesting experience.
Lead Solder
Despite the dangers of lead piping, lead solder continued to be used in water pipes until the end of the 1980s. Lead poisoning can cause brain damage and even death, but it was not until the 1990s that we wised up and stopped using it in our plumbing.
Sewer Explosions
Not all sewer explosions are caused by methane gas. The 1981 explosions in Louisville Kentucky that destroyed 3 kilometres of streets were caused by the illegal discharge of hexane vapours from a soybean plant, and the 1929 sewer explosions in Ottawa Canada were caused by flammable motor oils being poured down the drains.
First Fire Sprinkler System
The first sprinkler system was invented by Henry Par in 1864 to protect his US piano factory from fire. Despite patenting the idea, he failed to sell many systems in his day, although today every kind of retail premise has such a sprinkler system installed.
Copper Tubing
Copper tubing is an integral part of any plumbing system, and in the US alone there are some 5.3 million miles of it in use. That’s enough to stretch around the world over 200 times.
Water Waste
In modern society, we waste water on a monumental scale. For instance, a simple dripping tap can waste as much as 100 gallons of water every week – which converts to over 378.541L per week! Not only that, but the water we use while waiting for water to heat up in the tap is around 9,000 gallons (over 34,000L) a year for every household.
