Interesting Plumbing Facts

Interesting Plumbing factsThere can be various stories and misconceptions within the plumbing industry here are just a few interesting plumbing facts and stories to amaze and amuse.

  • Thomas Crapper did not invent the flush toilet. Though a lot of people associate him with the invention it was actually invented by John Harrington in 1596. The first flush toilet was patented by George Jennings in 1852. Crapper himself did try to provide the impression that he was the creator of the siphonic flush toilet and actually filed a number of patents(though this attribute goes to Albert Giblin). Crapper was a plumber for the royalty starting with Edward VII in the 1880’s.
  • The most famous member of the steam fitters and plumbers union though an honorary one was Albert Einstein. Einstein was once famously quoted as saying “If I could do it all again I would be a plumber”.
  • Copper piping is not a recent development in plumbing. Although it is the most commonly used type of piping used today it is exactly the same material that the Egyptians were using over 3,000 years ago.
  • There isn’t a water shortage on the Earth. If all the water is taken in to account there is in the region of 330 million trillion gallons. On a breakdown though around 98% is in the oceans and as this has a high salt content it’s not drinkable. The next 1.55% is in ice caps and glaciers, the next .4% is found deep beneath the earths surface. This leaves us around 0.05% of potable water for human consumption.
  • Approximately €90,ooo ($100,000 U.S. dollars) was spent on a study to see if when people changed their toilet roll they placed the new flap of paper at the front or the back. Only in America! Do we care? Well if you do 3 out of 4 people make sure the flap is at the front.
  • In 1760 the reigning British monarch George the second died by falling off the toilet.
  • During the Vietnam war the American president Richard Nixon set up a covert intelligence group to prevent intelligence leaks, they were known as “plumbers”.
  • It is a general estimate that the average person visits the lavatory between 6 and 8 times a day. This means that the average person spends around 3 years of their lifetime using the toilet. Our tip keep a good book in the bathroom.

Interesting plumbing facts