Post by Dark One on Dec 28, 2006 4:02:36 GMT 11
Since the Wandies love thier dual-flush toilets so much, i thought i'd post some info on the history of the toilet (plus a few facts):
From modest holes in the ground to automated contraptions costing £5,000, the toilet has undergone major transformations since its inception. What we now think of as ‘civilisation’ could not have flourished had ne not battled our own waste and the diseases it carried. As soon as humans began living together in large numbers, toilets became a priority. While the Romans saw the first major public toilets advancement around 315 AD, it was not until London’s ‘Great Stink’ – aptly named for the summer 1858 hen London reeked from sewage gathering on the banks of the Thames River – that the Western world saw the development of high capacity sewers to handle the city’s waste. Since then, engineers are constantly inventing new ways to make the toilet more efficient, from constructing apartment buildings with in-house waste processors to developing compost toilets that turn waste into fertiliser.
Toilet facts
Early History
Health Issues
Toilets in Space
Waste Facts
I hope that this has been educational
From modest holes in the ground to automated contraptions costing £5,000, the toilet has undergone major transformations since its inception. What we now think of as ‘civilisation’ could not have flourished had ne not battled our own waste and the diseases it carried. As soon as humans began living together in large numbers, toilets became a priority. While the Romans saw the first major public toilets advancement around 315 AD, it was not until London’s ‘Great Stink’ – aptly named for the summer 1858 hen London reeked from sewage gathering on the banks of the Thames River – that the Western world saw the development of high capacity sewers to handle the city’s waste. Since then, engineers are constantly inventing new ways to make the toilet more efficient, from constructing apartment buildings with in-house waste processors to developing compost toilets that turn waste into fertiliser.
Toilet facts
Early History
- The oldest toilets may have been built in 3000 BC in the village of Skara Brae, in Scotland.
- Romans had private toilets connected to the public sewer systems.
- In 1596, the first water closet was invented with a wooden commode that featured a seat and a handle.
- In 1775, Alexander Cummings patented a water closet that would prevent gasses from leaking back.
- In 1884 Japan’s first sewer systems was built and serviced Tokyo for 100 years.
Health Issues
- Untreated waste still flows into water supplies in 90% of the world’s developing countries.
- Cholera and typhoid are most associated with human waste.
- 50,000 Brits died of cholera between 1831 and 1832, and in Paris cholera killed 18,000
Toilets in Space
- In 1968, Whirlpool made bags for collecting urine and faecal matter.
- Later the toilet bag was created, where waste was sucked into a bag which was then compacted and stored.
Waste Facts
- A healthy human produces about 225g of faecal waste every day; the world’s population produces 1.4m metric tonnes, equal in weight to 16 aircraft carriers.
I hope that this has been educational
