Learn Facts About the History of Indoor Plumbing

On a typical day in Colonial Heights, VA, you use your indoor plumbing many times. But have you ever stopped to think about how your plumbing got to be where it is today?

Indoor plumbing has actually been in existence for thousands of years and has an interesting history. Here is a summary of some of the most fascinating facts about the history of indoor plumbing.

The Early Days of Indoor Plumbing

The earliest indoor plumbing is believed to have been in about in 4000 - 3000 B.C. Archeologists uncovered piping in the ruins of a palace in the Indus Valley River (India).

A few centuries later, the first interconnected water systems were located in Crete. The first toilet is also credited to Crete, under the reign of King Minos.

Roman and Egyptian Influence

The Romans are thought of to this day as some of the most accomplished plumbers in history. They built an extensive aqueduct system that was an engineering marvel for the era. It supplied fresh water to their bathhouses. Not only was there a steady supply of water, they heated it with furnaces for comfortable bathing.

They also heated water for steam rooms. Another remarkable innovation by the Romans was the use of lead pipes. Lead pipes were instrumental in helping to improve sanitation. In Egypt, they had bathrooms with flushing toilets in the pyramids.

The toilets consisted of a latrine and were flushed by hand using buckets of water. The waste flowed away through piping below the latrine. They built similar bathrooms into the tombs, so that the dead would continue to have the same comforts that they were accustomed to as they moved to the afterlife.

Marie Antoinette’s Versailles

Although the sprawling palace at Versailles was considered to be incredibly lavish in the 18th century, it didn’t have a single indoor toilet.

The aristocracy used commodes which were emptied into the courtyards. People also relieved themselves in hallways and in vacant rooms in the palace, creating a putrid smell that was always present.

Modern Plumbing Technology

Like the plumbing from the last thousands of years, our modern day plumbing is changing to meet our needs in our current environment. There is a global water crisis, which means that our plumbing needs to be able to help us with water conservation.

That’s why some of the most remarkable advances in the last few years greatly reduce the amount of water needed to use plumbing fixtures. Low flow showerheads and dual flush toilets slash household water use.