Did you know that the average family in the United States of America uses over 400 gallons of water each day? The plumbing industry plays a vital role in your daily life when it comes to getting the water you need into your home and routing your waste out of it.
There are many types of plumbing out there and each has an important role to play in providing sanitary conditions in your home. You might think you have a pretty strong knowledge of residential plumbing and commercial plumbing but you might be surprised.
There are a number of interesting and fascinating plumbing facts that might blow your mind and you’re in the perfect place to learn more about them. Keep reading for more information.
1. Plumbing Has Been Around for 5,000 Years
There is strong evidence in ancient archaeological sites that points towards types of plumbing going back to 3,000 BC. It all started with the Indus River Valley people. They used earthen plumbing as a way to route waste away from where they lived while also bringing in freshwater for more convenience.
This technology has only continued to grow over the past 5,000 years and now there are tons of different plumbing products that make the process much more efficient.
2. Leaky Faucets Take Their Toll
Everyone has encountered a leaky faucet at one point or another but were you aware that they’re a significant waste of water? There are many reasons that you should get a leaky faucet repaired using products from ips corporation. Letting the leaks continue will cause you to wastewater at a surprising rate.
Even if your leaky faucet only leaks two drops every minute, you’ll lose an entire gallon of water by the end of a week.
3. The First Flushing Toilet Was Invented in 1596
Flushing toilets have garnered a number of different nicknames over the past five centuries, but one that has stuck since the beginning was “the John”. This name comes from the inventor of the first flushable toilet that was invented in 1596. The inventor was named John Harrington, hence the famous nickname.
4. Insulating Your Home’s Pipes Makes a Big Difference
Many people want to enjoy the comfort of hot or warm water when they wash their hands or take a shower. It might sound crazy but something as simple as insulating the pipes and plumbing in your home goes a long way towards preventing heat loss in your water. This will save you money on your water bill since you won’t run the water extra long to get hot water.
5. Manhole Covers Are Circles for a Reason
You’ve probably noticed at some point in your life that all manhole covers are circles. It might seem like a convenient shape for a manhole but has a practical purpose. A circular manhole cover will never fall through the hole itself no matter how you maneuver or move it.
6. Albert Einstein Was an Honorary Plumber
Albert Einstein is one of the most remarkable people over the past 150 years and famous for a number of incredible discoveries in the field of physics. Did you know that he was also an honorary plumber? The Plumbers and Steamfitters Union made him an honorary member because he said he would be a plumber if he could do his life all over again.
7. $100,000 Got Spent on Studying How People Put Toilet Paper on the Holder
There were studies that cost $100,000 to conduct that was centered around the way that people replace a used toilet paper roll. Some people put it with the first piece of toilet paper facing back while others did it with the toilet paper facing towards them. The study found that the vast majority of people place the toilet paper facing forwards rather than backward.
8. 90% of Pharmaceuticals Pass Through Urine
There are millions of people in the United States that are on prescription medications. The vast majority of these medications pass through the body and exit when you urinate. This means that the pipes in your home and the sewer lines below it are filled with drug residue from a wide variety of different pharmaceutical drugs.
The EPA even discovered fish with noticeable amounts of estrogen, antibiotics, and anti-depressants on them and inside of them.
9. The Toilet Gets Flushed the Most During Super Bowl Halftime
It makes a lot of sense if you really sit down and think about it, but the toilets in the United States see more use during halftime of the Super Bowl. It doesn’t hurt that food consumption is at its peak in the United States during the Super Bowl. People in the United States eat 1 billion chicken wings during the Super Bowl, not to mention soda and beer that get consumed.
10. The Ancient Egyptians Called the Bathroom the “House of Horror”
Bathrooms have gotten called a number of names throughout their history, but the ancient Egyptians put together the aptest and descriptive name for a bathroom throughout history. They referred to the bathroom as the House of Horror. It is fortunate that they never had to experience a bathroom after a Super Bowl halftime.
The Romans also had their own nickname for the bathroom. They referred to their bathrooms as the Necessarium. The French called the bathroom by a name that translates to “the smelly house”.
11. The Average Person Spends Three Years on the Toilet
Three years might seem like a long time to most people. Try to wrap your head around the fact that that is how much time you’ll spend sitting on a toilet in your life. That is enough time for some people to complete a bachelor’s degree.
Now You Know a Bit More About the Plumbing Industry
The plumbing industry is full of fun facts ranging from Albert Einstein as an honorary member of the Plumbers Union to the sheer amount of pharmaceuticals that end up in your home’s plumbing system. These plumbing facts give you a better idea of the history and importance of plumbing from throughout history.
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