We’ve already got used to comfortable bathrooms and cleanness in our houses and on our streets, and now we can’t even imagine how life was possible without a basic canalisation system and plumbing. Back in the day, the concept of toilets was limited to the hole in the floor. Let’s hop into history and remember the whole way of toilet evolution: how it has become so convenient to use.
Ancient Canalization and Legendary Roman Public Toilets
There are still debates about the origins of the toilet. Some scholars argue that buildings in which people used to go to the toilet appeared literally at the same time as the first man-made dwellings. Others believe that the first toilets were a platform enclosed by stones.
However, the first seated toilet was built for the Sumerian queen in 2600 BC. Similar toilets have been found by archaeologists in ancient Egypt (2100 BC) and other countries of the ancient world.
In Ancient Rome, public toilets gained outstanding popularity. Inhabitants of Ancient Rome used public toilets not only for their direct purpose: important meetings were also held there, as well as philosophical conversations and debates. The seats were arranged along the perimeter of Roman public latrines, and the waste was carried through specially constructed channels of water to the nearest river.
Canalization Degradation in the Middle Ages
Despite the positive experience of the creation and use of public latrines in the Roman Empire, medieval Europe somehow found itself relegated to the prehistoric period.
In medieval Europe, both rich and poor simply used pots instead of toilets. During the day, townspeople poured the contents of their pots from house windows directly onto the streets, often on the heads of the passersby. Thus, it is not difficult to imagine the bad conditions the streets of London, Paris, and other major cities were in.
First Semblances of a Modern Toilet
George Harrington invented the first toilet prototype in 1596. After the invention was demonstrated to Queen Elizabeth I and not appreciated, this useful development was forgotten for almost the next two hundred years!
The flush toilet was invented in 1738, but the modern-looking toilet appeared only in the XIX century thanks to the locksmith from a small British village, Thomas Crepper. He guessed that the U-shaped pipe with water doesn’t let odors get into the room.
In the early twentieth century, the Spanish company Unitas set up mass production of water closets, or rather their designs: stools and flushing tanks. Basically, “Unitas” began to produce modern flushing systems and toilet tanks. Rave toilet flush reviews made other companies involve new technology in their products, so the popularity of modern toilets rocketed. Since then the principle of construction remains the same, only design and some technical characteristics have changed.
Advanced Modernity
Nowadays, the manufacturers of sanitary ware try to offer consumers more and more new models of toilets, equipping them with various technical innovations, decisions, and possibilities: from seat heating to drying and antibacterial processing.
