Who invented indoor toilet

However, this is not true. While Chicago established the Sanitary District in , it was not in response to a massive outbreak. According to official records, an outbreak in killed people, and another outbreak five years later killed nearly people. This myth is perpetuated consistently, including by the Chicago Tribune as recently as In , the Chicago Tribune issued a retraction related to the reporting of 80, to 90, deaths in the late 19th century due to waterborne illnesses.

By the mids, lawmakers and medical professionals agreed that sanitary plumbing was necessary for public health. Hygienic guidelines and plumbing codes helped guide the installation of hygienic systems throughout the United States.

In , Alfred Moen invented the single handle tap. After burning his hands multiple times with the hot water from his two-handle faucet, Moen felt the need for a single handle mixer tap that still exists today. In the s, due to wartime iron, steel, and copper restrictions, American manufacturers had to evolve. These restrictions ended up introducing cast iron and plastics to the manufacturing industry, resulting in improved plumbing materials.

Showers are also a modern invention. However, iterations of showers have existed since Ancient Greece when the Greeks invented a precursor to modern showers in which the bather was sprayed with water. Ancient Romans used bathing as a way to socialize in public bathhouses. In the Middle Ages, people paid to have a bath at the town bathhouse.

Garderobes and public toilets were eventually replaced by the " commode ", a box with a seat and a lid covering a porcelain or copper pot to catch the waste Marie Antoinette's commode, below right. France's Louis XI hid his commode behind curtains whilst Elizabeth I covered hers in crimson velvet and lace, using sprigs of herbs to disguise the odours.

It is a widely-held belief that Thomas Crapper designed the first flush toilet in the s. It was actually years earlier, during the 16th century, that Europe discovered modern sanitation. The credit for inventing the flush toilet goes to Sir John Harrington, godson of Elizabeth I, who invented a water closet with a raised cistern and a small downpipe through which water ran to flush the waste in He built one for himself and one for his godmother; sadly, his invention was ignored for almost years: it was was not until that Alexander Cummings, a watchmaker, developed the S-shaped pipe under the toilet basin to keep out the foul odours.

As the population of Britain increased during the 19th century, the number of toilets did not match this expansion. In overcrowded cities, such as London and Manchester, up to people might share a single toilet. Sewage, therefore, spilled into the streets and the rivers. This found its way back into the drinking water supply which was brown when it came out of the pipes and was further polluted by chemicals, horse manure and dead animals; as a result, tens of thousands died of water-borne disease, especially during the cholera outbreaks of the s and s.

In , the government decreed that every new house should have a water-closet WC or ash-pit privy. However, after a particularly hot summer in , when rotting sewage resulted in " the great stink pictured right in a cartoon of the day ", the government commissioned the building of a system of sewers in London; construction was completed in At last, deaths from cholera, typhoid and other waterborne diseases dropped spectacularly.

He patented a number of toilet-related inventions but did not actually invent the modern toilet, although he was the first to display his wares in a showroom right.

Bathroom technology really arrived in the 20th century with flushable valves, water tanks resting on the bowl itself and toilet paper rolls first marketed only in As a result, companies all over the world moved to develop better, low-flush toilets to prevent clogging.

Many toilets now have automatic flushes and the sealed " vacuum water closet ", as seen on planes or boats, is already being introduced in some countries, most notably Japan.

Some of these toilets also compost the waste produced so it can be used as a garden fertiliser pictured right.

Going to the toilet, wherever and however you do it, is common to us all and flush toilets, clearly, are here to stay! This site uses cookies to bring you the best experience. So there you have it. Not one individual is known to history as the inventor of the toilet; many have made their contribution to the single most significant product which helps promote and protect good health for people the world over.

Sources: 1. The History of Toilets, About. Now Hiring! See Openings Here. So…who invented the toilet? Thomas Crapper? In a few cities it was discovered that a flush toilet was in almost every house, attached to a sophisticated sewage system. King Minos of Crete had the first flushing water closet recorded in history, over years ago.

The ancient Romans had a system of sewers. They built simple outhouses or latrines directly over the running waters of the sewers that poured into the Tiber River.