|
By Tony Brings
Toilets are an essential part of our everyday lives. We tend
to
take the toilet very much for granted and not really like to
think about it too much until we find that we desperately need
a toilet and none can be found. We forget that modern toilets
are a luxury in a lot of under developed countries and find it
a huge inconvenience if our toilet doesn’t work.
Toilets that we are used to using are a relatively recent
invention, and used to be only affordable by the very wealthy.
Even now the evolution of the toilet is still in progress with
technological advances including automatic flushing controlled
by sensors and economy settings to allow less water to be used
when the toilet fills up. The issue of hygiene is a constant
one and, along with all the different types of toilet cleaners
and fragranced deodorizers there are even public toilets that
clean
themselves after each visit.
The prevalence of indoor plumbing has been the main factor in
the availability of toilets inside our homes. It is this
plumbing that ensures the toilet keeps functioning correctly
and we don’t have to do anything more than pull the chain or
press the handle. Before this all toilets were separate from
the main house in small outhouses. The water supply that these
outhouses were connected to was totally detached from the ones
used inside the house.
Toilets in outhouses began in a very basic fashion, a hole in
the ground. Then seats were fashioned from planks of wood with
openings in them to enable a person to dispose of their toilet
waste while sitting rather than squatting. These primitive
toilet facilities were then enclosed to provide a little
privacy for the occupants. Wealthy house owners could use
chamber pots in the privacy and comfort of their own bedrooms,
or bed chambers. These were usually made from ceramic and were
emptied by servants. As these pots became a more accepted
method of going to the toilet there were fewer places to empty
them, especially in towns and cities, and people would throw
the contents out of their windows onto the streets.
Thankfully we have progressed a long way since the days if
having to dodge the contents of someone’s toilet being thrown
over our heads as we walked along the street.
About The Author: Tony Brings is owner of Bathroom Pros.
Bathroom remodeling is one of the most popular home
improvement
projects. At Bathroom Pros you will get tips to make your
bathroom remodeling project a complete success.
www.bathroompros.co.uk
|