While I'm thinking about the history of toilet paper, it only follows that we talk about the history of toilets. I have four in my house, actually—one in the master bath, one in the bathroom down the hall, one in the half-bath by the kitchen, and one in the basement. By simply flushing the things, all kinds of icky stuff gets washed away down a set of pipes, into a larger set of community pipes that runs through the sewer system, and on to a water treatment plant. From there, I couldn't tell you what happens to it all. I just know I'm not emptying a chamber pot out the window in the morning.
"Gardez L’eau!" (watch out for the water), the 19th-century British used to shout when they threw their waste out the window, warning the passersby below. All that human crud landed in the gutter, left to fester and stink. Eventually it was washed into the rivers, which were then left to fester and stink. That kind of carelessness might have been acceptable in sparsely populated areas, but when cities began to fill up, being thoughtless with waste water led to disease and death. It wasn't much better in other European counties or in the Colonies where cholera was rampant.
The Romans had developed amazing ways to deliver fresh water from here to there, but with the fall of the Roman Empire came the fall of community hygiene. House-to-house methods of washing away waste had to be developed. The invention of the flush toilet is attributed to lots of people, all of them contributing their various ideas for flushing or blocking odor or developing and connecting to sewage systems. Eventually, their ideas melded together to give us modern toilets, and aren't we better for it.
We've got lots of names for toilets now, and the rooms that hold them—potty, john, loo, head, privy, latrine, restroom, bathroom, powder room, crapper, WC, I've got to see a man about a dog. Whatever you call it, having a toilet that connects to a functioning sewer system makes modern life livable.
I remember the first time I heard the phrase used to describe someone who is flat broke—"he didn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of." It was said by an elderly woman who was telling me stories from her past. I'm grateful for the pots in my house, and I'm even more grateful we've moved beyond the window disposal system.
Note: Ten points to anyone who can tell us why we call a toilet a "john." The points mean absolutely nothing, and I'm afraid Dive must be excused from this question. Put your hand down, Dive, and let someone else have a turn once in a while. hee hee
"Gardez L’eau!" (watch out for the water), the 19th-century British used to shout when they threw their waste out the window, warning the passersby below. All that human crud landed in the gutter, left to fester and stink. Eventually it was washed into the rivers, which were then left to fester and stink. That kind of carelessness might have been acceptable in sparsely populated areas, but when cities began to fill up, being thoughtless with waste water led to disease and death. It wasn't much better in other European counties or in the Colonies where cholera was rampant.
The Romans had developed amazing ways to deliver fresh water from here to there, but with the fall of the Roman Empire came the fall of community hygiene. House-to-house methods of washing away waste had to be developed. The invention of the flush toilet is attributed to lots of people, all of them contributing their various ideas for flushing or blocking odor or developing and connecting to sewage systems. Eventually, their ideas melded together to give us modern toilets, and aren't we better for it.
We've got lots of names for toilets now, and the rooms that hold them—potty, john, loo, head, privy, latrine, restroom, bathroom, powder room, crapper, WC, I've got to see a man about a dog. Whatever you call it, having a toilet that connects to a functioning sewer system makes modern life livable.
I remember the first time I heard the phrase used to describe someone who is flat broke—"he didn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of." It was said by an elderly woman who was telling me stories from her past. I'm grateful for the pots in my house, and I'm even more grateful we've moved beyond the window disposal system.
Note: Ten points to anyone who can tell us why we call a toilet a "john." The points mean absolutely nothing, and I'm afraid Dive must be excused from this question. Put your hand down, Dive, and let someone else have a turn once in a while. hee hee
Comments
Sheesh … No wonder my gardens are so much greener than my neighbours'.
We have three toilets in my house and while I detest cleaning them, I LOVE having them. And we are so SPOILED. I grew up on a farm and all of us shared one bathroom and one toilet. Now, we have one main one and one off our bedroom and one in our basement. That was unheard of when I was a kid, how about you?
Those Romans...they were a kick ass people.
By the by, i've heard that Prince Charles collects toilets. This may go some way to improving the non-existent admiration which Dive has for him.
We live outside the Adelaide sewerage system because we live in the hills, in a water catchment area so everyone has what is called an "envirocycle". There are two concrete chambers place deep in the hillside where all of our waste is collected. The first chamber is the environmental breakdown chamber where the bacteria break down everything, this has a rotating paddle to keep things churning - the churning is done on a timer, usually starting at midnight; the second chamber is the water chamber which is treated with chlorine tablets. The last part of the cycle is a collection of hoses that pump the waste water onto a section of the garden. For us, this water is released under the oak and sequoia trees with beautiful greenery as understory - fuschias, ferns, hydrangeas, plectranthus and some other smaller trees - pittosporum and some plants usually used indoors. The water is not drinkable but is full of nutrients that the garden loves. There is no smell at all from the system. A little man comes out once every 3 months to check that everything is running perfectly. About every 3 or 4 years, the first chamber is emptied by another little man with a very big truck. The only drawback to this system is that anything which is antibacterial can't be used for cleaning. I do still use some bleach but in smaller quantities than I would for the main sewerage system. Bi-carb of Soda is safe to use for cleaning too and any citrus based cleaners. So, the envirocycle is very environment friendly and no human waste enters the water catchment area. This can't be said for the waste from koalas, kangaroos, possums, foxes, birds and other non-humans who allow us to live near them.