Who are some Famous Plumbing Inventors?

Plumbing is a fascinating concept since it impacts every single person on the planet.  It’s easy to take plumbing for granted if you don’t live in a 3rd world country.  We have clean water at the tap, and modernized sanitation systems to protect us from disease and harm.  We can thank the Famous Plumbing Inventors who created our modern conveniences back in the day.

Who created the plumbing mechanisms that give us comfort?

The original faucet:

This simple machine we take for granted is a valve, whose origins goes back to prehistory. It is possible a clever human decided to control the flow of a stream or river by blocking its flow with large stones or a tree trunk and came up with the notion.  However the idea developed, it ranks with the invention of the wheel.  It made it possible to regulate water flow. Early Egyptians and Greeks engineered valves to divert water for drinking and crop irrigation. The Romans advanced the ideas enough to deliver water to individual buildings. The Roman plumbing had plug valves (stopcocks) and check valves to prevent backflow. A plug valve is a conical plug with a hole and by turning the plug the hole is either lined up with the pipe so water flows or set at right angles to block flow.

The Single Handle Faucet:

Single Handle faucet technology was created by Alfred M. Moen in 1937.  He invented a single-handle faucet which mixes hot and cold together evenly for a comfortable temperature.  It started when he was a college student and worked evenings in an auto garage.  One evening he went to wash his hands and was scalded by the two handle faucet device.  It made him think about a faucet that would deliver even temperature from both hot and cold sides.  It was not until 1947 that he found a manufacturer and started to mass produce the product.

The Bathtub:

In 1883, an American man named John Michael Kohler invented the first bathtub. He added four decorative feet to the bottom of an enamel-covered, cast-iron horse trough.

The Toilet:

Most people think it was Thomas Crapper who invented the toilet, but it was invented by John Harrington in 1596.  Thomas Crapper did do much to increase the popularity of the toilet.  He was a master plumber and noted as a sanitary engineer.

The origin of the word Crap:

It is the slang term for human bodily waste, crap, which originated with Thomas Crapper because of his association with lavatories. It is commonly told that American servicemen during World War I who were stationed in England saw his name on cisterns and created the army slang, i.e. “I’m going to the crapper”.

Of Middle English origin, the word crap  predates its application to bodily waste. More likely the origin is a combination of two older words, the Dutch word krappen: meaning to pluck off, cut off, or separate; and the Old French word crappe: siftings, waste or rejected matter. In English, it was used to refer to chaff, and also to weeds or other rubbish and its first application to bodily waste, appeared in 1846 under a reference to a crapping ken, or a privy, where ken means a house.^[10]

Carter Plumbing has been around since 1969!

Bob Carter started the business in 1969, with son Jamie joining in the late 70’s, and grandson, Kelson, starting in 2009.  3 Generations of Plumbers says a lot about plumbing in the Indianapolis area!  Carter’s My Plumber has been built on solid work ethics and a tradition of strong family ties.  If you have a plumbing need, like a leaky toilet, faucet, or need a new hot water heater, then call the friendly folks at Carter’s My Plumber today! (317) 859-9999