A plumbing company in Seattle, WA offers us a brief history of plumbing.
Modern plumbing is one of the most important inventions of all time, giving many people easy access to clean drinking water, hot showers, and flushing toilets. Equally important are the assurances that wastewater does not contaminate drinking water and that wastewater is removed from homes so that it does not spread disease. Note that many countries in 2020 do not have these luxuries.
The history of plumbing aligns with the shaping of civilizations. Even before germs were discovered, people recognized the importance of cleanliness and some of the first plumbing was designed to remove waste and wastewater from populated areas.
Many civilizations ‘invented’ plumbing, perhaps first building pipes, as these saved the time and effort of hand carrying water into homes and fields. For example, Mesopotamians developed aqueducts for the irrigation of crops around 3000 BCE.
In the Indus Valley, an ancient civilization in what is now Pakistan and India, built sophisticated drainage, sewage, and water systems that date back to around 2000 BCE. Archaeologists discovered they also created a huge public bath or swimming pool.
Civilizations in China around 2000 BCE used bamboo to create elaborate water pipe systems.
In Crete around 1200 BCE, the Minoans made a kind of flushing toilet where rain water carried waste from the seated toilet to underground pipes and then into the sea.
Of course, the Romans are known for the aqueducts and building baths everywhere they landed. Their baths had drains and methods of heating and cooling the bath water. They started plumbing practices around 1 BCE.
The Incas created water piping systems as well. In the 1400s, in Peru, Incan engineers directed spring water through aqueducts to irrigate crops and supply fountains and baths. These can be seen today at Machu Picchu and Tipon.
Fast forward to the early 1900s where plumbing standards were established in the U.S. as knowledge grew about bacteria, viruses, and the spread of diseases.
Over time, pipe composition evolved from clay, stone, and wood, to lead and copper, and now to plastic. Space travel has reinvented plumbing as well. The International Space Station uses a suction tube for urine which is later converted to drinking water, and a space toilet that also uses suction to collect the solid waste in plastic bags.
For more information on plumbing in Seattle, WA, be sure to contact Raymark Plumbing today.
Raymark Plumbing & Sewer is a full-service residential plumbing and sewer company. They offer plumbing leak repair, sewer repair/replacement, drain cleaning, water heaters, re-pipe services, water line repair/replacement, faucet repair/replacement, and toilet services. Raymark is located in Seattle, WA, and has been a family-owned business for over 42 years. Raymark offers upfront pricing, a 100 percent workmanship guarantee, and 24-hour emergency services.
Raymark technicians are experienced, knowledgeable, and friendly. In fact, they are known for finding solutions to problems when other plumbing companies could not. As a result, Raymark is the plumber that other plumbers recommend.
Raymark Plumbing & Sewer
10710 Lake City Way NE
Seattle, WA 98125
(206) 440-9077
Raymark Plumbing and Sewer 