When was the toilet invented? Latrines, night vases, burdaloo: the history of toilets from antiquity to the invention of the toilet bowl

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  There are toilet bowls with a separate cistern, with a cistern mounted on a shelf (the so-called compact), and monolithic. Separate tanks require installation between the tank and the bowl of the connecting pipe. Earlier designs of toilet bowls involved the installation of a tank at a height of about 2 m to form a flow of water of a sufficiently high speed. Subsequently, this design was replaced by compact toilets, which are easier to install and maintain. There are also toilets that involve a hidden installation of the tank.

  Bowl

  The toilet bowl during the production process is cast in such a way that the visible open part of the bowl smoothly passes into the siphon located in the depth of the bowl (provides a water, that is, a hydraulic seal for gases formed and accumulated in the sewer system), which then smoothly passes into the "outlet" (actually outlet pipe).

  Structurally, in the direction of release, toilet bowls are divided into two main groups - with a "horizontal" release and with a "vertical" release:

  Toilets with "horizontal" release- the outlet of such a toilet bowl is usually located at the rear of the bowl and directed backwards. The outlet pipe itself protrudes noticeably from the body of the toilet, and the axis of the outlet is parallel or at a slight angle downwards to the plane of the floor (or ceiling). Downward facing toilets are often referred to as "slanted outlet toilets".

  Such toilet bowls are distributed primarily in Europe, including Russia and the CIS. Historically, this is due to the fact that the laying of sewer pipes here was carried out, as a rule, along the ceiling, usually along the walls (or partitions). And toilets with a horizontal outlet are installed in the same way, as a rule, against the wall, at right angles to it.

  The outlet of such a toilet bowl is connected to the sewer pipe, usually with a special cuff. These toilet bowls are attached to the floor (ceiling) through special holes in the bowl leg using screws with dowels or anchors. To install a toilet of the second type with a downward outlet in the case when the sewer pipes are located on top of the floor, the floor level under the toilet would have to be raised at least 15 ... and adjacent rooms (differently high floors are obtained). An eccentric cuff is used to connect such outlets to the outlets.

  Toilets with "vertical" release have a built-in downward outlet, hidden, like the siphon, in the main body of the toilet bowl. Such toilets are common in the United States and a number of other American countries. Here, from time immemorial, the laying of sewer pipe beds has been carried out under the floor without reference to walls and partitions (together with the wiring of ventilation and other engineering systems). Then these engineering communications were covered with a hemmed or suspended ceiling, as at the present time.

  The toilet bowl of the 2nd type with a downward outlet in this case can be installed at any angle to the walls anywhere in the room, even in the middle of the room. To do this, a special standard screw flange with a lock is mounted in the floor (the toilet bowl is equipped with a corresponding standard counterpart) and with a round hole in the middle, into which the end of the sewer pipe is inserted.

  The toilet bowl is mounted by mounting it on a flange, followed by turning it at a small angle until it is fixed. At the same time, since the outlet pipe "looks" down, when installing the toilet bowl, it is pressed against the end of the sewer pipe through a special sealing ring. The design of the screw flange connection allows you to dismantle and change the toilet in a matter of minutes. The junction of the toilet bowl with the floor after its installation is not visible, therefore, such a toilet bowl looks aesthetically pleasing from the rear, that is, from the side of the tank, which makes it possible to install it indoors in an arbitrary way.

  flush tank

  The tank is designed to supply the portion of water necessary for cleaning the toilet bowl. The cisterns of compact toilets are usually made of ceramic, while free-standing cisterns can be made of plastic, cast iron, stainless steel, and other materials.

  A filling mechanism and a descent mechanism are mounted in the tank. To fill the toilet, a float valve is used, which closes when the required water level is reached. The branch pipe for connecting to the water supply can be located both on the side surface (tank with a side water supply) and in the lower part of the tank (with a lower supply).

  The descent mechanism is of two types: siphon and using a pear. The siphon descent was used in tanks of a high installation - in it, when descending after releasing the drain lever, water continues to flow due to the siphon effect. This design is quite noisy.

  For low-lying cisterns, a rubber pear is used in the release mechanism, which pops up when the drain is activated and returns to its place, blocking the drain hole, only after the tank is empty. To protect against overflow, an additional branch pipe is required, which can be either combined with a pear or made as a separate unit. Also, dual-mode drain mechanisms are becoming widespread, which allow you to drain both the entire volume of water in the tank, and a certain part of it.

  Toilet seat

  Historically, the first seats and covers were varnished wood. Currently, plastic structures are more common - they are more hygienic. Seats and covers differ in the quality of the plastic and the design of the fasteners. In most cases, several toilet seats can be selected for the same toilet model: the so-called soft, semi-rigid and hard. Fasteners of the toilet seat to the bowl can be metal or plastic, of various designs.

  Now people can not imagine life without a device called "toilet", which is in almost every home. Despite this, few people know who invented the toilet and when it happened.

  The first toilets

  John Harington called his invention “Ajax” and described it in detail in the book “Ajax Metamorphoses”, describing all the materials used and their prices.

  The first toilet was invented in 1596 by Englishman John Harington for Queen Elizabeth I. It differed from the standard chamber pot in the presence of a special container where all the waste was drained, as well as a tank from which water was supplied for flushing. Despite the clear advantage over the "night vases", this device has not received distribution. It was still far from the full introduction of sewerage and water supply systems, and Harington's invention was preferred to pour the contents of the pots on the heads of passers-by in the old fashioned way.

  Modern toilets

  At the beginning of the 20th century, most often toilets were made of ceramics (before that they were made of cast iron, steel, etc.)

  After John Harington, several inventors tried to improve the toilet he created. In 1775, Alexander Cumming added a drain, Joseph Praser slightly modified the cistern in 1777, and Joseph Bramah a year later came up with the idea of ​​closing the toilet with a lid.

  It was only in the 1880s that a toilet bowl appeared that was closest to the modern one. It was created by Thomas Crapper, and Thomas Twyford made some changes.

  Now, to flush, it was necessary to pull the chain, and the contents of the toilet were drained through the pipe into the sewer. According to this principle, toilets worked, which began to be mass-produced at the beginning of the 20th century.

  According to Ushakov's dictionary, the word "toilet bowl" comes from the name of the Spanish company "Unitas" (lat. Unitas - unity), which was engaged in the electrification of the country, and at the same time produced toilet bowls since 1909, which were also supplied to Russia. The replacement of "s" with "z" occurred due to association with the word "pelvis".

  world toilet day

  
  Currently, 2.5 billion people lack access to proper sanitation, including toilets or just pit latrines

  The invention of the toilet bowl is a real breakthrough in the development of civilization, but almost half of the world's population still does not have the opportunity to relieve themselves in special places. In this regard, every year since 2001, November 19 is celebrated as World Toilet Day.

  The main objective of this holiday is to increase the number of people who have access to hygienic toilets and thereby reduce the death rate due to unsanitary conditions.

  Without exaggeration, the toilet is one of the most significant inventions of man. Without it, not only comfort is unthinkable, but life in principle.

  We get so used to everyday things that we rarely think about what they were before, what they could be in the future, and how we would live without them at all. One such thing taken for granted is the faience flush toilet. We already have a variety of models available for installation in an apartment, and today we offer to travel through the centuries and trace the development of the toilet bowl from the most ancient models to modern engineering masterpieces.

  Ancient world

  The first flush toilets are believed to have appeared in the Indus civilization in the third millennium BC. They were connected to a complex sewerage system and in developed cities were in almost every home. From the second millennium, the Minoan civilization that developed in Crete also began to use them.

  The Roman Empire

  In the centuries of prosperity of the Roman Empire, toilets were quite popular. Like the baths, they were public and joined the sewers, through which water was periodically drained. Unfortunately, with the decline of the empire, the culture of hygiene also declined, and until the end of the Middle Ages, the issue of arranging latrines was of little concern to anyone.

  Ancient Roman toilet. Photo: Fr Lawrence Lew

  Invention of the flush toilet

  Sir John is credited with the invention of the toilet. Harington. It is believed that it was he who created a toilet for Catherine I, equipped with a tank with a valve for draining water.

  In any case, the industrial revolution could not but affect the development of technology, and the growth of cities - the development of sewage, and gradually toilets began to spread and acquire a modern look. This became possible thanks to the invention by Alexander Cumming of a hydraulic seal - a U-shaped bend of pipes that prevents the penetration of malodorous and dangerous sewer gases into the room.

  In 1755, the shutter was patented, and inventor Joseph Bramah opened the first workshop for the production of flush toilets,starting to install them in London, and at the same time improving the design so that freezing water in winter does not interfere with the operation of mechanisms.

  
  

  Joseph Brahm's first flush toilet and Alexander Cummingon's hydraulic seal

  English toilets

  Only in the 19th century did toilet bowls become a common and common item. George Jennings opened a manufactory for their production in the 1840s. The most famous manufacturer of toilets (and the holder of several patents for their improvements) was Thomas Crapper. But the ceramic toilet bowl, which is a unity of a tank and a bowl (from the word unitas - “unity” - the name of this item came from), was invented by Thomas Twyford.

  
  

  Worldwide distribution

  Gradually, toilets began to spread across continental Europe. One of the first was installed in 1860 in the palace of Queen Victoria.

  Toilets with cistern raised to the ceiling appeared in the United States. In 1906, William Sloan invented the flushing system, which no longer worked by gravity, but by supplying pressurized water. A year later, a vortex flush system was invented, in which water flowed down the bowl like a funnel, effectively washing away impurities from it. Toilet bowls were improved, acquiring the mechanisms and features familiar to us. In 1980, Bruce Thompson invented the double-tank cistern to conserve water, and Philip Haas invented the rim-flush toilet.

  
  

  One of the inventions of Philip Haas

  Modern design

  Today, the design of the toilets themselves, flush systems and pipelines continue to improve, and it is obvious that the models familiar to all of us with a tank attached to the bowl are gradually giving way to more technically advanced and stylish designs. They are developed by both new companies and veterans - for example, the German company TECE, founded back in 1955. It was organized from a design bureau, so the typical engineering culture of asking questions has been preserved in it so far: when working on projects, specialists strive to improve each one to make the mechanism work faster and more efficiently and look as attractive as possible.

  
  

  Modern toilets, like the rest of the technology, tend to become built-in, and TECE is working in this direction: the company develops wall modules made of high-strength steel, protected by a zinc layer and powder-coated. Flushing cisterns are made of the durable and strong plastic capable to work properly under loading the calculated service life. Of course, a hidden structure is more difficult to install and repair, so you need to pay attention to the warranty period, which TECE has the longest on the market - up to 10 years.

  
  

  Along with the technical improvement of hidden structures, modern companies are also paying attention to the few remaining structural elements, in particular, flush keys. TECE is also market leader in this respect: no manufacturer offers such a variety of colors, textures and materials from which the panels are made. The range of TECE flush systems will satisfy the taste of the most demanding customer: from classic flush-mounted pushbuttons to rotary knobs to electronic panels for hygienic, non-contact flushing.

  

  Multifunctional systems and integrated solutions are another important modern trend that extends to toilet structures. Thus, the TECElux multifunctional toilet terminal includes an air purification system, touch-sensitive flush keys, a dual flush system and height adjustment.

  Finally, it is still possible to improve small details and invent micro-solutions that, despite their external insignificance, can significantly improve the quality of life. For example, the problem of splashing when flushing can be solved by installing restrictive rings to control the speed of water movement. Simple and elegant, isn't it?

  As we can see, technology does not stand still, and thanks to generations of engineers, toilet bowls continue to improve, changing to suit our ideas of beauty and the requirements of maximum hygiene. Therefore, if you are going to make repairs, pay attention to the developments of the industry flagships and choose a modern system that adapts to your personal needs, and not a design from the last century, no matter how familiar and deceptively reliable it may seem.

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  03 Sep 2012

  Toilet - well, everyone is familiar with this subject. Unless in distant mountain villages they use other means of comfort. One of my acquaintances, who came to the USA in the mid-seventies, was simply shocked to see a toilet with an ordinary toilet bowl in the desert on the Mexican border, tens of kilometers from the nearest housing. But where does the unusual name of this wonderful device come from?

  Toilet-compact

  The first toilet bowl with a flush tank was invented around 1596 by Sir John Harrington for Queen Elizabeth I. The author named his invention "Ajax" and described it in detail in the book "Ajax's Metamorphoses", describing all the materials used and their prices. The price of a Harrington toilet was quite high at that time (six shillings and eight pence), but water closets did not become widespread not at all because of the high cost, but because of the lack of running water and sewerage in the English capital.

  John Harrington.

  Toilet design stagnated for the next two hundred years, until the valve-flush toilet was invented in 1738.
  Somewhat later, Alexander Cummings developed a water seal (Eng. water closet), who solved the problem of unpleasant odors and received a patent for this device in 1775.

  Siphon - water lock.

  In 1777, Joseph Praser designed a cistern with a handled valve. In 1778, Thomas Krepper, the owner of several patents for plumbing inventions, invented a metered water drain device, the toilet acquired an almost modern look.

  
  Pig-iron drain tank with the handle on a chain.

  In 1883, Thomas Twyford improved the Krepper model by making the bowl of more aesthetic faience and equipping the structure with a wooden seat. He presented his creation under the name "UNITAS" in 1884 at the London International Health Exhibition. The product "UNITAS", that is, the unity of aspiration and execution, received the highest award - a gold medal.

  Dressing chair (Europe, 19th century)

  At the beginning of the 20th century, the Spanish company "UNITAS", which means "unity" in Spanish, began to supply sanitary ware produced by it to Russia. These devices fell in love with the consumer and went, as they say, like hot cakes. The contractors who installed these plumbing fixtures referred to them as "Unitas fixtures" or simply "Unitas". Gradually, the incomprehensible word "toilet" was transformed into the word "toilet", with an emphasis on the letter "a". Perhaps this transformation occurred due to the presence in the Russian language of the word "taz", also related to sanitary devices. However, the origin of the name of the product, so popular among all segments of the population, is symbolic. Perhaps, nothing in the world unites people of all races and continents like this wonderful device: "Unitas" - a toilet bowl.

  Rural toilet in a subtropical design.

  At the end of the 19th century, manufacturers of faience products from Russia bought a license for the production of toilet bowls in the Russian Empire. Already in 1912, 40,000 toilet bowls were made in Russia. In 1929, 150 thousand toilet bowls were produced in the USSR, and in the first five-year plan, the production of toilet bowls was a separate line: the country needed 280 thousand toilet bowls a year. The toilet bowl in those years was a device with a cast-iron cistern under the ceiling and a handle on a chain; they can still be found in communal apartments throughout the former USSR.
  Before the introduction of toilet bowls, maintaining sanitation with a large crowd of people in one place has always been a problem. In the Deuteronomy of Moses, soldiers were ordered to carry not only weapons (sword, shield, spear) but also a shovel used to dig a hole before natural needs and after, for burying Thus, elements of sanitation were instilled in the soldiers. Epidemics in the troops very often caused much greater losses than enemy weapons.

  The Israelite army crosses the Jordan.

  Maintaining sanitation in the army has always and at all times been extremely relevant. Look at this wonderful document from the turn of the century.

  "Instruction for the maintenance of latrines" (1907).

  In the United States, the introduction of toilets has been slower. The Seattle Museum exhibits the first toilet constructed in the United States in 1890. Until then, toilet bowls were imported from Europe, by the same Spanish company "UNITAS" and their own licensed toilet bowls were produced. But then the United States went ahead quickly, and perhaps only the Japanese compete with them in this.

  Technologically advanced toilet with electronic control panel. Tokyo, Japan, 2008

  I shared with you the information that I "dug up" and systematized. At the same time, he has not become impoverished at all and is ready to share further, at least twice a week. If you find errors or inaccuracies in the article, please let us know. I'll be very thankful.

  Civilization begins with sewers. The history of the toilet and its "ancestors" is rooted in antiquity.

  

  According to most historians and architects, the first prototype of the toilet appeared around 3000 BC. in Mesopotamia. Slightly younger than them, those found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro (on the banks of the Indus River) were a more complex sewer system: sewage from latrines made near the outer walls of houses flowed into street ditches, along which they left the city. The latrine was a brick box with a wooden seat. The storerooms of the British Museum keep the find no less valuable and ancient. The carved throne-stool of the Sumerian queen Shubad from the tomb in Ur dates back to 2600 BC.

  

  As for the ancient Egyptians, their toilets, which we know mainly from excavations at Tell el-Amarna (14th century BC), the city of Pharaoh Akhenaten, were not connected to the sewer. In rich houses, a lavatory whitened with lime was arranged behind the bathroom. It contained a limestone slab placed on top of a brick box filled with sand, which had to be cleaned out periodically. In one of the ancient Egyptian burials in Thebes, dating back to the same century as the city of the famous pharaoh, a portable wooden toilet was found, under which an earthenware pot was placed.

  

  Archaeologists working in the province of Henan excavating the tomb of one of the rulers of the Western Han Dynasty, which ruled China from 206 BC. to 24 BC, found a toilet. With a stone seat, comfortable armrests and running water connected to it.

  

  And, of course, in toilet history you can not get around the Eternal City - the main metropolis of antiquity - Rome. One of its oldest engineering structures is Cloaca Maxima (from Latin Cluo - to clean). It was originally an open canal built in the 6th century BC. and served both to drain marshy soil and to drain sewage. On it, all the contents descended into the Tiber River. A branch of the cloaca approached each of the toilets, and then returned to the main highway. A seat with a hole was placed directly above the duct, so the flowing water was constantly washing away waste products. For many centuries, Cloaca Maxima has been the most advanced sewer system in the world. By the 1st century AD, the population of the city had already reached a million, and therefore the cloaca had to be expanded in places up to 7 meters; workers who monitored her condition floated on it in a boat.

  

  It is interesting that, like bath procedures, going to the toilet for a Roman was a public event. The seats stood in a circle and were not separated by partitions. Therefore, a cheerful murmur was constantly interspersed with talk about the fate of the empire, and Roman businessmen dragged important clients not to the bathhouse, as they are now, but to the toilet. Heated seats were also an important achievement of the Romans. The solution was simple - the seat was heated by robes attached to the restroom. In turn, changing from one seat to another, the slave maintained the desired temperature with the warmth of his soft spot.

  

  In the Middle Ages, Europeans used to throw the contents of a chamber pot right out of the window. The authorities of London found an original way out: they began to hire people who were supposed to walk the streets and, noticing how someone leaned out with a pot, shouting: “Watch out!”

  

  

  The streets were buried in mud and shit so much that there was no way to go through them in the mud. It was then, according to the chronicles that have come down to us, that stilts appeared in many German cities, the “spring shoes” of a city dweller, without which it was simply impossible to move around the streets. The German fashion for stilts, with the help of which it was only possible to move through filthy streets, spread so widely that in France and Belgium in the Middle Ages there were even competitions on stilts between two camps into which the inhabitants were divided.

  In Paris, in 1270, a law was issued, under the threat of a fine, forbidding "pouring slop and sewage from the upper windows of houses." The famous inventor Leonardo da Vinci, invited to the court of King Francis 1, was so shocked by the stench of Paris that he designed a flush toilet specifically for his patron. In the drawings of the great seer, water supply pipes, sewer outlets, and ventilation shafts are indicated. And although, as in the case of a helicopter and a submarine, Leonardo was centuries ahead of his time, the drawings of his toilet were never put into practice. removable tank from the inside. Furniture makers were sophisticated, veiling stools under chairs, banquettes, desks and even bookshelves! The whole building was usually richly decorated with wooden carvings, fabric drapery, and gilding.

  

  The next time Sir John Harrington thought about the civilized removal of sewage. In 1596, he built an original "night vase" for the English Queen Elizabeth, which did not need to be taken out and cleaned regularly. She washed herself on the spot, with water from a tank connected from above. Actually, this is where the history of the flush system came from. Unlike running water, where water flows constantly, flushing saves water - which in the palace of the Queen of England had to be raised to the chambers with buckets. True, in addition to the water supply, there was no sewerage in the palace either - so Harrington had to attach a special container from below under his toilet bowl. These problems delayed the development of toilet technology for another 200 years.

  

  Another invention of enlightened European aristocrats was "potty tricks". So, the French king Louis 14 (1638-1715) considered it impolite to interrupt the conversation because of such a trifle as the desire to go to the toilet. The monarch would sit on a chair with a hole in the middle and a pot underneath. This "toilet" was made of expensive porcelain, trimmed with precious stones, with gilding and exquisite patterns. Catherine de Medici conducted receptions in a similar way. And when her husband died, she changed the color of the velvet that fitted the toilet seat to black, apparently so that everyone could appreciate the extent of her grief.

  

  

  Ordinary aristocrats at that time also did not disdain to use the pot in front of all honest people.

  

  Right at the balls, the servant brought the needy gentleman or lady a pot, which they immediately used for its intended purpose.

  

  But if the men managed the pots without any problems, then the ladies in magnificent dresses had to endure some inconvenience. Therefore, in the 16th century, they invented burdala - elongated pots, or vases, which were easy to hide under numerous skirts.

  

  In 1775, London watchmaker Alexander Cumming created the first flush toilet. Three years later, another inventor, Joseph Bramah, came up with a cast-iron toilet and a hinged lid. This toilet has already been a success. Also toilet bowls were made of enameled steel. One such can be seen in the Hofburg, the Viennese seat of the Habsburgs. Soon, faience toilet bowls appeared - it was more convenient to wash it. In 1830, Asian cholera, which spread along with water spoiled by sewage, took the lives of many Europeans. Another scourge was typhoid fever. At this point, the governments became thoughtful and decided to fork out for sewerage, and with it for comfortable toilets. Thomas Krepper, who gave the world the “pull the chain” system, became most famous in the toilet industry. It was he who used a curved drain pipe with a water seal, which protected the toilet room from direct contact with the sewer system.

  

  Well, the mass production of toilet bowls began in 1909 in Spain. This noble cause was taken up by a company called Unitas, which means union and unification. At first they were called hygienic pottery. Over time, the too long name was replaced with a short "toilet" - according to the name of the manufacturer's company. Many good minds have worked on the simple, ordinary-looking toilet that we use today.

  

  

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