Posted on 02/02/2002 6:53:00 AM PST by BP2
Sunday marks birthday of flush toilet
MIAMI, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Home Depot launched a public relations effort this week to urge shoppers to celebrate the 165th birthday of the flush toilet Sunday by shopping from more than 100 different models of toilets with various features, designs and colors.
The home improvement giant probably has its date wrong but no one can be sure. The Feb. 3, 1837, date surfaces on a number of historical calendars. It might be close, and it might be wrong by a couple of millennia or so.
It could be an approximation of the birth date of Sir Thomas Crapper, who is widely credited with inventing the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible.
But Adam Hart-Davis, a BBC personality and author of "Thunder, Flash and Thomas Crapper," says it seems unlikely Crapper invented the siphonic flush, and it is certain he did not patent it.
Historians say Crapper installed a number of toilets for Queen Victoria in the late 19th century, but others say it already been invented by Queen Elizabeth I's godson 300 years earlier.
There are still others who credit Alexander Cumming for patenting a flushing device in 1775. John Harrington published a pamphlet on the subject in the 16th century and George Jennings was given credit for many improvements in 18th century.
When the ironclad warship Monitor was salvaged in 1998 they found a water closet used by the ship's officer. It used an attached water supply, a pressure-sealed lid, an air pump and a release valve, all of which had to be operated in the proper sequence in order to expel waste material through the Civil War vessel's hull. Designed by inventor John Ericsson, it was one of two such devices in existence at the time.
Some people claim the modern toilet was invented in ancient times -- 4000 years ago in Crete. Archaeologists in China discovered a water closet in the tomb of a 2,000-year-old king in central China.
In short, nobody seems to know, so the aptly named Crapper -- who Hart-Davis says was never really knighted -- seems to be the choice. The devices are named after the plumber in the United States, but oddly enough not in Great Britain.
A group of U.S. soldiers brought the term back with them after World War I.
Since the time of Crapper, or World War I for that matter, Home Depot points out that many changes have been made.
"Today's bathrooms are becoming more like our own personal spas with an increase in overall squre footge, more sunken bath tubs with jets and other amenities,' said Home Depot's Ray Crivello.
Freeper flush bump.
Home Depot launched a public relations effort this week to urge shoppers to celebrate the 165th birthday of the flush toilet Sunday by shopping from more than 100 different models of toilets with various features, designs and colors.This has to be at least as important as Arbor Day.
and a bump
and a bump
Damn, I can't get this stuff to go down!
I was in a motel and noticed that they had the low flush, but it had some sort of jet expulsion on it. That seems to work. I figure if the hotels/motels can use this type, if I buy replacements, it will be the heavy duty type used in public places.
"chain drive?"
i always enjoyed the "calm, walk....back"
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you one of g'mans plumbers?
Oh wait...
That's the Super Bowl not flush bowl.
Or maybe they are the same thing this year.
If so, Al Bundy should be the Grand Marshall.
No. But there may be one in Flushing (no 's').
Go to an auto parts store (Pep Boys, Kragen, NAPA) get some penetrating oil, let it soak a little then try removing the bolts...it may take a few tries but it will likely loosen the rust....
Not knowing your problem for certain, if you can't remove the nuts from the bolts. Take a hacksaw blade and run it between the bowl and the tank to cut the bolts.
Replace the bolts and nuts with brass.
If you can locate the crack, you might be able to repair it with epoxy putty. We had a toilet tank crack many years ago in one of the apartments and repaired it with the epoxy putty. It's still holding up.
Whenever we have to replace an old toilet with one of the new ones in an apartment, I always give the resident a new toilet plunger and a copy of the Dave Barry article on low flush toilets.
If all else fails, maybe you could locate a demolition contractor to see if they could help you.
If you call yourself an American, you need to know about a crucial issue that is now confronting the U.S. Congress (motto: "Remaining Firmly In Office Since 1798''). This is an issue that affects every American, regardless of race or gender or religion or briefs or boxers; this is an issue that is fundamental to the whole entire Cherished American Way of Life
This issue is toilets.
I'm talking about the toilets now being manufactured for home use. They stink. Literally. You have to flush them two or three times to get the job done. It has become very embarrassing to be a guest at a party in a newer home, because if you need to use the toilet, you then have to lurk in the bathroom for what seems (to you) like several presidential administrations, flushing, checking, waiting, flushing, checking, while the other guests are whispering: ``What is (your name) DOING in there? The laundry?”
I know this because I live in a home with three new toilets, and I estimate that I spend 23 percent of my waking hours flushing them. This is going on all over America, and it's causing a serious loss in national productivity that could really hurt us as we try to compete in the global economy against nations such as Japan, where top commode scientists are developing super-efficient, totally automated household models so high-tech that they make the Space Shuttle look like a doorstop.
The weird thing is, the old American toilets flushed just fine. So why did we change? What force would cause an entire nation to do something so stupid? Here's a hint: It's the same force that from time to time gets a bee in its gigantic federal bonnet and decides to spend millions of dollars on some scheme to convert us all to the metric system, or give us all Swine Flu shots, or outlaw tricycles, or whatever. You guessed it! Our government!
What happened was, in 1992, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which declared that, to save water, all U.S. consumer toilets would henceforth use 1.6 gallons of water per flush. That is WAY less water than was used by the older 3.5-gallon models -- the toilets that made this nation great; the toilets that our Founding Fathers fought and died for -- which are now prohibited for new installations. The public was not consulted about the toilet change, of course; the public has to go to work, so it never gets consulted about anything going on in Washington.
But it's the public that has been stuck with these new toilets, which are saving water by requiring everybody to flush them enough times to drain Lake Erie on an hourly basis. The new toilets are so bad that there is now -- I am not making this up -- a black market in 3.5-gallon toilets. People are sneaking them into new homes, despite the fact that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act provides for-- I am not making this up, either -- a $2,500 fine for procuring and installing an illegal toilet.
I checked this out with my local plumber, who told me that people are always asking him for 3.5-gallon toilets, but he refuses to provide them, because of the law. The irony is that I live in Miami; you can buy drugs here simply by opening your front door and yelling: ``Hey! I need some crack!''
Here's another irony: The federal toilet law is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy. According to a Washington Post article sent in by many alert readers, the DOE recently had to close several men's rooms in the Forrestall Building because -- I am STILL not making this up -- overpressurized air in the plumbing lines was causing urinals to explode. That's correct: These people are operating the Urinals of Death, and they're threatening to fine us if we procure working toilets
The public -- and this is why I love this nation -- is not taking this sitting down. There has been a grass-roots campaign, led by commode activists, to change the toilet law, and a bill that would do that (H.R. 859 -- The Plumbing Standards Act) has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Michigan. I talked to Rep. Knollenberg's press secretary, Frank Maisano, who told me that the public response has been very positive. But the bill has two strikes against it:
1. It makes sense.
2. People want it.
These are huge liabilities in Washington. The toilet bill will probably face lengthy hearings and organized opposition from paid lobbyists; for all we know it will get linked to Whitewater and wind up being investigated by up to four special prosecutors. So it may not be passed in your lifetime. But I urge you to do what you can. Write to your congresshumans, and tell them you support Rep. Knollenberg's bill. While you're at it, tell them you'd like to see a constitutional amendment stating that if any federal agency has so much spare time that it's regulating toilets, that agency will immediately be eliminated, and its buildings will be used for some activity that has some measurable public benefit, such as laser tag.
So come on, America! This is your chance to make a difference! Stand up to these morons! Join the movement!
Speaking of which, I have to go flush.
No but I've been one of the g'man's plungers.
Most toilets used to have an 1.5 inch built in trap in the bowl. Many toilet makers went to utilizing only 1.6 gallons in the toilet tank because of federal regulations but did nothing to help increase the exit flow. Within the last year or so many have increased the built in trap size to two inches to help the exit flow.
It wasn't till the late 1860's that someone came up with the idea of treating sewage instead of dumping it straight into major rivers.
Some American cities... could still stand to learn this lesson
I always thought that was symphonic. ;^)
It's Potty Party Time !! !!
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