A brief history of toilets

On sunny days, it's not uncommon to find Roman citizens of Ostia unwinding on a long stone bench adjacent to the Forum. While attending to more urgent matters, gossip and news were spread among neighbors and acquaintances. These public bathrooms can accommodate up to 20 Romans at once, who flush their waste down into the water pipes below.

Nowadays, the majority of cultures see bathroom visits as more intimate activities. But even when traveling alone, one of the most significant inventions in human history is the shared sewerage infrastructure. Even while there are instructions in some ancient religious scriptures to keep trash away from camping and drinking water, waste management started to resemble more conventional techniques as early as 3000 BCE.

Clay-based structures were often used in ancient Mesopotamian settlements. Early Mesopotamian cultures commonly encountered clay structures made to be squatted or sat on in the most private area of the home. These were joined to pipes that channeled waste into sewage ditches and public waterways while utilizing the force of moving water. Throughout the Bronze Age, this kind of water system was prevalent. Additionally, practically every toilet in some parts of the Indus Valley was connected to a sewage system that served the whole city. Ancient Crete even had palaces with manual flushing options. Researchers are unsure of the precise motivation for these early sewage systems. We are conscious of the significance of waste management to public health, though. Untreated sewage is a breeding ground for potentially dangerous bacteria, including those that cause cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. Another thousand years would pass before scientists fully understood the link between sickness and filth. However, there have been recorded connections between disease and the revolting stench of sewage going back at least 100 BCE.

Additionally, more advanced sanitation methods had started to emerge by the year 100 AD. The Roman Empire had aqueducts that were dedicated to carrying waste outside of cities and flowed continuously. China had both public and private lavatories at the same time, but their trash was recycled immediately. The majority of residential toilets supplied pig sites, while knowledgeable feces collectors gathered waste from public facilities to be sold as fertilizer.

In China, this tradition of rubbish disposal has existed for centuries. However, modern public sanitation was not practiced until the Middle Ages in Europe due to the fall of the Roman Empire. The use of chamber pots became common, and "gongs" or pit toilets became commonplace. Waste was deposited in public cesspools and flung out of castles' tall windows. Before leaving the city to dump their wares, so-called "gong farmers" would fill the garbage cans at night. While Europe's unhygienic customs persisted for centuries, major changes were made to the toilets themselves. By the late Middle Ages, the majority of wealthy homes possessed commode stools—wooden boxes with chairs and lids. The Groom of the Stool handled the restrooms at the royal court in England. The Groom's personal connection with the king made him an unexpectedly powerful presence, in addition to keeping a watch on the monarch's digestive system. Modern wastewater processing facilities had been developed in various cities by the start of the 19th century, and modern toilets come with a range of amenities, from the extravagant to the ecologically friendly. The world's 2 billion people still do not have access to a toilet at home, though. Furthermore, many diseases are at risk in communities with 2.2 billion people because they lack the resources to handle their trash effectively. To resolve this issue and deal with the monetary, political, and psychological issues that may lead to inequity across the sanitation system, new sanitation techniques will be necessary.

The next major development in toilet technology occurred in 1596 when Sir John Harrington built the first modern flush toilet for Queen Elizabeth. It used a valve to drain the bowl and levers to release the water, just like modern designs do today. However, Harrington's invention had a sewer-like odor. It's fortunate that Scottish inventor Alexander Cumming devised a curve in 1775 to preserve water in the drainpipe and lessen odors. Although the word "crap" predates Thomas Crapper by several centuries, he later turned this "S-trap" into the modern U-bend.