Pop
Quiz!
Wait a minute! I thought Thomas Crapper invented the toilet. What was
Crapper's claim to fame?
That's right!
Answer: C. Designed a pull-chain system that decreased noise and
preserved water
In the 1800s, three British entrepreneurs made dramatic improvements to the toilet.
Thomas
Crapper: He improved his predecessor's valve system in 1884. A pull-chain
worked with a valveless toilet tank. This system decreased noise and preserved
water. He called it the "Valveless Water-Waste Preventer." Water in the
tank refilled automatically. One good pull on the chain would flush the
toilet; users did not have to pull and hold the pull-chain for the water
to flush the bowl. He held nine patents for plumbing-related inventions
in England, but he did not invent the toilet.
George
Jennings: He greatly increased the pressure of water entering the
toilet bowl. The result: The toilet contents were fully emptied and the
bowl was left clean. He conducted tests by successfully flushing 10 apples,
a flat sponge and four pieces of paper.
Thomas
Twyford: He created the porcelain toilet bowl, which was much easier
to clean. The new toilet designs did not solve the problem of trapped
sewer gas. And it was not until the next century that a much quieter toilet
was invented. Toilets in the 1800s were so noisy -- despite Crapper's
enhancements -- that people inside and outside the house knew when someone
had flushed. The house vibrated from water moving through the pipes.
