The Tale of the Toilet: An Englishman’s Perspective By Terry Woolliscroft BSc. (Hons), FIPHE
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he toilet. It has been described as “one of the most important inventions of the last 1,000 years.” Now, I didn’t say that, but none other than the London Times newspaper said that in its millennium edition. It compared the invention of the toilet with, amongst others, the development of the Gutenberg printing press in the 1400s, the atomic bomb, and the moon landing of 1969. Here’s another statement: “One of the most successful designs ever. It doesn’t only improve lives, it saves them.” Now, I didn’t say that, but none other than the Manchester Independent newspaper said that in a recent morning edition. And one more bold statement: “It has done more to improve the health of the people of the world than any pills or potions.” I said that! And it is true that the toilet is an important invention — and we, as plumbing professionals, know that. But in the whole history of mankind it is relatively recent and, as we shall see, we had to wait for the great entrepreneurs of the Victorian times for it to be developed into what we know and love today.
Primitive Sanitation Early primitives were, of course, the first sanitarians. They knew the rules – and learned them the hard way. They knew that they must keep their sewage away from their cooking. They knew that they had to keep their kitchen upstream and their toilet downstream. If they reversed this layout there would be terrible consequences. Death would follow. It is this fundamental principle that we work with today. The toilet is part of the process of separating excreta from drinking water.
Roman Latrines The Romans were excellent sanitarians. They regarded ablutions as extremely important and built elaborate latrines in their towns and forts. Evidence remains of bath houses and toilet blocks. Here communal latrines had been built. Users sat on marble slabs. Each slab, with its hole, was supported above gushing water to take away excreta. Fresh water channels in front of the slabs allowed users to wash themselves using a natural sponge tied to the end of a twig or stick. 6 Official
Terry Woolliscroft, Lavatorial Toiletologist, gets a grip on the subject.
Of course the invention of toilet tissue was years ahead and was not available to the Romans. Sponge sticks were an excellent way of cleaning, but I do suspect that they were the origin of the phrase “the wrong end of the stick”! The Romans left Britain in A.D. 450 and their civilization and legacy of sanitary science went with them. Their heritage disappeared and we plunged into the dark ages. A thousand years unwashed.
using a sudden rush of the water. It was a genuine WC. A brilliant invention. Years ahead of its time. And, like all great new products, devices, and gizmos, it was very expensive. It came in at £1 10s 8d, around £1000 or $1850 in today’s money. It didn’t catch on!
The First WC
Sir John Harington (1561-1612), inventor of the first ever fully functioning and self-contained water closet. No one could afford it, and only two were ever constructed. Harington made one for himself for use at his home in Kelston Manor in Bath, Somerset, England and the other for use by his godmother, Queen Elizabeth 1st at Richmond Palace, on the River Thames.
Replica of Harington’s water closet on display at Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, England. We had to wait until 1592 before the next milestone in sanitary science was achieved. This is when Sir John Harington, the rather well-to-do godson of Queen Elizabeth 1st got terribly bored with his lifestyle (he was a poet) and set about designing what we now know to be the first ever fully functioning and self-contained water closet. His invention was something we can now all recognize but not many people of his time did. It was a major breakthrough in sanitary science and toilet design. It was an efficient and reasonably hygienic means of disposal of human waste. It had a cistern containing water. It had a seat and a bowl to receive the “goodies.” It had a means of flushing away those goodies
Harington was ahead of his time and we had to wait two hundred years before the next glimpse of the sanitary future came along. This was when Alexander Cumming invented the first valve closet.
The Valve Closet Cumming was a watchmaker from London and he applied his knowledge of mechanics to inventing the sliding valve closet. Again, it was the brilliant invention of its time. A genuine machine for the disposal of human waste and a major breakthrough in design. A success, but not for long. The trouble was that
“The Origin of the Feces,” with apologies to Charles Darwin.
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because the mechanism relied on a sliding valve, it soon fouled up. The slider rusted and stuck fast. Muck and filth — the very reason for its existence — contributed to its downfall. So, not so brilliant after all. It didn’t catch on! But just three years later we saw another breakthrough. Joseph Bramah from Yorkshire, working as a cabinet maker and locksmith, took Cumming’s sliding valve and converted it to a hinged valve. This didn’t stick — the mechanism would not allow it to stick. Now this really was a success. An effective device. And it did catch on. (See diagram below.)
Thousands were sold. Every grand country house simply had to have one and both engineers and potters were able to make a living constructing the clever device. The Royal Doulton Company displayed them proudly in their catalogs well into the 20th century, long after the development of the freestanding ceramic marvel we know today. Thomas William Twyford (18491921), father of the British bathroom.
Twyford Bathrooms of Stoke-on-Trent, England, also manufactured them and, interestingly, still manufactures spare parts for these machines. Special customers — for example, Her Majesty the Queen — from time to time require a replacement ceramic bowl and Twyford obliges. It is for this reason that Twyford Bathrooms is unique in that it holds the Royal Warrant for the supply of bathrooms to the Royal Household. This diagram depicts Cumming’s sliding valve closet of 1775 with its “s trap.”
The hinged valve closet was expensive and complicated and, for the likes of you and me, it was well out of our reach. So most people still relied on the humble privy: a plank and a bucket in a draughty hovel at the bottom of the garden. We still needed a design breakthrough that was cheap and cheerful, clean and decent, and it came at the height of the Victorian era when great entrepreneurs set about changing the way we lived.
The Arrival of the Monument This was the time of the “Great Stink” when the Thames was an open sewer Brahma’s hinged and people like Edward Johns and Thomas valve closet of 1778. Twyford started the race to develop the “modern” toilet. What was needed was a freestanding ceramic affair which required no mechanism and was relatively cheap. Many designs were produced. Here is one, the Twyford UNITAS, pictured at the top of the next page. This was the first free-standing, all-ceramic, pedestal wash-out closet. Lavishly decorated inside with printed blue dahlias and outside with raised oak leaves and acorns to encourage the masses to love it and buy it. And they did. It caught on and sold in huge quantities worldwide. The UNITAS revolutionized the bathroom industry and one of its kind is proudly displayed at the Twyford factory. It is described as Twyford’s Monument. “The Monument to Excrement.” 8
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I love this true story about the UNITAS. It sold in thousands all over the world and did particularly well in Russia. So well, in fact, that the name UNITAS became absorbed into the Russian language to mean “toilet.” So here is a hint for travelers: The next time you’re in Moscow or St. Petersburg or Omsk and you need to “go,” just ask for the UNITAS and you’ll be directed to the nearest bathroom!
Talking about ladies urinals, there was another attempt to introduce one of these lavatorial inventions: The Lady P. Introduced in 2001. Withdrawn in 2005. It didn’t catch on!
Twyford’s UNITAS, a breakthrough in sanitary engineering. 1883.
Some Failures Along the Way By 1900 the modern bathroom had been designed. Virtually all the shapes, sizes, and designs to which we are now accustomed had been laid down. Form had followed function! The bathroom was established and the industry was on its way. In the 1930s there was a serious attempt by Royal Doulton Bathrooms to introduce another piece of ceramic sanitaryware to the bathroom. Manufacturers like Doulton were keen to expand their market with new bathroom inventions. And with a great leap of imagination, a great leap into the future, they developed the ladies urinal! The Royal Doulton deluxe ladies’ urinal of 1936, with thigh supports. This was an ugly and cumbersome affair and not at all elegant. It did not look well in either domestic or commercial applications. Even the deluxe model with its “thigh supports” was insufficient to encourage its use. It didn’t catch on! It was rejected by the masses. Introduced 1936. Withdrawn 1942.
The Sphinx “Lady P,” 2001. It also didn’t catch on. About the same time as the Lady P, the men’s waterless urinal was also introduced. But if you’ve ever used one, you won’t want to try another. Ever. At all. No!
Efficiency Now let us jump forward to the present day, to the early 21st century, and we can see some amazing developments going on in sanitaryware. Efficiency is the buzz-word at the moment. And three efficiencies spring to mind: • manufacturing efficiency, • installation efficiency, and • water efficiency. In manufacturing efficiency, the future lies in the use of robots. Amazing and “clever” machines that can cuddle and cajole, manipulate and maneuver soft and delicate clay during the production process. But these machines are definitely masculine in form. They are in no way feminine. They can only do one thing at a time! In product installation efficiency, the future of sanitaryware lies in efficient and reliable, good quality installation. A few years ago Twyford Bathrooms pioneered the “Total Install” system. Toilet suites using Total Install are supplied with factory-fitted and tested mechanisms. Washbasins come with wall brackets inspired by the boiler industry, and acrylic baths have fast-fit flip-up legsets. Bathrooms with Total Install are quick to fit, reliable, and reduce the amount of call-backs. January/February 2007
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It may be at “normal” height for “normal” people and even then may be adjusted millimeter by millimeter to suit a “vertically challenged” person. Then at the push of a button, it may be used at the Lady P height. Or for gentlemen, at gentleman’s urinal height. And at this height, it may double up as a convenient sick bowl!
Clever robots that cuddle and cajole fragile clay into sanitaryware wonders. In water usage efficiency, bathroom products will require less of that precious commodity, water. This is the important one! Throughout history, the toilet has been seen as the “naughty” appliance in the household. It’s been regarded as the water waster. But not any more. In the last twenty years, the volume of water being used to flush a modern WC has been halved from 13 liters (3.43 US gallons) to 6 liters (1.585 US gallons) and the pressure is now on to reduce it even further. Toilets are now commonly available with a 4 liter (1.06 US gallons) flush — but will our drainage system cope?
VIP And finally, let us take a peek into the distant (or perhaps not so distant) future. Let’s look at the concept WC from Twyford Bathrooms. The VIP — The Versatile Interactive Pan. Its versatility comes from the fact that the china toilet bowl which, being mounted on a mechanism, can be made to rise or fall to a position which suits the preference of the user. No longer is the user committed to using a toilet at a height that was laid down 120 years ago. With the VIP, the user chooses! The bowl may be at low level for a child. Or with its seat moved automatically away, it can be used in squatting mode.
So the push button control allows the user to adjust the height of the bowl. That’s the versatility of this new machine! But the deluxe version of the VIP is even better with voice activation. Another few thousand dollars buys you a device that can recognize your voice and will adjust to your preferred height without the need to touch a grubby button on the wall. The interactivity is, well, something else. This interactive marvel is connected to the Internet! Deep in the heart of the VIP is a medical sensor. Once you have made your liquid deposit, the machine will have a good look at it and instantly give you a printed analysis of your condition. If you were, say, diabetic, the machine would give you a reading of your blood sugar level. But more importantly, it would use the connection to the Internet to send the reading to your local clinic for its records. In this way the VIP is a true healthcare toilet. You have no need to visit your clinic. And the doctor or nurse doesn’t need to visit you. Think of the cost savings! Health insurance rates will positively plummet! Alternatively, let’s imagine your VIP had analyzed your stools. (Or in the UK, since we are part of the European community, we like to call it your “EuroPoo”!) The VIP may decide that your metabolism is not quite in the state that it should be. It may decide that your bowels are not in tip-top condition. Perhaps not enough roughage. If this was the case it would immediately send an e-mail order to your local grocery store, which would quickly send a van to you loaded to the brim with red beans, kidney beans, baked beans, half baked beans, oats, muesli, bran flakes, corn flakes, almond flakes, fruit, coconuts, lentils, linseed, and noodles. Perhaps. The Twyford VIP is still in development. Will it ever catch on? Will it ever be manufactured? Who knows? But that’s the Tale of the Toilet.
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About the Author
Terry Woolliscroft is the customer training manager at Twyford Bathrooms. He is a member of Twyford's marketing team and his role involves him in speaking to all sorts of customers, at home and abroad, about all aspects of the vast Twyford Bathrooms portfolio. He is based in the purpose-built Twyford Training Centre at the heart of the factory in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is here that Terry runs seminars for builders, merchants, and bathroom retail customers, bathroom designers, salesmen, and merchant counter staff. Terry has a university degree in ceramic technology and is a fellow of the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering. In September 2006, during a lecture tour of the USA, he was voted the “The W.E. Mitchell Speaker of the Year” by members of ASSE on Capitol Hill. (He’s sometimes called a “lavatorial historian” or, even more ridiculously, a “lavatorial toiletologist.”) thetaleofthetoilet.com
January/February 2007
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