STORM2K

I read a lot about ancient plumbing. There was lots of plumbing in Rome and other countries thousands of years ago. I am sure word spread all over Europe, but why were these techniques not brought to the Americas. Our country had outhouses for hundreds of years. You would have thought people would have brought this knowledge with them.


Excavators of the mortuary temple of King Suhura at Abusir discovered niches in the walls and remnants of stone basins. These were furnished with metal fittings for use as lavatories. The outlet of the basin closed with a lead stopper attached to a chain and a bronze ring. The basin emptied through a copper pipe to a trough below. The pipe was made of 1/16-inch beaten copper to a diameter of a little under 2 inches. A lap joint seam hammered it tight.

Also found within a pyramid temple built by King Tutankhamen's father-in-law at Abusir, was a brass drain pipe running from the upper temple along the connecting masonry causeway to the outer temple on the river.

The advances by the Romans were astounding. They actually had running water in many of their cities.

I would say that in the middle ages, there was plumbing of sorts in the castles, but the biggest impediment was that there was no nationwide pacification like there was in the Roman empire. There were constant wars among the petty rulers and it would have been too easy to cut off the water supply to a town. That plus the towns couldn't afford to build water works structures. They were too busy building castles, cathedrals, and pursuing wars and crusades. The kings were too busy pursuing their own affairs rather than the convenience of their subjects.

In the early ages of this country, the costs would have been prohibitive in most places. The local and state governments were not set up for large public works projects. Consider that most roads were not paved until the early 1900's. Also, you need to consider that medical science did not make the connection between sanitation and disease, until probably the late 1800's as well.

It took us until the 1900's to get back to what the romans had! Isn't that something!

I bet they had better plumbing back then than I do in my house now. Our plumbing is always acting up. It is either the septic tank or someone (my youngest) has put a pull up in the toilet and it is stuck between the septic tank and the pipe.

Most of the buildings in Europe were masonry or stone or stuff like that. So the plumbing systems were simpler to design and less corrosive on the structure. (Is there a nice way to say that?) However, once it left the building, it was still open ditches, etc. Ewww.

In the early US, most buildings were constructed of wood, so the plumbing of the old country was not feasible.