Take a Break, It’s Plumbing Trivia Time!!!

Okay, I’m a sucker for trivia, so you’ll just have to bear with me for the next few posts. This will be the first of three installments.

1. Water pipes used to be made from Lead. In fact, the word Plumbing (and plumb, and plumber) actually derive from the Latin word for Lead, plumbum. (Incidentally, the periodic table element label for lead, Pb, is based on the same word).
2. Pipes haven’t always been made of metal. In the 1800s, both Boston and Montreal used wooden pipes; they were logs that were hollowed out and tapered at the ends.
3. Lead solder was used even after lead was found to be harmful to humans, all the way through the 1980s. It was believed that the amount of lead that could potentially leach into the water was too small to matter. We’ve sinced smartened up.
4. There are actually two common types of plungers – a toilet plunger and a sink/shower plunger. Toilet plungers narrow at the bottom to fit into the toilet drain, while sink and shower plungers have a flat rim.
5. Sir John “the john” Herrington is credited with inventing the flushable toilet in 1596. He called it the “Ajax” a shortened version of “a jakes.” “Jakes” was a common old slang for toilet at that time. Unfortunately, Sir John’s designation for the flushable toilet didn’t stick, but his name did. Thomas Crapper (baptised 28 September 1836 – died 27 January 1910) was a plumber who founded Thomas Crapper & Co. in London. Contrary to widespread misconceptions, Crapper did not invent the water closet (toilet). He did, however, do much to increase the popularity of the toilet, and developed some important related inventions, such as the ballcock.

While you may have been able to make it through your day without knowing these not-so-important plumbing facts, it is important to know which plumbers to call if you have a clogged drain, gas leak, or water heater problems in Carmel, Fishers, Zionsville or Indianapolis. . . and that would be AttaBoy Plumbing Company.

And THIS bit of trivia is not so trivial if you want to put some cash in your pocket: See how you can make money with AttaBoy including next week’s SNOOZE YOU LOSE drawing!