Toilet: the story on HearLore

Toilet

The earliest known internal pit toilet dates back to the fourth millennium BC in the city of Uruk, Mesopotamia, marking a pivotal moment in human civilization when waste management first moved from open defecation to structured containment. This ancient innovation was not merely a convenience but a necessity for the growing urban populations of the time. In the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished around 2350 BC, the city of Mohenjo-Daro boasted toilets built into the outer walls of homes, connected to vertical chutes that led to cesspits or street drains. These systems were so advanced that houses belonging to the upper class in the nearby city of Lothal had private toilets connected to a covered sewer network constructed of brickwork held together with a gypsum-based mortar. The waste was either emptied into surrounding water bodies or into cesspits that were regularly cleaned and maintained. This level of sanitation engineering was unmatched for centuries and highlights the sophisticated understanding of public health held by these ancient societies. The Neolithic village of Skara Brae in Orkney, Scotland, also featured internal small rooms over a communal drain, suggesting that the concept of a dedicated space for waste disposal was spreading across different cultures independently. In Sri Lanka, the construction of toilets and lavatories evolved over several stages, with the Abhayagiri complex in Anuradhapura featuring toilets and baths dating back to the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century CE. These structures included underground terracotta pipes that led to septic pits and urinary pits with large bottomless clay pots of decreasing size placed one above the other. The pots under urinals contained sand, lime, and charcoal, through which urine filtered down to the earth in a somewhat purified form. This early form of water treatment demonstrates a remarkable understanding of filtration and waste management that would not be seen again until the modern era.

The Chamber Pot Era

For hundreds of years, the chamber pot was the primary method of handling toilet needs in Europe and beyond, serving as a receptacle, usually of ceramic or metal, into which one would excrete waste. These pots were in common use from ancient times, even being taken to the Middle East by medieval pilgrims. By the Early Modern era, chamber pots were frequently made of china or copper and could include elaborate decoration. They were emptied into the gutter of the street nearest to the home, contributing to the unsanitary conditions that plagued cities. In pre-modern Denmark, people generally defecated on farmland or other places where the human waste could be collected as fertilizer, and the Old Norse language had several terms for referring to outhouses, including garðhús (yard house), náð-/náða-hús (house of rest), and annat hús (the other house). In general, toilets were functionally non-existent in rural Denmark until the 18th century. By the 16th century, cesspits and cesspools were increasingly dug into the ground near houses in Europe as a means of collecting waste. As urban populations grew and street gutters became blocked with the larger volume of human waste, rain was no longer sufficient to wash away waste from the gutters. A pipe connected the latrine to the cesspool, and sometimes a small amount of water washed waste through. Cesspools were cleaned out by tradesmen, known in English as gong farmers, who pumped out liquid waste, then shovelled out the solid waste and collected it during the night. This solid waste, euphemistically known as nightsoil, was sold as fertilizer for agricultural production. Before the introduction of indoor toilets, it was common to use the chamber pot under one's bed at night and then to dispose of its contents in the morning. During the Victorian era, British housemaids collected all of the household's chamber pots and carried them to a room known as the housemaids' cupboard. This room contained a slop sink, made of wood with a lead lining to prevent chipping china chamber pots, for washing the bedroom ware or chamber utensils. Once running water and flush toilets were plumbed into British houses, servants were sometimes given their own lavatory downstairs, separate from the family lavatory. The practice of emptying one's own chamber pot, known as slopping out, continued in British prisons until as recently as 2014 and was still in use in 85 cells in Ireland in July 2017. With rare exceptions, chamber pots are no longer used, though similar modern implements include bedpans and commodes, which are used in hospitals and the homes of disabled people.

When was the earliest known internal pit toilet created in Uruk?

The earliest known internal pit toilet dates back to the fourth millennium BC in the city of Uruk, Mesopotamia. This innovation marked a pivotal moment in human civilization when waste management first moved from open defecation to structured containment.

Who invented the S-trap plumbing device used in modern toilets?

The Scottish mechanic Alexander Cummings invented the S-trap in 1775. This device uses standing water to seal the outlet of the bowl, preventing the escape of foul air from the sewer and remains in use today.

What year did the flush toilet become widely used and marketed in Britain?

Flush toilets became widely used and marketed in Britain in the 1880s. Water closets first appeared in Britain during this decade and soon spread to Continental Europe and America.

When was the word toilet first attested as referring to a room for grooming?

The use of the word toilet to describe a special room for grooming was first attested in 1819 following the French. The term originally referred to a little cloth draped over one's shoulders during hairdressing before evolving to mean a room for grooming and eventually a room for urination and defecation.

How many people in developing countries currently have no toilets in their homes?

One billion people in developing countries have no toilets in their homes and are resorting to open defecation instead. This figure represents a major target of Sustainable Development Goal 6 to provide toilets to everyone by 2030.

What is the name of the communication method used by prisoners through toilet plumbing?

The communication method used by prisoners through toilet plumbing is known as toilet talk, potty talk, or the toilet telephone. This phenomenon utilizes the acoustic properties of the toilet bowl and sewage pipes to transmit messages between inmates.

The Flush Revolution

Although a precursor to the flush toilet system which is widely used nowadays was designed in 1596 by John Harington, such systems did not come into widespread use until the late nineteenth century. A crucial advance in plumbing was the S-trap, invented by the Scottish mechanic Alexander Cummings in 1775, and still in use today. This device uses the standing water to seal the outlet of the bowl, preventing the escape of foul air from the sewer. It was only in the mid-19th century, with growing levels of urbanisation and industrial prosperity, that the flush toilet became a widely used and marketed invention. This period coincided with the dramatic growth in the sewage system, especially in London, which made the flush toilet particularly attractive for health and sanitation reasons. Flush toilets were also known as water closets, as opposed to the earth closets described above. Water closets first appeared in Britain in the 1880s, and soon spread to Continental Europe. In America, the chain-pull indoor toilet was introduced in the homes of the wealthy and in hotels in the 1890s. William Elvis Sloan invented the Flushometer in 1906, which used pressurized water directly from the supply line for faster recycle time between flushes. The water closet, with its origins in Tudor times, started to assume its currently known form, with an overhead cistern, s-bends, soil pipes and valves, around 1770. This was the work of Alexander Cumming and Joseph Bramah. Water closets only started to be moved from outside to inside of the home around 1850. The integral water closet started to be built into middle-class homes in the 1860s and 1870s, firstly on the principal bedroom floor and in larger houses in the maids' accommodation, and by 1900 a further one in the hallway. A toilet would also be placed outside the back door of the kitchen for use by gardeners and other outside staff, such as those working with the horses. The speed of introduction was varied, so that in 1906 the predominantly working-class town of Rochdale had 750 water closets for a population of 10,000. The working-class home had transitioned from the rural cottage, to the urban back-to-back terraces with external rows of privies, to the through terraced houses of the 1880 with their sculleries and individual external WC. It was the Tudor Walters Report of 1918 that recommended that semi-skilled workers should be housed in suburban cottages with kitchens and internal WC. As recommended floor standards changed in the building standards and codes, the bathroom with a water closet and later the low-level suite became more prominent in the home.

Global Variations and Innovations

The technology used for modern toilets varies, with toilets commonly made of ceramic, concrete, plastic, or wood. Newer toilet technologies include dual flushing, low flushing, toilet seat warming, self-cleaning, female urinals, and waterless urinals. Japan is known for its toilet technology, with high-tech toilets that can include features such as automatic flushing mechanisms, water jets, blow dryers, or artificial flush sounds to mask noises. Others can include medical monitoring features such as urine and stool analysis and the checking of blood pressure, temperature, and blood sugar. Some toilets have automatic lid operation, heated seats, deodorizing fans, or automated replacement of paper toilet-seat-covers. Interactive urinals have been developed in several countries, allowing users to play video games. The Toylet, produced by Sega, uses pressure sensors to detect the flow of urine and translates that into on-screen action. Astronauts on the International Space Station use a space toilet with urine diversion, which can recover potable water. In developing countries, access to toilets is also related to people's socio-economic status. Poor people in low-income countries often have no toilets at all and resort to open defecation instead. This is part of the sanitation crisis which international initiatives such as World Toilet Day draw attention to. Toilets can be designed to be used either in a standing, sitting, or in a squatting posture. Each type has its benefits. The sitting toilet, however, is essential for those who are movement impaired. Sitting toilets are often referred to as western-style toilets. Squat toilets are more common in Asia, where the squatting position is more prevalent for urination and defecation. In many Muslim countries, the facilities are designed to enable people to follow Islamic toilet etiquette. For example, a bidet shower may be plumbed in. The left hand is used for cleansing, for which reason that hand is considered impolite or polluted in many Asian countries. The use of water in many Christian countries is due in part to the biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation. The bidet is common in predominantly Catholic countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing, and in some traditionally Orthodox and Lutheran countries such as Greece and Finland respectively, where bidet showers are common. There are toilets on the market with seats having integrated spray mechanisms for anal and genital water sprays, which can be useful for the elderly or people with disabilities. Accessible toilets are designed to accommodate people with physical disabilities, such as age-related limited mobility or inability to walk due to impairments. Additional measures to add toilet accessibility are providing more space and grab bars to ease transfer to and from the toilet seat, including enough room for a caregiver if necessary.

The Language of Waste

Toilet was originally a French loanword, first attested in 1540, that referred to the little cloth draped over one's shoulders during hairdressing. During the late 17th century, the term came to be used by metonymy in both languages for the whole complex of grooming and body care that centered at a dressing table and for the equipment composing a toilet service, including a mirror, hairbrushes, and containers for powder and makeup. The time spent at such a table also came to be known as one's toilet; it came to be a period during which close friends or tradesmen were received as toilet-calls. The use of toilet to describe a special room for grooming came much later, first attested in 1819, following the French. Similar to powder room, toilet then came to be used as a euphemism for rooms dedicated to urination and defecation, particularly in the context of signs for public toilets, as on trains. Finally, it came to be used for the plumbing fixtures in such rooms, apparently first in the United States, as these replaced chamber pots, outhouses, and latrines. These two uses, the fixture and the room, completely supplanted the other senses of the word during the 20th century except in the form toiletries. The word toilet was by etymology a euphemism, but is no longer understood as such. As old euphemisms have become the standard term, they have been progressively replaced by newer ones, an example of the euphemism treadmill at work. The choice of word relies not only on regional variation, but also on social situation and level of formality or social class. American manufacturers show an uneasiness with the word and its class attributes: American Standard, the largest firm, sells them as toilets, yet the higher-priced products of the Kohler Company, often installed in more expensive housing, are sold as commodes or closets, words which also carry other meanings. Confusingly, products imported from Japan such as TOTO are referred to as toilets, even though they carry the cachet of higher cost and quality. Toto is an abbreviation of Tōyō Tōki, Oriental Ceramics, and is used in Japanese comics to visually indicate toilets or other things that look like toilets. Different dialects use bathroom and restroom in American English, bathroom and washroom in Canadian English, and WC, an initialism for water closet, lavatory and its abbreviation lav in British English. Euphemisms for the toilet that bear no direct reference to the activities of urination and defecation are ubiquitous in modern Western languages, reflecting a general attitude of unspeakability about such bodily functions. These euphemistic practices appear to have become pronounced following the emergence of European colonial practices, which frequently denigrated colonial subjects in Africa, Asia, and South America as unclean. Crapper was already in use as a coarse name for a toilet, but it gained currency from the work of Thomas Crapper, who popularized flush toilets in England and held several patents on toilet improvements. The Jacks is Irish slang for toilet, perhaps deriving from jacques and jakes, an old English term. Loo's etymology is obscure, with the Oxford English Dictionary noting the 1922 appearance of How much cost? Waterloo. Watercloset. in James Joyce's novel Ulysses and deferring to Alan S. C. Ross's arguments that it derived in some fashion from the site of Napoleon's 1815 defeat. In the 1950s the use of the word loo was considered one of the markers of British upper-class speech, featuring in a famous essay, U and non-U English. Loo may have derived from a corruption of French eau, water, or place, or place of ease, used euphemistically for a toilet, or English place, used from around 1770 to refer to English-style toilets installed for travelers. Other proposed etymologies include a supposed tendency to place toilets in room 100 in English hotels, a sailors' dialectal corruption of the nautical term lee in reference to the shipboard need to urinate and defecate with the wind prior to the advent of head pumps, or the 17th-century preacher Louis Bourdaloue, whose long sermons at Paris's Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis prompted his parishioners to bring along chamber pots, and his surname was applied to the pots themselves.

The Sanitation Crisis

To this day, 1 billion people in developing countries have no toilets in their homes and are resorting to open defecation instead. Therefore, it is one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6 to provide toilets to everyone by 2030. Toilets are one important element of a sanitation system, although other elements are also needed: transport, treatment, disposal, or reuse. Diseases, including Cholera, which still affects some 3 million people each year, can be largely prevented when effective sanitation and water treatment prevents fecal matter from contaminating waterways, groundwater, and drinking water supplies. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 wants to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation. In many developing countries, access to toilets is also related to people's socio-economic status. Poor people in low-income countries often have no toilets at all and resort to open defecation instead. This is part of the sanitation crisis which international initiatives such as World Toilet Day draw attention to. The need to maintain anal hygiene post-defecation is universally recognized and toilet paper, often held by a toilet roll holder, which may also be used to wipe the vulva after urination, is widely used, as well as bidets. In private homes, depending on the region and style, the toilet may exist in the same bathroom as the sink, bathtub, and shower. Another option is to have one room for body washing, also called bathroom, and a separate one for the toilet and handwashing sink, known as a toilet room. Public toilets, or restrooms, consist of one or more toilets and commonly single urinals or trough urinals, which are available for use by the general public. Products like urinal blocks and toilet blocks help maintain the smell and cleanliness of toilets. Toilet seat covers are sometimes used. Portable toilets, frequently chemical porta johns, may be brought in for large and temporary gatherings. The number of different types of toilets used worldwide is large, but can be grouped by having water, which seals in odor, or not, which usually relates to e.g. flush toilet versus dry toilet, being used in a sitting or squatting position, sitting toilet versus squat toilet, and being located in the private household or in public, toilet room versus public toilet. Toilets can be designed to be used either in a standing, sitting, or in a squatting posture. Each type has its benefits. The sitting toilet, however, is essential for those who are movement impaired. Sitting toilets are often referred to as western-style toilets. Squat toilets are more common in Asia, where the squatting position is more prevalent for urination and defecation. In many Muslim countries, the facilities are designed to enable people to follow Islamic toilet etiquette. For example, a bidet shower may be plumbed in. The left hand is used for cleansing, for which reason that hand is considered impolite or polluted in many Asian countries. The use of water in many Christian countries is due in part to the biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation. The bidet is common in predominantly Catholic countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing, and in some traditionally Orthodox and Lutheran countries such as Greece and Finland respectively, where bidet showers are common. There are toilets on the market with seats having integrated spray mechanisms for anal and genital water sprays, which can be useful for the elderly or people with disabilities. Accessible toilets are designed to accommodate people with physical disabilities, such as age-related limited mobility or inability to walk due to impairments. Additional measures to add toilet accessibility are providing more space and grab bars to ease transfer to and from the toilet seat, including enough room for a caregiver if necessary.

Communication Through Waste

In prisons, inmates may utilize toilets and the associated plumbing to communicate messages and pass products. The acoustic properties of communicating through the toilet bowl, known as toilet talk, potty talk, or toilet telephone, are influenced by flush patterns and bowl water volumes. Prisoners may also send binary signals by ringing the sewage or water pipes. Toilet talk enables communication for those in solitary confinement. Toilets have been subject to wiretaps. This phenomenon highlights the unexpected ways in which human ingenuity can adapt to even the most restrictive environments. The history of communication through toilets is a testament to the resilience and creativity of those who find ways to connect with others despite the constraints of their surroundings. In addition to the practical aspects of communication, the psychological impact of such methods cannot be overlooked. The ability to communicate through a toilet can provide a sense of normalcy and connection to the outside world, which is crucial for mental health in prison settings. The use of toilets for communication is not limited to prisons; it has also been observed in other confined spaces, such as ships and aircraft. On ships, the need to maintain anal hygiene post-defecation is universally recognized, and toilet paper, often held by a toilet roll holder, which may also be used to wipe the vulva after urination, is widely used, as well as bidets. In aircraft, the need to maintain anal hygiene post-defecation is universally recognized, and toilet paper, often held by a toilet roll holder, which may also be used to wipe the vulva after urination, is widely used, as well as bidets. The use of toilets for communication in these settings is a testament to the adaptability of human behavior and the importance of maintaining social connections even in the most challenging circumstances. The history of communication through toilets is a fascinating area of study that sheds light on the human need for connection and the ways in which we can find ways to communicate even in the most unlikely of places.