A Little History About The Plumber Trade
A Little History About The Plumber Trade
The plumbing trade has been around for centuries. It was created by someone who had to create a water supply out of the bare bones of nature. In the beginning, before plumbing, most people would have to go out into the wilderness and find a source of water. Then they would have to use that water source in some way and make sure it could be taken care of with great life sustaining properties. Often times, they would dig a well and build something like an irrigation system or fish pond that collected their rainwater runoff before it went directly into the ground where it could leech into the water table poisoning nearby wells across town or creating hazardous drinking waters near natural resources such as rivers and lakes.
The first documented profession of working with water dates as far back as 2600BC. In the Tigris-Euphrates valley, there was a self-proclaimed potter king named, "Naram Sin," who first figured out how to properly cleanse drinking water by boiling it before consuming it. This allowed him to create the first wells and aqueducts which would carry his people's water source to all the citizens of the city. These aqueducts were constructed out of stone and clay and were actually quite advanced for that time period. When compared to previous cities in Mesopotamia that had to have their water carriers walk miles with buckets in order to get their daily supply, this was a great advancement in society.
The Romans were some of the first people to really utilize the knowledge of what we know as plumbing fixtures and home water systems today. They would build their aqueducts into the homes so that citizens could get their water from a faucet instead of carrying it from a public well or aqueduct. However, this was for those who had an abundance of wealth and owned indoor plumbing in their household. For those who did not have indoor plumbing, they could still get fresh drinking water from their local public bathhouse, which is where the term "public" became associated with modern day bathroom facilities.
As we all know, the United States had been in a position of power and control over the rest of the world since its very inception. And while they have been working hard to ensure that they would always be able to do so, it seems that it was not an easy process at all. To maintain this sort of power and control they needed to implement a set of rules and regulations that made sure their plans would work out as planned. One such regulation concerns plumbing.
What we know today as "plumbing pipes" came into use by way of transporting liquids. However, they were not typically used for transporting water. This is because the United States was already quite advanced in creating drinking water systems to efficiently move water through their cities and towns. It was when the pipes began to be used for transporting more toxic liquids that committees within the federal government saw there was a problem and needed to implement regulations in order to protect the general public from being poisoned by these toxic chemicals.
This is a tricky question because there are many people who think that plumbing is simply the art of connecting two seperate pieces of pipe together under pressure so that they can transfer liquid from one part of town to another. However, these people are mistaken. As I have said before, plumbing is about much more than just piping water from one part of town to another. It is about the way in which we use that water. And that is something that cannot be measured or transmitted through plumbing pipes.
We know this because the United States government has in the past attempted to regulate plumbing for many years when it had come under the discussions of supporting a war effort. In fact, plumbing technology had been mentioned as being important yet not useful to any military operations during World War II when they were trying to determine how to properly use their resources and manpower to supply their army with clean drinking water while they were fighting a war overseas.
They have also tried to regulate plumbing in many other ways. For example, they have tried to regulate the materials that could be used in and around plumbing systems. Some of these materials include; plastic pipe, drain tile, asbestos, and others. However, this is one area where the government has decided that it would be better if they left the decision making up to local water systems. That way people can make their own choices about how they want their drinking water or waste water handled on a local level. This is something that is of utmost importance to those who are responsible for the health and safety of their residents.
In the end, plumbing is a very complex process that requires an incredible amount of intelligence and forethought when it is being constructed. When you look at how many people are concerned about their drinking water, it can often times be disturbing to think about how poorly we as a society have decided to handle our water resources up until this point in time. We need to work together as a community in order to make sure that we are being safe and responsible with our water systems when they are operating correctly. We also need to make sure that we are maintaining them so they will continue to work correctly for years into the future. This is only the beginning though. I fully expect to see more regulation in the future from our federal government when it comes to plumbing and water supplies.
CONCLUSION
Today we are faced with deciding whether we should continue to build our nation's water systems through the same old methods that have worked for the past 50 years or so. As new problems arise, it is important to us as a society to make sure that we are willing to take on new challenges and solve these issues before they become a detriment to our way of life. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The events at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY, show us just how bad things can get when local governments do not care enough about their citizens. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was put into place to help avoid situations like this from happening in the future.