Thomas Crapper
And the Rise of the Water Closet
Oct 20, 2008 Joseph Allen McCullough
For most of British history, people ‘went to the bathroom’ in one of two ways. They either went outside and found a secluded spot, possibly with a hole, or in slightly higher society, they went to the privy. In most cases, privies were no more than wooden seats with a hole in them that sat atop a deep pit. Human waste collected in the pit until it was full, at which time the pit either had to be emptied or abandoned. Although privies worked well enough for small populations in urban areas, the system encountered severe problems with the rise of large cities. Crowded populations centres invariably meant there were not enough privies to go around and those there were tended to fill up all the quicker. A better system was needed.
The invention of the Water Closet
It is impossible to say when the first water closet appeared or who invented the system. By the dawn of the nineteenth century, water closets, although not common, were certainly not new technology. Still, water closets suffered from two major problems: they needed a great deal of water to operate and they had to be attached to a source of flowing water, either a river or a sewer system in order to cart the waste away. For most of the early part of the nineteenth century, such a system was unavailable in most parts of the country.
The Earth Closet and the Ash Closet
Many Victorians were unconvinced by the water closet and sought alternatives. One of the more successful of these was the Earth Closet. This facility operated much like a modern toilet except that instead of water it dumped dirt on top of the waste in order to soak it up and prevent smell. This waste would then be collected and could be reused as manure. Some towns actually managed to turn a profit using Earth Closets at least for awhile. Unfortunately, the Earth Closet required a large amount of fresh earth to use and this too was unavailable in most big cities. An alternative was found for awhile in replacing earth with ash. Ash was one thing that all Victorian homes had in great supply since fire was used for all heating a cooking. However, ash did not produce as good manure as earth and the system became very expensive for towns to maintain.
Thomas Crapper and the Rise of the Water Closet
In 1851, Britain established a set of pay-to-use water closets at The Great Exhibition in London. Thousands of people paid a penny to use them, and suddenly the water closet was launched into prominence. Town's began to realize that a one-time investment in a sewer and water system could save money in the long term over waste collection. At the same time, new studies showed that locations with good water closet facilities tended to be healthier overall. More and more towns and cities took the plunge and invested in a water system. Over the next several decades dozens of men tried to design better water closets and numerous patents were taken out. The most famous name among these men was Thomas Crapper. Contrary to popular belief Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet nor is his name anything more than a happy coincidence. He did establish a business selling high-quality sanitary products, but he was no more instrumental in the development of the modern toilet than a dozen other men.
Source
Privies and Water Closets by David J Eveleigh, Shire Publications, 2008.
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