plumbing London About history of plumbing
Plumbing originated during ancient civilizations such as the Greek, Roman, Persian, Indian, and Chinese cities as they developed public baths and needed to provide potable water and wastewater removal, for larger numbers of people.6 Standardized earthen plumbing pipes with broad flanges making use of asphalt for preventing leakages appeared in the urban settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization by 2700 B.C.7 The Romans used lead pipe inscriptions to prevent water theft.
Plumbing reached its early apex in ancient Rome, which saw the introduction of expansive systems of aqueducts, tile wastewater removal, and widespread use of lead pipes. With the Fall of Rome both water supply and sanitation stagnated?or regressed?for well over 1,000 years. Improvement was very slow, with little effective progress made until the growth of modern densely populated cities in the 1800s. During this period, public health authorities began pressing for better waste disposal systems to be installed, to prevent or control epidemics of disease. Earlier, the waste disposal system had merely consisted of collecting waste and dumping it on the ground or into a river. Eventually the development of separate, underground water and sewage systems eliminated open sewage ditches and cesspools.
Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbing
Why we call plumber?
When it comes to repairing things around the house, men often feel compelled to do it themselves, rather than spent money on overpriced expert. More often than not, it is worth the effort, but what happens when you mess with crucial installations, that you know very little about?
Broken chair or squeaky hinges are one thing, but if you mess up with your drainage or plumbing, all hell can break loose. From time to time, it is really wise to call in the plumber - you may pay more than you would want to, but not necessary more than it is worth. Especially if you would do this yourself and mess up.
Besides, do you really have all the necessary things for all the repairs? I doubt that, let alone the tools, which you may or may not have. If you buy unnecessary spare part, what will you do with it? Plumber can always use it, but he probably wouldn't make the mistake in the first place.
To sum up, it is good to do things around your house by yourself, but don't be afraid to call in the specialist from time to time.
Basic knowledge
Water systems of ancient times relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made of clay, lead, bamboo, wood, or stone. Hollowed wooden logs wrapped in steel banding were used for plumbing pipes, particularly water mains. Logs were used for water distribution in England close to 500 years ago. US cities began using hollowed logs in the late 1700s through the 1800s.8 Today, most plumbing supply pipe is made out of steel, copper, and plastic; most waste (also known as "soil")11 out of steel, copper, plastic, and cast iron.11
The straight sections of plumbing systems are called "pipes" or "tubes". A pipe is typically formed via casting or welding, whereas a tube is made through extrusion. Pipe normally has thicker walls and may be threaded or welded, while tubing is thinner-walled and requires special joining techniques such as brazing, compression fitting, crimping, or for plastics, solvent welding. These joining techniques are discussed in more detail in the piping and plumbing fittings article.
Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbing