Historic and Modern Utilities http://www.sewerhistory.org/images/b m

Slide 1
Historic and Modern
Utilities
Water
Systems,
Sinks, and
Bathrooms
Slide 2
Water Systems 1700s
• Sites for houses and towns chosen for proximity to water
• Get water to the house manually from the river, stream,
spring, or well
• Rainwater cisterns—outside the house or in attic or
basement
• 1754—First organized use in America of pump, pipes and
reservoir at Bethlehem, PA. Pump powered by
waterwheels sent water from reservoir to tower through
hollowed-out hemlock tree trunks
• 1790—Shaker community in Hancock, MA aqueduct
• 1796—Salem, MA gravity flow system sent water to taps in
customers’ cellars, kitchens, sculleries
• 1798—Boston, MA city center supplied homes via wooden
pipes, or water could be purchased for a penny a pail
Slide 3
http://www.sewerhistory.org/images/b
m/bmt3/1928_bmt301.jpg
Bored hemlock water pipe, laid
about 1754 in Bethlehem, PA
Slide 4
Benjamin Latrobe (1764-1820)
America’s first professional architect
• 1799 designed the
Philadelphia
waterworks
• First major use of
steam pumps in US
• Water pumped from
Schuylkill River
through brick tunnel
to Centre Square
Slide 5
Slide 6
Centre Square waterworks designed by
Benjamin Latrobe, started in 1800 and
opened in 1801. Replaced by the
Fairmount Waterworks, and torn down
in 1829.
http://www.philaprintshop.com/centre
sq.html
Centre Square Waterworks
Philadelphia, PA, ca. 1830
• Second pump sent water to 16,000 gallon
tank from which water flowed by gravity to
customers through wooden pipes
• System went into operation in 1801
serving 63 houses, 4 businesses, and a
sugar refinery
• By 1811, more than 2000 customers
• By 1822, steam pump system abandoned;
second system using waterwheels
powered the pump sending water from the
river to a reservoir
• Latrobe’s waterworks demolished in 1829
Belmont Pumping Station, Schuylkill River,
Philadelphia, PA 1899-1900, still in use today
The City of Philadelphia maintains two
pumping stations that draw water from
the Schuylkill River—Belmont (1870)
and Queen Lane (1895)—both of which
are connected to filtration and water
purification facilities. The 1870
structure was replaced in 1899-1900 by
the extant red brick Victorian Pump
House. Originally the power was
supplied by steam engines, with a
separate boiler house in the rear. In
the 1920s the steam engines were
replaced with electric motors and the
boiler house has since been taken
down. The combination of alternating
current power for the pumps and direct
current power for the valves require
appropriate switchgear equipment. To
control the valves in an emergency, a
group of storage batteries is maintained
as a back-up.
http://www.phillyh2o.org/backpages/
MSB_Water/MSBW_5.jpg
There are five centrifugal pumps (1960s
and 1981) which have a total capacity
of 170 million gallons per day (mgd)—
two at 40 mgd and three at 30 mgd.
The station is unmanned, but the
intakes at the river are manually raked
to clear debris. The two intakes are
made of brick and are approximately 6
feet diameter. Two 48-inch diameter
mains, 8,880 feet each, carry the water
to the Belmont Treatment Plant located
on Belmont and City Line Avenue.
http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/
fairmount_park/belmont_pumping_file
s/page121_1.jpg
Slide 7
Croton Aqueduct, New York City
• 1835-1842 construction of New York City’s Croton
River water supply system
• River dammed to create 600 million gallon reservoir
• 38-mile long aqueduct (in-ground, masonry) carried
water via gravity to a receiving reservoir (drained in
1940s by Robert Moses to create Central Park’s
Great Lawn)
Croton Aqueduct
Receiving Reservoir
Croton aqueduct:
http://www.nych2o.org/uploads/4/6/4
/7/4647928/_6698216.jpg?347
Receiving reservoir:
http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/w
p-content/uploads/2012/09/central2Bpark.jpg
Slide 8
Croton Reservoir, New York City
• Water transferred by pipe to distributing reservoir (where 1911
New York Public Library and Bryant Park now stand)
• Citizens paid $10/household annual tax for water; businesses
paid based on consumption
• Reservoirs replaced by two tunnels constructed in 1917 and
1937; third began construction in 1970, to be finished in 2020
Distributing Reservoir
Slide 9
Remnants visible at NYPL
Distributing reservoir as it looked ca.
1894:
http://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/0
1/23/realestate/street-1/street-1articleLarge.jpg
Remnant in the Library:
http://forgotten-ny.com/wpcontent/uploads/2002/01/robertdumas
foundation-429x322.jpg
Water Systems 1800s-1900s
• By 1860, all but four of the 16 largest U.S. cities
had municipal water systems
• Earliest pipes were made of wood
• By 1820s, lead mains and pipes introduced
• By late 1800s, galvanized cast iron pipe in use
• Copper tubing introduced in 1900, but not
widely used until 1950s
• Today plastic piping used almost exclusively
• PVC (polyvinyl chloride) produced in 1926, has
largest volume plastic pipe sales in the U.S
Slide 10
http://battleofchampionhill.org/history
/cistern.jpg
1830s in-ground cistern in
Champion Hill, MS
Slide 11
Philadelphia log water
pipe with steel straps,
and fire plugs, age
unknown (found in 1909)
Machined log water
pipe, probably postCivil War
Slide 12
Wrought iron water pipe, Spiral-wound riveted iron
Arizona, 1880
water pipe, Colorado, 1907
48” cast iron
pipe being
unloaded from
truck, New
Jersey, 1914
Slide 13
Photo by L. M. Drummond
Modern PVC attached to 1940 cast iron drain pipe;
copper water supply pipe above
Smith Plantation, Roswell, GA
Slide 14
Sinks
• 1745—Earliest kitchen
sink in US: Sisters’
House, Ephrata
Cloister, Ephrata, PA
– Knee-high stone slab
– Emptied through
drain spout in the
wall
Slide 15
Sinks
• 1771—Silas Deane House, Wethersfield,
CT had a waist-high carved slab of stone
with drain hole (water probably drained
into barrel)
• 1816-19—Richardson-Owens-Thomas
House designed by John Jay in Savannah,
GA had a sink on the second floor, and a
basement sink with a countertop
Slide 16
Basement sink
with countertop
at RichardsonOwens-Thomas
House, 18161819, John Jay,
architect
Savannah, GA
Sink at 1817 Richardson-OwensThomas House in Savannah, GA;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7240095
@N02/5517492699/
Slide 17
• 1857 Gallier House, New Orleans: copper
kitchen sink with grooved wood drain board;
had hot and cold running water
Water from cistern heated in a reservoir
behind the kitchen stove, then circulated
through copper boiler to be piped to the
two copper sinks and the bathtub.
Slide 18
• Porcelain enameling of cast iron developed
in 1880s; used in sinks through 1920s
Mott 1888 catalog; color basins Plate E;
overflow basin, pg. 160
1888 cast iron kitchen sinks, available plain,
galvanized, or enameled
Slide 19
• Porcelain enameling of cast iron developed
in 1880s; used in sinks through 1920s
1888 porcelain-enameled cast
iron basin with overflow; variety
of basin designs
Mott 1888 catalog; color basins Plate E;
overflow basin, pg. 160
Slide 20
• Copper and nickel silver alloy sinks
popular by end of 19th century
• Monel (alloy of copper and nickel)
manufactured in 1907,corrosion resistant,
stronger than steel, but expensive; used
for sinks from 1909 through 1950s
• Stainless steel replaced other metal sinks
during World War II
Slide 21
Photo by L. M. Drummond
1927 butler’s pantry
with metal sink and
grooved wood
drainboards; Oak Hill,
Rome, GA
Slide 22
1927 catalog for
Monel pantry sinks
Pitcher and
basin in
bedroom;
1842 Smith
Plantation,
Roswell, GA
1883 marble bedroom sink,
Ivy Hall, Atlanta (before the
restoration)
Bathroom
Basins &
Sinks
1924
Sears kit
house,
Sanibel
Island, FL
Photos by L. M. Drummond
Slide 23
1928 “his” (left) and
“her” (below) bathroom
sinks, Swan House,
Atlanta History Center,
Atlanta, GA
Slide 24
1930s
colored tile,
fixtures; no
wall tiles
Photos by L. M. Drummond
1950s Formica
combination vanitylavatory
advertisement
Plain 1940 sink, Smith
Plantation, Roswell, GA
Slide 25
1949 Eljer ad; note double sinks
1950 Ad for “Diana” sink
1950s bathroom, Phoenix, AZ
Note sink now with cabinets &
drawers; tile countertop with
contrasting trim; wallpaper;
vinyl roll flooring; tile only
goes part-way up the wall
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpres
s/?cat=101&paged=4
Slide 26
Pink — THE representative color of the 1950s
1950s “Mamie
Pink” bathroom
with matching
wood-veneered
vanities
Slide 27
1960s double sink; note
small tiles for counter
1960s bathroom
counters often had
smaller tiles or
different surfaces
than earlier
Late 1960s
bathroom; note
Formica counter
From
http://www.bluevelvetvintage.com/vint
age_style_files/2009/08/
Its popularity is attributed to first
lady, Mamie Eisenhower, who loved
the shade so much it became known as
“Mamie Pink”. She decorated the
presidential bedroom in it, right down
to the monogrammed
wastebasket. Reporters even started
calling the White House the “Pink
Palace.”
Small tiles;
http://retrorenovatio.wpengine.netdna
-cdn.com/wpcontent/uploads/2009/03/1960s-tilebathroom-countertop-includingrecessed-metal-cabinet.jpg
Yellow Formica bathroom, from the
Practical Encyclopedia of Good
Decorating and Home Improvement
1970;
http://antiquealterego.com/2012/05/0
9/24-vintage-bathrooms-of-the-late1960s/vintage-bathrooms9/
Slide 28
Water Closets (WCs)
• 2800 B.C.—Indus River Valley brick WCs built
into outer walls of houses, emptied into street
drains
• Roman public latrinae
washed by water from
aqueducts into sewers
Roman public
latrine, Ostia,
1st century CE
Slide 29
Slide 30
• “Seat of easement”—first flushing toilet invented
by Sir John Harrington, 1596
• 1730, Osterly House, England—first truly
mechanical WC
• 1765, Whitehall in Annapolis, MD, showed details
for WC, same design as Osterly
• 1775—First English patent for WC by Alexander
Cumming; had a more complex valve and added
S-trap to keep sewer gas out
Both chamber pots
and privies used in
the US through the
1940s
1860 chamber pot
1863 privy, Ohio
Head This Way, 1966 by Dexter Designs;
http://www.etsy.com/listing/50612969
/vintage-1960s-bathroom-sign-headthis
Slide 31
• City privies had to be maintained—emptied at
night; “night soil” was carted away
Late 1870s night soil truck, with a pump and a 4”-diameter rubber hose,
could hold 600 gallons. Essentially the same as a modern septic service
truck, except now pumps are power-operated.
Slide 32
• 1778 Joseph Bramah patent for new WC, used
hinged valve operated by a crank and had second
valve for re-fill the bowl
• J. Bramah & Sons produced 6000 WCs by 1797
• 1804—Thomas Jefferson had WC installed in
White House
• 1819—Richardson-Owens-Thomas House,
Savannah, had two WCs; water came from three
massive indoor cisterns; drained via ceramic
conduits under basement floor to dry well in yard
• 1827—Hyde Hall, Cooperstown, NY had Bramah
WC; water piped in from reservoir (gravity
system); drained into stone cesspool from which 3
drains pipes dispersed waste onto the grounds (far
from the house), like modern septic system
Slide 33
1827 Bramah
Water Closet,
instructions for
installation
found at Hyde
Hall,
Cooperstown,
NY
Brochure, late 1870s, Matthewman &
Johnson Pump Company, New Haven,
CT, Smithsonian Institution, from page
146, Ierley.
Slide 34
• Prior to 1850, most WCs in US imported from
England
• By 1860, New York City had about 10,000 WCs
(one for every 62 people)
• To be practical in cities, WC needed
water supply and sewer system
• 1860—invention of the earth closet,
with a “tank” filled with earth. After
each use, a lever was pulled to
release enough earth to cover the
waste. After a number of uses, the
box was emptied.
Henry Moule’s earth
closet, patented in 1859
Slide 35
1857 water closet,
Gallier House, New
Orleans
Victorian washout ceramic
water closets,
1870s-1880s
Slide 36
• Thomas Crapper
made no major
contribution to
either the
manufacturing
technology or to
popular design of
water closets
• Placed his name on
his products just as
American Standard,
Crane, and Kohler
do today
• Thomas Crapper &
Co., Ltd.,
established in 1861
in London
Moule’s patent “dry earth closet
commode”; patented June 15, 1869;
manufactured by the Earth Closet
Company of Hartford, CT
http://www.jldr.com/ohcloset.html
Image of “open” earth closet;
http://coolopolis.blogspot.com/2009_0
7_26_archive.html
Slide 37
WC Problems through 1880s
• Often drained into privies, which
overflowed when WC was flushed
• Sewer gas escaped
• Did not flush completely
• Increased deaths from typhoid due to
unsanitary conditions
Slide 38
• Placement of tank had to be high enough
for sufficient pressure to accomplish waste
removal
• High-end cisterns made of wood, esp. oak;
tank lined with copper or tin
• Low-end cisterns made of earthenware
• Typical cistern released 3 gallons of water
per flush
Wolff oak cistern
1880s
Slide 39
Mott 1888 catalog
1888 Mott “The
Dolphin” water closet
had copper lined
cistern, brass or nickel
plated flush pipe,
painted porcelain
bowl, installed on a
marble slab. Cistern
could be ordered in
cherry, ash, black
walnut, or mahogany.
Slide 40
Note gas lighting
(inverted “T”
fixture; inclusion of
urinals. Floor,
wall, ceilings,
partitions, open
lavatory, and
casings for water
closet cisterns are
Italian marble.
Slide 41
• Transition to modern toilet:
– By late 1880s, siphon jet added to push waste out of
bowl. Low cisterns now feasible.
– Siphon jets used in cistern and basin; more complete
and sanitary flush
– Bramah and Mott made flushing rim WCs
• Early 1900s, clean, open, unembellished look
was in style; white was the sanitary color
• WC not in general use until 20th century
• By late 1920s, term “toilet” had replaced
“water closet”
• 1927—Kohler Company introduced colored
fixture sets (toilet, sink, bathtub)
• By 1940, 55% of U.S. homes had at least one
full bathroom
Slide 42
1890s
siphon jet
WC with low
cistern on
marble slab;
tank
attached to
wall
1927
toilet
with
tank
attached
to the
wall
1930s bathroom with
colored fixtures; toilet tank
one-piece with bowl
Slide 43
Slide 44
“Powdering room” was
term for a small interior
room, like a closet,
where people went to
have their wigs repowdered (late 1700searly 1800s).
Sometimes had a WC.
Victorians adapted the
phrase to refer to the
water closet. Now, a
powder room is a small,
usually first-floor
bathroom, with sink and
toilet only, often called
a “half-bath” in the US.
Powder Room, with attendant,
on the SS Admiral
An excursion
steamboat,
built in 1940 in
Streamline
Moderne style,
operated out
of St. Louis,
MO.
Slide 45
Modern Toilet Requirements
• 45% of water use in American homes is in
the bathroom
• 27% is from toilet flushes
• HETs (High Efficiency Toilets) must use
no more than 1.28 GPF (gallons per flush)
• 1992 federal plumbing standards require
new toilets to use only up to 1.6 GPF
• Toilets installed prior to 1992 use between
3.5 to 7 GPF
Info from:
http://homeinteriordesignthemes.com/
2010/02/what-exactly-is-a-powderroom-a-brief-definition-and-history/
Image is a 1966 design Dexter Designs
online at
http://www.etsy.com/listing/42819578
/vintage-1960s-bathroom-sign-powderroom
Photograph by Paul Piaget, 1940.
Missouri History Museum Photographs
and Prints Collections. Transportation.
n14223.
The Admiral was an excursion
steamboat operating on the Mississippi
River out of St. Louis, MO. Notes for its
streamline Moderne design.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
en/8/88/Admiral_ad.jpg
http://www.conserveh2o.org/toiletwater-use
Slide 46
Bathing
• Combining ablution and elimination in same
room was unheard of until the mid-1800s
• Ancient baths—Indus River Valley, 3300 BC
• Public Roman baths, 500 BC
Slide 47
• Bathing done indoors,
usually in kitchen for easy
access to heated water
• Early bathtubs were wood
lined with tin or copper
• Andrew Jackson Downing’s
1850 Architecture of Country
Houses had house plans
showing bathtub and water
closet in the same room,
called “bathroom”
Tin tub in wood
casing; New
York, date
unknown
A. J. Downing, The Architecture of
Country Houses, D. Appleton &
Company, 1850; reprint by Dover
Publications, Mineola, NY, 1969.
Pages 286-a and 288.
Slide 48
“There is also a bath-room,
with space for a water-closet
at the end of the entry.”
A. J. Downing, The Architecture of
Country Houses, D. Appleton &
Company, 1850; reprint by Dover
Publications, Mineola, NY, 1969.
Pages 322, 322-a, and 326.
Slide 49
“The bed-room...has beside it a bath
and water-closet, communicating with
the main entry, for general access. The
waste and supply pipes for the bathroom are carried through the wall of this
story, and descend through the pantry of
the story below.”
Slide 50
Tubs from Mott 1888 catalog
1857 Gallier
House, copper
lined wood
bathtub, New
Orleans, LA
Slide 51
“The Imperial” 1888 Mott
porcelain one-piece bath; nonabsorbent and easy-to-clean
• 1911 Kohler introduced one-piece bathtub
Standard Sanitary Bathtub
Plant, Richmond, VA, 1920
1915 tin bathtub
with heater
Slide 52
• Most people continued to have sink (or
pitcher and basin) in bedroom until 1920s
Ca. 1920
bathing by the
electric fire
behind a
privacy curtain
Slide 53
• Evolution of combined bathroom based on
practicality of running pipes to the same
room
Page 4 of 1888 catalog.
1888 Bathroom with porcelain bathtub, seat bath, water
closet, bidet, and washstand
Slide 54
1888 shower featured
needle sprays in the four
column pipes; large
overhead shower head;
adjustable-height “liver
sprays” at the hip, and a
douche spray; each of
which could be used
separately or in
combination. Stall, made
of marble or slate, could
be dispensed with where
it was not necessary to
confine the spray.
Mott 1888 catalog
Slide 55
1931-33 bathroom
Atalaya, Huntingdon Beach State Park,
South Carolina (listed NR 1992) photos
by L. M. Drummond
Slide 56
1930s
bathroom
design; note
tub with builtin shower
Slide 57
1950 Kohler ad, tub with shower
1952 bathroom with
original tile, bathtub, toilet,
sink, and foil wallpaper
1950s bathroom; tub has
no shower
Great 1950s house design webpage:
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpres
s/?cat=101&paged=4
1950s bathroom in Australia;
http://www.skd.com.au/tips/2010/10/
24/feature-tiles.html
1952 bathroom;
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpres
s/?cat=100
Slide 58
Slide 59
1950s bathroom
“Mamie Pink”
1963 bathroom; sliding glass door
conceals tub/shower combo; tile
counter
1960 American Standard
bathroom ad; note trendy
wood laminate counter &
paneling
1960 harvest gold tub
http://activerain.com/image_store/upl
oads/2/6/6/6/4/ar130530517546662.j
pg
1960 American Standard bathroom
advertisement;
http://www.midcenturyhomestyle.com
/inside/bathrooms/1960s/gallery/page
04.htm
Shiny metallic wallpaper in 1963
bathroom;
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpres
s/?cat=102
Harvest gold tub, Mesa, AZ;
http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpres
s/?cat=87&paged=3