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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 OFFICIAL

A TOURISTS VIEW OF PLUMBING: PART ONE

The Birthplace of
Plumbing Systems

EARLY EUROPEAN CIVILIATIONS STARTED IT ALL

Story by Anne V. Sonner

mericans traveling to Europe like to visit the

famous places, enjoy local food and drink, and
maybe see a few museums. And then there are
those who observe the plumbing. Even without a European
plumber to give you a tour, there is a lot to see. In this twopart series, youll visit ancient, old and modern plumbing
and see some interesting differences between fixtures and
practices in Europe and the United States.

Greece
The remains of ancient bathtubs suggest that
the Greeks bathed. However, perhaps it was
mainly a few rich people who bathed, as one
written account claims a free citizen would
bathe at three significant times in his life: at
birth, marriage and after death.
Aqueducts, built by the Romans, brought
water from the mountains to Athens. The
Greeks also got water from wells. Lead pipes
have not been found there; it is assumed that
clay pipes were used underground but
deteriorated over time. Some houses had
latrines that drained into a sewer under the
street.
Although the ancient Greeks made some
plumbing progress, it was the Romans who
made the greatest advances in plumbing and
sanitation, which have benefited all the
civilizations that came after them, including
our own.

Rome

Right: An ancient drain

under a stone street in
modern Athens.
Far Right: Romes Baths of
Caracalla accommodated
1,600 bathers at a time.
PHOTOS BY
PAUL SONNER

As plumbers know, the term plumbing came

from the Latin word plumbus which means
lead. The ancient Romans mastered the use
of lead piping, combined with their excellent
engineering skills, to create the worlds best
plumbing systems.
Romans built aqueducts to transport water by
gravity from many miles away for drinking
and baths. By 52 A.D. they had 220 miles of
aqueducts, with all but 30 miles underground.
The ancient Romans loved public baths. They
were open to all citizens, not just the elite.

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A sign marking the Cloaca

Maxima, the worlds oldest
large sewer still in use. The
opening to the sewer is now
located behind a modern
door to the right of the sign.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 OFFICIAL

Unlike the Greeks, who preferred cold water,

Romans liked hot water baths and steam
baths, as well. You got your cold bath in the
Frigidarium, your warm bath in the
Tepidarium, and your hottest bath in the
Caldarium. By the fourth century A.D., Rome
had 11 public baths, 1,352 public fountains
and cisterns and 856 private baths.
Emperor Caracalla built the massive Baths
of Caracalla, completed in 217 A.D., for the
public to enjoy. Covering 28 acres, it had
1,600 marble seats and was once decorated
with mosaics, paintings, fountains and statues.
It took 9,000 workers five years to build. It
was the largest of its kind at the time and
operated for 300 years. In addition to a place
to get clean, the Baths of Caracalla was a major
social center and even included a library. Only
ruins, mainly brick walls, remain today.
The first sewer of Rome, called the Cloaca
Maxima, was built in the sixth century B.C.,
500 years before the first aqueducts in Rome.
It drained the Roman Forum and is one of the
largest ancient sewers still in use. The Cloaca
Maxima started out as an open channel, but
was enclosed and vaulted by the third century
B.C. Much of the original masonry has been
replaced by concrete.

Pompeii
When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., the
volcanos lava destroyed and froze in time the
Italian towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
When they were unearthed centuries later,
everything was revealed as it was in 79 A.D.:
the buildings, the people in the positions they
were in at the moments of their deaths, and
the plumbing.

The Romans often

combined their waterworks
with art, especially
sculpture. This old drinking
fountain in Rome is a
good example of that.
Far Right: Remains of a
2000-year-old lead water
pipe in Pompeii
PHOTOS BY
PAUL SONNER

As in nearby Rome, Pompeii had water supply

and sewer systems, lead pipes and private and
public baths. Toilets have been found in the
ruins of Pompeii. Lead roof gutters drained
into rainwater collection tanks. Air and water
was heated with hot air from a furnace,
distributed by a damper system under the floor.

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Left: A warehouse in
Pompeii containing
marble sinks and a cast
of a volcano victim.
Bottom Left: An ancient
tub surrounded by
tourists in Pompeii.

Below: Piping at the Eiffel

Tower, presumably for
fire hose connections.
PHOTOS BY
PAUL SONNER

France
The first sewer system in Paris was built in
the 1200s, but was not very effective. The
open troughs running down the center of the
cobblestone streets are thought to have
actually contributed to the spread of diseases
like the Black Death. The first underground
sewer was built in 1370 and drained into the
Seine River. The sewer system was expanded
during the next 400 years, but didnt become
truly effective until the reign of Napoleon.

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Above: Evening glow of

The Eiffel Tower.
Top Right: Copper piping
in the kitchen of
Neuschwanstein Castle,
Germany.
Right: Neuschwanstein
was later the inspiration
for Disneylands Sleeping
Beauty Castle.
PHOTOS BY
PAUL SONNER

By the late 1800s,

there were 360 miles
of underground
passages, separate
ones for sewage and
drinking water, which
used iron piping and digging techniques made
possible by the Industrial Revolution. Since
the 1800s, tourists have enjoyed tours of the
sewers of Paris.
Paris famous Eiffel Tower, now 120 years
old, contains dozens of miles of plumbing,
integrated into the metal structure. Almost all
of it is hidden from view. In addition to public
restrooms, the tower has several restaurants,
including the Jules Verne, which costs a fixed
price of 200 euros (about $320) per person.
We found one section of exposed pipe, which
looks like a connection for fire hoses.
Because the pipes are exposed to winter
conditions, mini-heater coils are installed
to prevent the pipes from freezing. Massive
hydraulic motors power the visitors elevators
and are located in cavernous basements beneath
the towers legs. More than 500 people work in
the Eiffel Tower, including welders and
plumbers.

Germany
Constructed in the late 1800s,
Neuschwanstein featured stateof-the art plumbing. The castles
technological marvels included
steam engines, electricity,
modern venting, a modern
water system on all floors
and heating pipes.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 OFFICIAL

The castle was built by King Ludvig II of

Bavaria, who died young by drowning or
assassination (still debated) and who has a
brand of beer named after him. Water in the
castle flows by gravity from a nearby spring
formed from melting snow on the Alps
mountains. The king had a sink made of gold
in his bedroom and the kitchen used large
copper pipes. Outside, rainwater still drains
from the roof into a marble collection tub
several stories below.
In the next issue: Part Two, Modern
Plumbing in Europe

Thanks to Plumbing and

Mechanical Magazine
for some of the
historical information.