Slide 1 Historic and ModernUtilities

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

Bored hemlock water pipe, laid about 1754 in Bethlehem, PA

http://www.sewerhistory.org/images/bm/bmt3/1928_bmt301.jpg

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

Centre Square Waterworks Philadelphia, PA, ca. 1830

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/centresq.html

Slide 5 • 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

Slide 6 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_files/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)

Receiving ReservoirCroton Aqueduct

Croton aqueduct: http://www.nych2o.org/uploads/4/6/4/7/4647928/_6698216.jpg?347 Receiving reservoir: http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/central-2Bpark.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 Remnants visible at NYPL

Distributing reservoir as it looked ca. 1894: http://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/01/23/realestate/street-1/street-1-articleLarge.jpg Remnant in the Library: http://forgotten-ny.com/wp-content/uploads/2002/01/robertdumasfoundation-429x322.jpg

Slide 9 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

1830s in-ground cistern in Champion Hill, MS

http://battleofchampionhill.org/history/cistern.jpg

Slide 11

Philadelphia log water pipe with steel straps,

and fire plugs, age unknown (found in 1909)

Machined log water pipe, probably post-

Civil War

Slide 12

Wrought iron water pipe, Arizona, 1880

Spiral-wound riveted iron water pipe, Colorado, 1907

48” cast iron pipe being

unloaded from truck, New

Jersey, 1914

Slide 13

Modern PVC attached to 1940 cast iron drain pipe; copper water supply pipe aboveSmith Plantation, Roswell, GA

Photo by L. M. Drummond

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 Richardson-Owens-Thomas House, 1816-

1819, John Jay, architect

Savannah, GA

Sink at 1817 Richardson-Owens-Thomas 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

1888 cast iron kitchen sinks, available plain, galvanized, or enameled

Mott 1888 catalog; color basins Plate E; overflow basin, pg. 160

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

1927 catalog for Monel pantry sinks

1927 butler’s pantry with metal sink and

grooved wood drainboards; Oak Hill,

Rome, GA

Photo by L. M. Drummond

Slide 22 Bathroom Basins &

Sinks

1883 marble bedroom sink, Ivy Hall, Atlanta (before the

restoration)

Pitcher and basin in bedroom; 1842 Smith Plantation, Roswell, GA 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

Photos by L. M. Drummond

Slide 24 1950s Formica combination vanity-

lavatory advertisement

Plain 1940 sink, Smith Plantation, Roswell, GA

1930s colored tile, fixtures; no wall tiles

Slide 25

1950 Ad for “Diana” sink

1949 Eljer ad; note double sinks 1950s bathroom, Phoenix, AZNote 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/wordpress/?cat=101&paged=4

Slide 26 Pink — THE representative color of the 1950s

1950s “Mamie Pink” bathroom with matching wood-veneered vanities

From http://www.bluevelvetvintage.com/vintage_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.”

Slide 27 1960s double sink; note small tiles for counter

Late 1960s bathroom; note

Formica counter

1960s bathroom counters often had

smaller tiles or different surfaces

than earlier

Small tiles; http://retrorenovatio.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/1960s-tile-bathroom-countertop-including-recessed-metal-cabinet.jpg Yellow Formica bathroom, from the Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement 1970; http://antiquealterego.com/2012/05/09/24-vintage-bathrooms-of-the-late-1960s/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 latrinaewashed by water from aqueducts into sewers

Roman public latrine, Ostia,

1st century CE

Head This Way, 1966 by Dexter Designs; http://www.etsy.com/listing/50612969/vintage-1960s-bathroom-sign-head-this

Slide 29 • “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

Slide 30

1860 chamber pot1863 privy, Ohio

Both chamber pots and privies used in the US through the

1940s

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.

Brochure, late 1870s, Matthewman & Johnson Pump Company, New Haven, CT, Smithsonian Institution, from page 146, Ierley.

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 BramahWC; 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 BramahWater Closet, instructions for

installation found at Hyde

Hall, Cooperstown,

NY

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

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_07_26_archive.html

Slide 35 1857 water closet,

Gallier House, New Orleans

Victorian wash-out 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

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 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.

Mott 1888 catalog

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

1927 toilet with tank

attached to the wall

1890s siphon jet WC with low cistern on marble slab; tank attached to wall

1930s bathroom with colored fixtures; toilet tank one-piece with bowl

Slide 43 “Powdering room” was term for a small interior room, like a closet, where people went to have their wigs re-powdered (late 1700s-early 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.

Info from: http://homeinteriordesignthemes.com/2010/02/what-exactly-is-a-powder-room-a-brief-definition-and-history/ Image is a 1966 design Dexter Designs online at http://www.etsy.com/listing/42819578/vintage-1960s-bathroom-sign-powder-room

Slide 44 Powder Room, with attendant,

on the SS Admiral

An excursion steamboat,

built in 1940 in Streamline

Moderne style, operated out of St. Louis,

MO.

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

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

http://www.conserveh2o.org/toilet-water-use

Slide 46 • 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

Bathing

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

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 286-a and 288.

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 bath-room are carried through the wall of this story, and descend through the pantry of the story below.”

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 50

1857 GallierHouse, copper

lined wood bathtub, New Orleans, LA

“The Imperial” 1888 Mott porcelain one-piece bath; non-absorbent and easy-to-clean

Tubs from Mott 1888 catalog

Slide 51 • 1911 Kohler introduced one-piece bathtub

1915 tin bathtub with heater

Standard Sanitary Bathtub Plant, Richmond, VA, 1920

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

1888 Bathroom with porcelain bathtub, seat bath, water closet, bidet, and washstand

Page 4 of 1888 catalog.

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 built-

in 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/wordpress/?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/wordpress/?cat=100

Slide 58 1950s bathroom“Mamie Pink”

http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/6/6/6/4/ar130530517546662.jpg

Slide 59 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

1960 American Standard bathroom advertisement; http://www.midcenturyhomestyle.com/inside/bathrooms/1960s/gallery/page04.htm Shiny metallic wallpaper in 1963 bathroom; http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?cat=102 Harvest gold tub, Mesa, AZ; http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/?cat=87&paged=3