The Toilet Flush

“Nine-tenths of our sickness can be prevented by right thinking plus right hygiene - nine-tenths of it!”

Henry Miller

The Toilet Flush – The World’s Greatest Invention

This is not a joke; not something I’ve plunged into, but homage to modern plumbing and sanitation. It is said that on closing ones eyes you cannot picture a face part of which you have never seen in the flesh before. Close your eyes and imagine life without the humble toilet. It is every bit as difficult.

Cityscapes worldwide would be sliced perpendicularly in two; as the building of tower blocks, large apartment buildings, offices and inner-city developments would be practically impossible without modern plumbing and toilets.

The ability to replace sewage with clean uncontaminated water is of key importance.

The population of urban areas is expanding and making it ever more difficult to gain access to clean water and sanitation. Children are particularly at risk from water-related diseases such as diarrhoeal and parasitic diseases. Lack of sanitation also increases the risk of outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and dysentery. Modern plumbing from urban areas to the far reaches of the globe is essential to the health of every inhabitant.

The man that literally emancipated us from defecation slavery is Sir John Harington - the inventor of the Toilet Flush c. 1591. A totem to all that is sanitised in the modern world today.

Submitted by: Scott Avent