History of the Toilet

Sir John Harrington was the godson of Queen Elizabeth. He fell out her good graces and was barred from court. To redeem himself, Sir Harrington invented a waste device for his godmother the Queen. Designed for indoor use, the device had a water tank on top and waste was released into a cesspool. Problem with design was the “sewer gases” released back into the room. The waste pipe went straight down allowing the gas to come straight up. Harrington invented two elements used in today’s toilets – valve at the bottom of the water tank and a wash-down system. That was the 1596.

Alexander Cummings created a toilet with a water trap under the bowl in 1775. Others associated with the development of the toilet is George Jennings, Thomas Twyford, and Henry Doulton.

Today, the room housing the toilet could be called a bathroom, restroom, men’s room, ladies’ room, powder room, “johns” after Edward Johns, and “crappers” after Thomas Crappers. World War I troops returned from Europe calling toilets “crappers”. The Head commonly used name for a toilet on marine vehicles.

Henry Moule patented an earth closet in 1869. Dry earth was used to cover waste material for removal later. It was advertised as an improvement over the cesspit.  Modern airplanes use a version of the valve closet. An opening at the bottom of a pan was sealed by a valve. Using a flushing mechanism, the valve is opened and water released.

Today main toilet designs include:

Flush toilet –Modern toilets incorporate an 'S','U', 'J', or 'P' shaped bend that causes the water in the toilet bowl to collect and act as a seal against sewer gases. This is an improvement over Harrington’s design. Since flush toilets are typically not designed to handle waste on site, their drain pipes must be connected to waste conveyance, septic system or public sewage systems.

Squat toilet (called an Eastern, French, Turkish, Iranian or Natural-Position toilet) is a devise used by squatting over a decorative hole in the floor, rather than sitting on a toilet seat. The only exclusion is a "pedestal" squat toilet, which is the same height as a standard flush toilet. It is also possible to squat over standard Western pedestal toilets, which some women do when using a public facility rather than sitting on the seat.

Specialty design toilets include:

Toilet with built-in bidet - Bidet is intended for cleansing the genitalia, inner buttocks, and anus.

Chemical toilet as indicated use a chemical mixed with the water to deodorize the waste. These toilets are often found in airplanes, trains, RV’s, porta-toilets and/or buses.

Dry toilets – no water used for flushing

Pit toilets – used at camp grounds and outhouses, a system of collecting of human waste, used for composting, controlled decay, or waste removal used most often in areas with no sewage treatment system.

 "How many men does it take to change a roll of tollet paper?

We don't know - never happens!"

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