Ever wondered how many times you visit the bathroom in a year? Or the amount of water wasted by a dripping faucet? Pioneer Plumbing & Heating, with its skilled plumbers Vancouver folks rely on, shares some fun and insightful facts about plumbing, toilets, and faucets!

A Royal Throne Indeed:
The word “toilet” comes from the French “toilette,” which means “dressing room.” Originally, it referred to the personal grooming and dressing of aristocrats, not the modern bathroom fixture we’re familiar with today.

Daily Visits:
The average person visits the toilet around 2,500 times a year. That’s nearly 7 times a day! And yes, it accounts for almost three years of a person’s life!

The Silent Waster:
A dripping faucet might seem harmless. But let’s do the math. If a faucet drips once per second, it can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water annually. That’s equivalent to taking 180 showers!

Flushed Innovations:
The first patent for a flushing toilet was issued in 1775 to Alexander Cummings. However, the design most of us are familiar with, featuring an S-trap (to prevent sewer gases from entering the home), was developed by Thomas Crapper in the 19th century.

Water Wonders:
Did you know that 30-40% of all residential water use in the US is due to toilets? An older toilet model can use up to 7 gallons per flush, whereas modern, efficient models only use approximately 1.6 gallons. That’s some serious water savings!

From Bird Feathers to Paper:
Before the invention of toilet paper, humans used a variety of materials to clean up after nature’s call, from leaves and moss to seashells and even bird feathers. The first commercially packaged toilet paper appeared in the US in 1857, but it took a while to catch on.

Hot Water Tales:
The Romans had a system for heating water for their baths. They used furnaces to heat the air, which then heated the walls and the floor of the bath. This system, called a hypocaust, was an early form of underfloor heating.