Did You Know? Fun Plumbing Facts for a Plumber...or Not

Albert Einstein was made an honorary member of the Plumber and Steamfitter Union after he had announced that he would be a plumber if he had to live his life all over again. – Yep, we all know he was a pretty smart guy =)

In the technology capitol of the world, Japan, some urinals have voice activated flushing mechanisms. The urinals respond to several commands, including “fire”. – Not sure what command “fire” would be used for, but nonetheless, it’s a pretty cool fact!

Over $100,000 were spent on a study to determine whether most people put their toilet paper on the holder with the flap in front or behind. The answer: three out of four people have the flap in the front. – This has been scientifically proven (ok, maybe not- but common sense tells me that the flap should be in the front!) I think any other plumber would agree =)

90% of pharmaceuticals taken by people are excreted through urination. Therefore our sewer systems contain heavy dose of drugs. A recent study by the EPA has found fish containing trace amounts of estrogen, cholesterol-lowering drugs, pain relievers, antibiotics, caffeine and even anti-depressants. – Well that’s just disturbing! Good thing a plumber does not eat fish =)

President Richard Nixon had set up a White House Special Investigations Unit to plug intelligence leaks in the governmental processes associated with the Vietnam War. The members of this convert group were popularly called “plumbers.” – Fitting! A plumber definitely is an investigator! How else are they going to determine what is going on with those pipes?!

The toilet is flushed more times during the super bowl halftime than at any time during the year. – Who decides to research things like the prime time of toilet usage?

Who is the most famous plumber team ever? Mario and Luigi of course! – Hero plumber spitting fire and riding on small dinosaurs (Yoshi) to save the princess! Classic game!

King George II of Great Britain died falling off a toilet on the 25th of October 1760. – Okay, so the falling off toilet wasn’t the actual “cause” of his death, he had arteriosclerosis which caused a ruptured blood vessel in his stomach…but that doesn’t sound as creative as ‘death by toilet’.

The “Bathroom” has been named many different things in many different places. Here are a few: The Egyptians named it the House of Horror, the Romans named it the Necessarium for obvious reasons. The Tudors who ruled England for a period of time called the bathroom the “privy” or “house of privacy”. People of France call it “La Chambre Sent” meaning the smelly house, self-explanatory of course. Israelis call the bathroom the house of honor, this one confuses us the most. – There are too many to list, but lavatory is the “politically correct” term used by professional plumber

The average person spends three whole years of their life sitting on the toilet. – that’s 36 months or 1,095.75 days or 26,298 hours…you get the point- it’s a LOT of toilet time. No wonder they call it the RESTroom…ha