World Plumbing Day is an international event that celebrates plumbing and the significant role it plays in sanitation, the health and safety of our modern society, and the technological advances in sanitation practices over many years. Â History has proven that sanitation was an afterthought, rather than a specific purpose when it came to the original idea of plumbing.
The Romans are usually credited with the sewer and the first plumbing system. Â They moved large amounts of water through their aqueduct system, however, the Roman public baths were havens for bacteria and disease with their unfiltered and stagnant water. Â Epidemics such as dysentery, typhoid and cholera were directly related to poor sanitation practices. Â The science of good quality water supply for health would not be discovered for several hundred years.
The British Medical Journal conducted a survey in 2007 to determine the greatest medical discovery dating back to the beginning of the Journal’s existence in 1840. The science of sanitation received the most votes, over other medical discoveries such as antibiotics and anesthesia.
The slogan, “The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation” takes on a more significant meaning when we look beyond the United States to some countries with poor plumbing safeguards:
• In India, 7.5 percent of deaths are related to water and sanitation issues
• Worldwide, 88 percent of diarrhea cases are due to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation
• Inadequate plumbing contributed to the spread of the SARS virus that broke out in Asia a few years ago, attributing to hundreds of deaths
• Lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation claim the lives of 3.1 million people in the world per year
Plumbers are highly skilled technicians who have the training and expertise to maintain and improve our plumbing essentials. All plumbers must have years of experience and training before they can become the licensed journeymen who tend to all of your plumbing needs. We appreciate our plumbers for their hard work, which is often performed in less than ideal environments. From dark, wet crawlspaces to toilets, sewers, and septic tanks, plumbers handle the messy situations so we do not have to.
So, everyone, let’s stand up and toast the plumber with our sparkling glass of tap water!
