40% Of The World Has No Flush Toilets

It’s hard to believe that 40% of the world does not have flush toilets. The biggest concern most people have here in the United States is what color or does it flush well? The truth of the matter is in countries like India there is one toilet for every ten thousand people! that like having four toilets for a game at AT&T Park, imagine the lines, imagine the filth….. The sanitation revolution that started in the 18th century with the introduction of the flush toilet and sewers has, says Frank Rijsberman, ”saved more lives than any innovation in the history of public health or medical science” Plumbers really do protect the health of the nation

As a Plumber I have often pondered what life would be like in San Francisco without modern toilets and plumbing systems? Out houses in the back yard? How often would we need to move them. I don’t think apartment buildings or condos would be allowed, and lets not forget what do we do with the old dishwater. I don’t think we as a people could have become so advanced without modern plumbing. Just think what it would be like without clean fresh water, to drink, to wash ourselves, to be used in manufacturing all the goods we use daily. and lets not forget about piping for gas, that we use to heat our homes, cook our food and heat our water. I read that the fog in London was not really fog like we have here in the san Francisco Bay area but really smog from the thousands of wood stoves and fireplaces used in Victorian homes.

Bill Gates is donating 42 million dollars to find a way to bring sanitation to the 40% who don’t have toilets. In his quest we may find a better way to deal with the basics of life. We may even find a replacement for toilets as we know them, I hope he succeeds Until then I will continue on as a plumber Protecting the Health of the Nation, one toilet at a time.

George