Plumbing Come From

Water supply is a normal day to day term benefit of Americans, but where it is not water come from? Where plumbers who fix our clogged drains and broken pipes get their title from? The answer may very well surprise you.

The concept of a plumber and plumbing does not come from anything in the modern world, it actually comes from the Roman era. When the Roman Empire was the pinnacle of civilization, they used lead pipes in their cities. Lead is known plumbum. Lead is used for many things within the Roman Empire. Lead is used on the roofs of Roman buildings. Drainage pipes are made of lead. The famous Roman baths are also used lead pipes to bring water to them. Then continue as medieval times, anyone who has worked with lead is called plumbarius. Later, the word for anyone working with pipes, especially water and sewer pipes is part of the modern word plumbarius plumber.

As a side note, it is also the reason why is the abbreviation for the lead in the periodic table of elements is Pb.

Today, if you were to look in the dictionary under the word plumber, you would find a simple definition that explains that the plumber is one who installs and repairs pipes and plumbing.

When you look up the plumbing, you would see the definition of what plumbing system really is. In most definitions, water covers three aspects of water systems that have lights, appliances and, of course, pipes. Water may also include not only water supply and drainage, but the gas tube as well.

Today, water is a very common job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are about 420 000 plumbers who work in the United States. Most plumbers do little more than twenty dollars per hour, a little more than forty-six thousand dollars a year. Plumbers do not need a college degree. Most plumbers have a high school, then they are trained through apprenticeship. There are no federal laws about plumbing permits, but each state has its own regulations that plumbers must be licensed and educated within its jurisdiction.

Thus, water is very popular today as a career, but as popular as in the U.S., it will never change the fact that the plumbing trade and the name that goes with it has come from much further back in time, back to the Roman Empire.

Anna Fraser is manager of the clog Pro and has many years experience in the plumbing industry in both Portland, Oregon and Vancouver Washington.