Alexander Cumming was a Scottish inventor who was primarily interested in making watches and inventing instruments but it is his links to our modern day toilets that gain him notoriety. In 1775 he was the first person to patent a flushing toilet. The system had already been pioneered by John Harrington but there was still the problem of bad odours being emitted from the toilets, even after flushing.
Cumming developed an improved flushing mechanism that was better at removing the waste items from the toilet than its early counterpart and he also invented and installed a bend in the toilet (known as an S-Trap). This trap allows for water to be retained in a small amount in the system. This may seem like a simple idea but it had an important reason behind it. The water remaining in the system and the S shape of the bended pipes prevents gases that are created in the sewers from travelling up the pipes and entering our homes. Bad smells coming from our plughole often requires the need for a Blocked Drains Essex company to come and remove any blockages from the system. If you have a blocked drain click here
Our modern day toilets still use the early flushing mechanism idea and a bend in the pipes much like Cumming’s S-Trap.