P-Traps are performing a critical task in your home right now with zero moving parts, near zero percent failure rate, while being nearly maintenance free, simple to install or replace, and dirt cheap to manufacture.
Was doing a little household plumbing when I started to marvel at the brilliance of this little device. Thomas Crapper gets mis-attributed with a lot of shitter-related inventions, but the P-shaped trap is something he did invent for sure. The most common trap before that had been shaped like a sideways "S" (S trap) and had a tendency to clog turns out it's more complicated than that, read further down!
I assume most people probably know their function, but in case the image isn't clear: the P-trap uses water from your sink, toilet or otherwise to create a seal inside the downpipe and prevent stinky turd-gas from floating up into your home from the sewer or septic tank.
This is sublime engineering. Effectiveness, affordability, & reliability all maxed out with no real downsides.
Very noticeable too. If a house was plumbed incorrectly, you can smell it. I had some neighbors complaining about their bathroom smelling especially when their washer was running. Asked them where their plumbing lines were and I am pretty sure some idiot ran about ten feet of straight line to the main drain line without a trap.
snorch on February 27th, 2018 at 01:21 UTC »
Was doing a little household plumbing when I started to marvel at the brilliance of this little device. Thomas Crapper gets mis-attributed with a lot of shitter-related inventions, but the P-shaped trap is something he did invent for sure. The most common trap before that had been shaped like a sideways "S" (S trap) and had a tendency to clog turns out it's more complicated than that, read further down!
I assume most people probably know their function, but in case the image isn't clear: the P-trap uses water from your sink, toilet or otherwise to create a seal inside the downpipe and prevent stinky turd-gas from floating up into your home from the sewer or septic tank.
This is sublime engineering. Effectiveness, affordability, & reliability all maxed out with no real downsides.
HippySol on February 27th, 2018 at 01:32 UTC »
And you'll know exactly how genius they are if you ever leave your house unattended long enough for one of them to dry out.
Engineer1822 on February 27th, 2018 at 01:55 UTC »
Very noticeable too. If a house was plumbed incorrectly, you can smell it. I had some neighbors complaining about their bathroom smelling especially when their washer was running. Asked them where their plumbing lines were and I am pretty sure some idiot ran about ten feet of straight line to the main drain line without a trap.