Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia, the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 15 miles southwest of Rome. "Ostia" is a derivation of "os", the Latin word for "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but due to silting the site now lies 3 kilometres from the sea; the site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics. Ostia may have been Rome's first colonia. According to the legend Ancus Marcius, the semi-legendary fourth king of Rome, the first to destroy Ficana, an ancient town, only 17 km from Rome and had a small harbour on the Tiber, proceeded with establishing the new colony 10 km further west and closer to the sea coast. An inscription seems to confirm the establishment of the old castrum of Ostia in the 7th century BC; the oldest archaeological remains so far discovered date back to only the 4th century BC. The most ancient buildings visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the Castrum.
The opus quadratum of the walls of the original castrum at Ostia provide important evidence for the building techniques that were employed in Roman urbanisation during the period of the Middle Republic. Ostia was a scene of fighting during the period of the civil wars between Gaius Marius and Sulla during the 1st century BC. In 87 BC, Marius attacked the city. Forces led by Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Gnaeus Papirius Carbo and Quintus Sertorius crossed the Tiber at three points before capturing the city and plundering it. After his victory here, Marius moved on to attack and capture Antium and Lanuvium to further destroy the foodstores of Rome. In 68 BC, the town was sacked by pirates. During the sack, the port was set on fire, the consular war fleet was destroyed, two prominent senators were kidnapped; this attack caused such panic in Rome that Pompey the Great arranged for the tribune Aulus Gabinius to rise in the Roman Forum and propose a law, the lex Gabinia, to allow Pompey to raise an army and destroy the pirates.
Within a year, the pirates had been defeated. The town was re-built, provided with protective walls by the statesman and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. During Julius Caesar's time as Dictator, one of his improvements to the city was his establishment of better supervision of the supply of grain to Rome, he proposed better access to grain by the use of a new harbour in Ostia along with a canal from Tarracina. The town was further developed during the first century AD under the influence of Tiberius, who ordered the building of the town's first Forum; the town was soon enriched by the construction of a new harbour on the northern mouths of the Tiber. The new harbor, not called Portus, from the Latin for "harbour," was excavated from the ground at the orders of the emperor Claudius; this harbour became silted up and needed to be supplemented by a harbour built by Trajan finished in the year 113 AD. Moreover, it must be noted that at a short distance, there was the harbour of Civitavecchia; these elements began its commercial decline.
In 2008 British archaeologists discovered the remains of the widest canal built by the Romans, 90 feet, which they believe connected Portus with Ostia across the Isola Sacra, which would have made the transport of large quantities of goods far easier than by land transport. In 2014 remains on the north side of the river opposite the city were discovered and the built-up area of the city extended beyond the perimeter of the south wall. Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; the popularity of the Cult of Mithras is evident in the discovery of eighteen mithraea. Archaeologists have discovered the public latrinae, organised for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that their function was a social one. Ostia had many public baths, numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. Ostia contained the Ostia Synagogue, the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe. Ostia grew to 50,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century, reaching a peak of some 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
Ostia became an episcopal see as early as the 3rd century AD, the cathedral of Santa Aurea being located on the burial site of St Monica, mother of Augustine. In time mercantile activities became focused on Portus instead. For scholars of the High Empire Ostia was the seaside version of Rome, the city of apartment buildings It used to be thought that the city entered a period of slow decline after Constantine I made Portus a municipality, Ostia thereby ceasing to be an active port and instead becoming a popular country retreat for rich aristocrats from Rome. In spite of the fact that Portus shows substantial growth in the 4th century the traditional view that Ostia went into marked decline has had to be revised due to recent excavations and re-evaluation of the evidence; the knocking down of some apartment blocks replaced by houses of the rich was "thought to have signalled the disappearance of Ostia's once-vibra
Toilet seat
A toilet seat is a hinged unit consisting of a round or oval open seat, a lid, bolted onto the bowl of a toilet used in a sitting position. The seat can be either for a dry toilet. A toilet seat consists of the seat itself, which may be contoured forum the user to sit on, the lid, which covers the toilet when it is not in use – the lid may be absent in some cases in public restrooms; the seat is lifted when a man stands to urinate, or while cleaning the toilet. The issue of men leaving the seat up or putting it back down after use, is a perennial topic of discussion and light humor. Toilet seats have a lid; this lid is left open. It can be closed to prevent small items from falling in, to reduce odors, for aesthetic purposes or to provide a chair in the toilet room; some people close the lid to prevent the spread of aerosols on flushing. Toilet seats are manufactured in a range of different styles and colors, they may be furnished matching the style of the toilet itself, they are built to fit the shape of the toilet bowl: two examples of this being the elongated bowl and the regular bowl.
Some toilet seats are fitted with slow-closing hinges to reduce noise by preventing them from slamming against the bowl. Some seats are made of various types of wooden materials, like oak or walnut, others are made soft for added comfort. Seats with printed multi-colored designs, such as floral or newsprint, have been fashionable at times. Other designs are made of transparent plastic, encapsulating small decorative items such as seashells or coins; the price of toilet seats varies quite considerably. Decorative textile covers for the toilet seat lid have gone out of fashion. Advocates claim that they allow the toilet to be used as a more comfortable seat and provide another way of decorating a bathroom, while critics view them as a sanitation problem which creates unnecessary work; some metal toilets, such as those in many jails and prisons, have built-in toilet seats that cannot be removed, so that an inmate cannot fashion it into a weapon, shield or escape tool. The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials' Uniform Plumbing Code, section 409.2.2, requires that "all water closet seats, except those within dwelling units or for private use, shall be of the open front type".
There is an exception for toilets with an automatic toilet-seat cover dispenser. The code has no legal force, but because it is followed by many public authorities, many public toilets feature open front toilet seats; the purpose for this seat design is to allow women to wipe the perineal area after using the toilet without contacting the seat. It omits an area of the seat that could be contaminated with urine, avoids contact between the seat and the user's genitals. A slow-close seat uses special hinges to prevent the seat from slamming down. Special hinges provide resistance. High-tech toilet seats may include many features, including a heated seat, a bidet, a blow drier. High-tech seats are most common in Japan, where a seat with integrated bidets is colloquially called a Washlet, after a leading brand. Electrically heated toilet seats have been popular in Japan since the 1970s. Since Japanese bathrooms are unheated, the toilet seat sometimes doubles as a space heater. Integrated bidets date from around 1980, have since become popular in Japan, are becoming more common in most other developed countries.
Water-heated seats were in use in royal homes in Britain in the twentieth century. The first electrically-heated toilet seat was manufactured by Cyril Reginald Clayton at St Leonard's on Sea in Sussex. A UK patent was applied for on 5 January 1959, filing on 4 January 1960 and granted in August 1963; the first model, the'Deluxete', was made of fiberglass with a heating element in the lid triggered by a mercury switch that warmed the seat when the lid was down. Subsequent improvements were made and another UK patent applied for, this time for a deodorizing model with integral fan on 20 May 1970, it was granted on 17 May 1972. At first marketed as the'Deodar', this model was sold as the'Readywarm'. Among the early users of the'Deluxete' was racing driver Stirling Moss. With the permission of Reginald Clayton, the electrically-heated seat was further developed by the Japanese firm Matsushita. In 1993, Matt DiRoberto of Worcester, Massachusetts invented the padded toilet seat, an early 1990s fad. Large well-known manufacturers include Toto Ltd. in Japan, Bemis and Kohler in the United States.
The toilet seat functions as a comic standby for sight gags relating to toilet humor. The most common is someone staggering out of a toilet room after an explosion with a toilet seat around his neck. In the television show Dead Like Me, George Lass, the main character, is killed when a zero-G toilet seat from space station Mir re-enters the atmosphere; the P-3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft went into service in 1962. Twenty-five years in 1987, it was determined that the toilet shroud, the cover that fits over the toilet, needed replacement. Since the airplane was out of production this would require new tooling to produce; these on-board toilets required a uniquely shaped, molded fiberglass shroud that had to satisfy specifications for vibration resistance and durability. The molds had to be specially made; the price reflected the design work and the cost of the
Septic tank
A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass or plastic through which domestic wastewater flows for basic treatment. Settling and anaerobic processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment efficiency is only moderate. Septic tank systems are a type of simple onsite sewage facility, they can be used in areas, such as rural areas. The treated liquid effluent is disposed in a septic drain field which provides further treatment. However, groundwater pollution can be a problem; the term "septic" refers to the anaerobic bacterial environment that develops in the tank which decomposes or mineralizes the waste discharged into the tank. Septic tanks can be coupled with other onsite wastewater treatment units such as biofilters or aerobic systems involving artificially forced aeration; the rate of accumulation of sludge—also called septage or fecal sludge—is faster than the rate of decomposition. Therefore, the accumulated fecal sludge must be periodically removed, done with a vacuum truck.
A septic tank consists of more concrete or plastic tanks of between 4000 and 7500 liters. These pipe connections are made with a T pipe, allowing liquid to enter and exit without disturbing any crust on the surface. Today, the design of the tank incorporates two chambers, each equipped with a manhole cover, separated by a dividing wall with openings located about midway between the floor and roof of the tank. Wastewater enters the first chamber of the tank, allowing solids to scum to float; the settled solids are anaerobically digested. The liquid component flows through the dividing wall into the second chamber, where further settlement takes place; the excess liquid, now in a clear condition drains from the outlet into the septic drain field referred to as a leach field, drain field or seepage field, depending upon locality. A percolation test is required prior to installation to ensure the porosity of the soil is adequate to serve as a drain field; the remaining impurities are trapped and eliminated in the soil, with the excess water eliminated through percolation into the soil, through evaporation, by uptake through the root system of plants and eventual transpiration or entering groundwater or surface water.
A piping network laid in a stone-filled trench, distributes the wastewater throughout the field with multiple drainage holes in the network. The size of the drain field is proportional to the volume of wastewater and inversely proportional to the porosity of the drainage field; the entire septic system can operate by gravity alone or, where topographic considerations require, with inclusion of a lift pump. Certain septic tank designs include siphons or other devices to increase the volume and velocity of outflow to the drainage field; these help to fill the drainage pipe more evenly and extend the drainage field life by preventing premature clogging or bioclogging. An Imhoff tank is a two-stage septic system; this avoids mixing digested sludge with incoming sewage. Some septic tank designs have a second stage where the effluent from the anaerobic first stage is aerated before it drains into the seepage field. A properly designed and operating septic system is odor-free and, besides periodic inspection and emptying of the septic tank, should last for decades with minimal maintenance.
A well designed and maintained concrete, fiberglass, or plastic tank should last about 50 years. Waste, not decomposed by the anaerobic digestion must be removed from the septic tank. Otherwise the septic tank fills up and wastewater containing undecomposed material discharges directly to the drainage field. Not only is this detrimental for the environment but, if the sludge overflows the septic tank into the leach field, it may clog the leach field piping or decrease the soil porosity itself, requiring expensive repairs; when a septic tank is emptied, the accumulated sludge is pumped out of the tank by a vacuum truck. How the septic tank must be emptied depends on the volume of the tank relative to the input of solids, the amount of indigestible solids, the ambient temperature, as well as usage, system characteristics and the requirements of the relevant authority; some health authorities require tanks to be emptied at prescribed intervals, while others leave it up to the decision of an inspector.
Some systems require pumping every few years or sooner, while others may be able to go 10–20 years between pumpings. An older system with an undersize tank, being used by a large family will require much more frequent pumping than a new system used by only a few people. Anaerobic decomposition is restarted when the tank is refilled. Services for de-sludging tend to empty a septic tank i.e. take out all septage, while the actual requirement is removal of settled solids, it's left purposefully incomplete so as to leave at least some of the microbial populations in place to continue the anaerobic degradation processes that take place in a septic tank. An empty tank may be damaged by hydrostatic pressure causing the tank to "float" out of the ground in flood situations or wet ground conditions. Like any system, a septic system requires maintenance; the maintenance of a septic system is the responsibility of the resident or property owner. Some forms of abuse or neglect in
Toilet roll holder
A toilet-roll holder known as a toilet paper dispenser, is an item that holds a roll of toilet paper. Common models include a hinged length of wire mounted horizontally on a wall, a thicker axle either recessed into a wall or mounted on a frame, or a freestanding vertical pole on a base. In recent years, automatic toilet paper dispensers which automatically fold and cut the toilet paper are being installed in public toilets. In the first case, the idea is that the toilet roll maintains contact with the door or wall as the roll's radius decreases; this provides enough friction to allow the user to tear off a piece of tissue. More sophisticated designs include a curved horizontal plate that covers the roll, thus removing the necessity of touching the roll; these roll holders can be used in both orientations, but may be difficult to use in the "under" orientation. The horizontal axle design is found in most homes, in many schools, it is easy to ease of refilling. This is the type of holder most assumed about when toilet paper orientation is mentioned.
This type of holder is not common because it can get in the way of traffic getting on and off the toilet more than the horizontal axle in the wall. Intended to hold a stock of replacement rolls, the vertical pole has become the only paper holder in some households, it is useful in homes where the family has mixed handedness. Its drawbacks include that there is a lot more friction than in other types of toilet roll holders, thus not as easy to use; the holders in many public toilets are designed to make it difficult for patrons to steal the toilet rolls. Various contraptions have been devised to lock the spare rolls away, release them only when the active roll is used up. An increasing number of public toilets are furnished with holders that hold large rolls of toilet paper; these are designed to save money by reducing the frequency of janitorial services to restock the paper. In many toilets in elementary schools, a dispenser releases only a small square of toilet paper to prevent a user from intentionally clogging the toilet with large amounts of paper.
Toilet paper orientation Media related to Toilet paper holders at Wikimedia Commons The Toilet Paper Roll Poll and pictures of case 2
Bidet
A bidet is a plumbing fixture or type of sink intended for washing the genitalia, inner buttocks, anus of the human body. It may be located next to the toilet in the toilet room. Fixtures that combine a toilet seat with a bidet, which may be electronic, are available. "Bidet" is a French loanword. Bidets are used to wash and clean the genitalia, inner buttocks, anus; some bidets have a vertical jet intended to give easy access for washing and rinsing the perineum and anal area. The traditional separate bidet is like a wash-basin, can be used for many other purposes such as washing feet. A bidet shower is a hand-held triggered nozzle, similar to that on a kitchen sink sprayer, that delivers a spray of water to assist in anal cleansing and cleaning the genitals after defecation and urination. In contrast to a bidet, integrated with the toilet, a bidet shower has to be held by the hands, cleaning does not take place automatically. Bidet showers are common in countries. Drawbacks include the possibility of wetting a user's clothing.
In addition, a user must be reasonably flexible to use a hand-held bidet shower. A bidet is a plumbing fixture, installed as a separate unit in the bathroom besides toilet and sink, which users have to straddle; some bidets resemble a large hand basin, with a stopper so they can be filled up. There are bidets that are attachable to toilet bowls, saving space and without the need to plumb in an additional unit. A bidet may be a movable or fixed nozzle attached to an existing toilet on back or side toilet rim, or replacing the toilet seat. In these cases, their use is restricted to cleaning the genitals; some bidets of this type produce others a more or less oblique one. Others have one nozzle on the side rim for both anal and genital areas, other designs have two nozzles on the back rim, the shorter one, called the "family nozzle", is used for washing the area around the anus, the longer one is designed for washing the vulva; such attachable bidets are mechanically, by turning a valve, or electronically.
Electronic bidets are controlled with waterproof electrical switches rather than a manual valve. There are models that have a heating element which blows warm air to dry the user after washing, that offer heated seats, wireless remote controls, illumination through built in night lights, or built in deodorizers and activated carbon filters to remove odors. Further refinements include adjustable water pressure, temperature compensation, directional spray control. Where bathroom appearance is of concern, under-the-seat mounting types have become more popular. An add-on bidet connects to the existing water supply of a toilet via the addition of a threaded tee pipe adapter, requires no soldering or other plumbing work. Electronic add-on bidets require a GFCI protected grounded electrical outlet. Contrarily to beliefs in non-bidet countries, the use of bidet is not an alternative to the use of toilet paper. A typical sequence usage for a bidet is: wiping anus area using toilet paper first. Drying the area is not always a necessity but anyway obtained with one or two sheets of more toilet paper.
Disinfecting the bidet with a disinfectant bathroom spray after use is customary at home. Personal hygiene is maintained more and with the use of both toilet paper and bidet as compared to the use of toilet paper alone. Addressing hemorrhoids and genital health issues might be facilitated by the use of bidet fixtures; because of the large surface of the sink, after-use and routine disinfection of stand-alone bidets requires accuracy, or microbial contamination from one user to the next could take place. Bidet attachments are sometimes included on hospital toilets because of their utility in maintaining hygiene. Warm-water bidets may harbor dangerous microbes. From an environmental standpoint, bidets can reduce the need for toilet paper. Considering that an average person uses only 1⁄8 US gal of water for cleansing once using a bidet, much less water is used than for making toilet paper. An article in Scientific American concluded that using a bidet is "much less stressful on the environment than using paper".
In Islam there are many strict rules concerning excretion. In regions where Islam is the predominant religion, water for anal washing is provided in most toilets in the form of a hand-held "bidet shower" or shattaf. Bidets are becoming popular with the ageing community, or for use among people with physical disabilities; these combined units make independent toileting possible for many people, affording greater independence. These are special units with higher toilet seats allowing easier wheelchair transfer, with some form of electronic remote control that benefits an individual with limited mobility or requiring assistance. Bidets are common bathroom fixtures in many southern European countries Italy, where they are found in 97% of households and Portugal (installation is ma
Outhouse
An outhouse known by many other names, is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry toilets may be encountered; the term may be used to denote the toilet itself, not just the structure itself. Outhouses were in use in cities of developed countries well into the second half of the twentieth century, they are still common in rural areas and in cities of developing countries. Outhouses that are covering pit latrines in densely populated areas can cause groundwater pollution. In some localities and varieties of English outside North America, the term "outhouse" refers not to a toilet, but to outbuildings in a general sense: sheds, workshops, etc. Outhouses vary in construction, they are by definition outside the dwelling, are not connected to plumbing, sewer, or septic system. The World Health Organization recommends they be built a reasonable distance from the house balancing issues of easy access versus that of smell.
The superstructure exists to shelter the user, to protect the toilet itself. The primary purpose of the building is for privacy and human comfort, the walls and roof provide a visual screen and some protection from the elements; the outhouse has the secondary role of protecting the toilet hole from sudden influxes of rainwater, which would flood the hole and flush untreated wastes into the underlying soils before they can decompose. Outhouses are not used by men and boys for urination. Outhouses are humble and utilitarian, made of lumber or plywood; this is so they can be moved when the earthen pit fills up. Depending on the size of the pit and the amount of use, this can be frequent, sometimes yearly; as pundit "Jackpine" Bob Cary wrote: "Anyone can build an outhouse, but not everyone can build a good outhouse." Floor plans are rectangular or square, but hexagonal outhouses have been built. The arrangements inside the outhouse vary by culture. In Western societies, though not all, have at least one seat with a hole in it, above a small pit.
Others in more rural, older areas in European countries have a hole with two indents on either side for your feet. In Eastern societies, there is a hole in the floor. A roll of toilet paper is available. Old corn cobs, leaves, or other types of paper may instead be used; the decoration on the outhouse door has no standard. The well-known crescent moon on American outhouses was popularized by cartoonists and had a questionable basis in fact. There are authors who claim the practice began during the colonial period as an early "mens"/"ladies" designation for an illiterate populace. Others dismiss the claim as an urban legend. What is certain is that the purpose of the hole is for venting and light and there were a wide variety of shapes and placements employed; the shelter may cover different sorts of toilets. An outhouse provides the shelter for a pit latrine, which collects human feces in a hole in the ground; when properly built and maintained they can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment from open defecation.
When the pit fills to the top, it should be either emptied or a new pit constructed and the shelter moved or re-built at the new location. The management of the fecal sludge removed from the pit is complicated. There are both health risks if not done properly; as of 2013 pit latrines are used by an estimated 1.77 billion people. This is in the developing world as well as in rural and wilderness areas. Another system is the bucket toilet, consisting of a portable receptacle; these may be emptied by their owners into composting piles in the garden, or collected by contractors for larger-scale disposal. This was known as the pail closet; this system was associated in particular with the English town of Rochdale, to the extent that it was described as the "Rochdale System" of sanitation. 20th century books report that similar systems were in operation in parts of France and elsewhere in continental Europe. The system of municipal collection was widespread in Australia. In Scandinavia and some other countries, outhouses are built over removable containers that enable easy removal of the waste and enable much more rapid composting in separate piles.
A similar system operates in India, where hundreds of thousands of workers engage in manual scavenging, i.e. emptying pit latrines and bucket toilets without any personal protective equipment. A variety of systems are used in some national parks and popular wilderness areas, to cope with the increased volume of people engaged in activities such as mountaineering and kayaking; the growing popularity of paddling and climbing has created special waste disposal issues throughout the world. It is a dominant topic for their members. For example, in some places the human waste is collected in drums which need to be helicoptered in and out at considerable expense. Alternatively, some parks mandate a "pack it out" rule. Many reports document the use of containers for the removal of excrement, which must be packed in and packed out on Mount Everest. Known as "expedition barrels" or "bog barrels", the cans are weighed to make sure that groups do not dump them along the way. "Toilet tents" are erected. There h
