Thomas Crapper was an English plumber and businessman. He founded Thomas Crapper & Co in London, a plumbing equipment company. His notability with regard to toilets has often been overstated, mostly due to the publication in 1969 of a fictional biography by New Zealand satirist Wallace Reyburn.
Thomas Crapper
Thomas Crapper Branding on one of his company's toilets
Manhole cover, inscribed "T Crapper & Co Sanitary Engineers Marlboro Works Chelsea London"
In plumbing, a trap is a U-shaped portion of pipe designed to trap liquid or gas to prevent unwanted flow; most notably sewer gases from entering buildings while allowing waste materials to pass through. In oil refineries, traps are used to prevent hydrocarbons and other dangerous gases and chemical fumes from escaping through drains. In heating systems, the same feature is used to prevent thermo-siphoning which would allow heat to escape to locations where it is not wanted. Similarly, some pressure gauges are connected to systems using U bends to maintain a local gas while the system uses liquid. For decorative effect, they can be disguised as complete loops of pipe, creating more than one U for added efficacy.
Water seal in drain pipe under a sink. Water enters at right, fills the trap, and continues left. Inverted siphoning occurs below the line "A".
A bottle trap, which can be unscrewed for cleaning
Wash-out closet, manufactured by Myers Sanitary Depot, New York, 1890
Trap with copper drain pipe at underside of firestop packing in two-hour fire-resistance rated concrete floor slab
