Globally, society revolves around water usage. According to researchers at Princeton University, the average household flushes the toilet about five times per day. Researchers at Harvard University state that the average person drinks 4 to 6 cups of water per day. If you live in a developed country, chances are you have running water. You’ll likely have working toilets, sinks, showers, and other such fixtures. Unless you repair your own plumbing, you simply take these features for granted. Going about daily life, these plumbing elements are needed to maintain a routine. When asked if he uses plumbing a lot, Bansi Pande ’25 responded, “I do, every day.”
Excluding those who drink bottled water, most people receive water through the work of plumbers. Hygiene is another important aspect of daily life that relies on plumbing. Researchers at Harvard University advise that showering several times per week is plenty for most people to maintain a basic standard of cleanliness. The water for these showers only reaches residents through the work of plumbing. This translates to millions of people in New York City alone who need the work of plumbers to go about their day-to-day activities.
Administrators with the New York Department of Environmental Protection note that 7,400 miles of sewage pipes lie beneath the 5 boroughs of New York City alone. Overall, the scale of New York City’s plumbing infrastructure is staggering.
Plumbing stands out in a lot of ways, one of which is the extent to which plumbing has mostly remained unchanged throughout the years. Despite the century-long gap, plumbing in 2024 looks largely the same as it did in 1924. Other trades, like the electrical trade, have evolved with technological advancements, while plumbing has not. Electricians who retired twenty years ago might have difficulty getting a grasp of what newer electricians are expected to work with. In comparison, a plumber from 100 years ago could likely pick up on how to plumb in this day and age. To me, that is the beauty of plumbing.
Walking past buildings under construction and seeing the elegantly installed pipes, before they are covered over with sheetrock, I can’t help but stop and stare. Plumbing is unique in that it is a job that clearly reflects the hard work that went into it. Some of my favorite works of plumbing are when dozens of cast iron pipes all come together in a central location for drainage or another function.
When finished, some works of plumbing look more like pieces of art. At the end of a job, plumbing can give a glimpse into the mind of the plumber just like how art can give a glimpse into the mind of an artist. Plumbing can sometimes look so intricate and beautiful that it is easy for one to wonder whether the plumber took artistic liberties when doing the work. It’s a shame that some plumbing jobs are covered over and concealed by blank walls.
There have always been works of plumbing with art-like qualities since the inception of the trade itself. The Ancient Roman Empire – which lasted from the 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. – left some notable plumbing after its fall. David Laskin, in a New York Times article writes of an aqueduct called the Aqua Marcia that stretched nearly 60 miles when it was completed. The Aqua Marcia was built primarily with stone; nowadays, stone is generally just an adornment to plumbing and has no function. While the Romans could not harness the same materials we do, the Aqua Marcia runs largely underground just like modern plumbing, although its subterranean sections are overlooked. The Aqua Marcia is known for its above ground sections constructed with picturesque arches and intricate masonry.
This juxtaposition between the form and function of stone in the history of the plumbing industry highlights the changes of the plumbing industry across time. Over thousands of years, the field has clearly seen major development. In a smaller snapshot of time, techniques have mostly stayed the same in the plumbing industry. While we no longer use aqueducts like the Romans, the average person might have difficulty differentiating a plumbing system from today with one from the 1930s; the only distinguishing difference would be the design elements like faucets that adorn each water feature. In fact, the plumbing in the bathrooms of the Bronx High School of Science is difficult to date. The pipework could easily be a few decades old, or it could only be a few years old.
Another part of plumbing that stands out to me, as an amateur, is that plumbing is built on simple pipes and fittings, yet it gets so easily complicated when applied to homes and other water systems. I can walk through the plumbing aisle of a hardware store and know what each fitting does, but I would have no idea how to put them together. This goes for a lot of the general population, who can look at pipes and understand what they do but are not able to use them effectively.
I am a fan of this aspect of plumbing, as I feel that in other fields, the building blocks of a given craft are needlessly complicated and ruin perfectly functional things. I hold the belief that “old is gold” in the context of most technologies, but often this does not reflect the industry or the average consumer. Keeping this in mind, I am led to wonder how plumbing is able to stay the same in a changing world. I do some of my own automotive repairs, and I am astonished by the perfectly good technologies in old cars that are replaced by more intricate and unreliable mechanisms in newer cars. These features exist for no other reason than making money for the company. It surprises me that plumbing lobbyists seem to have not made a push for something similar in their industry.
New York City is often a good reflection of global technology and industry. My main exposure to plumbing has been in New York City, so I felt that this was a good snapshot in order to gain a better understanding of the plumbing industry globally. Plumbing is clearly in high demand — on a walk through the city, one passes numerous plumbing work vans and trucks every day. I spoke to Ariel Mizrahi of Ariel Plumbing, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. When asked about changes in the industry since he started, he noted that New York City itself has presented the main change he has experienced. “New York City has started regulating plastic pipes. When I work in Westchester County versus New York City, I am much less restricted when using plastic.”
New York City has placed restrictions on plastic pipe usage due to its durability being in question, even though it is used widely in other areas. Currently, the New York City building code favors cast iron piping over the flimsy plastic that is installed elsewhere. The city’s approach to plastic piping goes to show how the City presents a unique case for the plumbing industry. Out of curiosity, I looked through my own home and examined the apartment’s plumbing. The sink and drainage system are connected with trusty copper and cast iron, and although I have nearly no idea what I am looking at, the stoutness of the materials brings me peace of mind.
I wish I knew more about my plumbing, but learning more about it is intimidating. This seems to be a common theme for the average person. Many people I know have a decent understanding of the framing and electrical system of their homes. If a light doesn’t come on, most know two basic things to check: the bulb itself and the fuses for the light’s circuit. The majority of people also have a basic handiness in order to fix things themselves. The average person is likely to have some rudimentary tools like a hammer and saw. I asked Bansi Pande ’25 about his knowledge regarding plumbing in comparison to other skills. “I might be able to fix a chair leg or something like that, but I don’t think I could fix my toilet, if it became broken,” he said.
For some reason, plumbing is a fundamental element of a home with which the average person is unfamiliar. “The plumbing knowledge of the average person is very limited. I’ve been called out to clients who have a broken toilet and the chain from the flapper of their toilet to the handle just got disconnected,” said Mizrahi. Knowing that a simple visual inspection of the toilet tank would reveal this issue, it leads one to wonder what makes plumbing so daunting for people to understand. If confronted with a leaking pipe, many people don’t even know where to start with repairs. I find the limited plumbing knowledge of the general population, including myself, to be a bit of an anomaly, and I believe that this further emphasizes the uniqueness of the plumbing industry.
To anyone interested in becoming a plumber themself, Mizrahi says the best thing to bring to the table is patience. “So many young people expect things to happen quickly. In plumbing, you have to be patient. Becoming a plumber is a long process that starts with work, and down the line you can become a licensed plumber, where you learn about the codes and calculations for plumbing.” Mr. Mizrahi started out as a plumber on call. At his beginning in the industry, Mizrahi was ready to help a client in need of an emergency plumbing repair 24 hours a day. Without the great work of plumbers, our world would function very differently. It is worth taking a moment to appreciate the people and the pipes that keep our world going as we know it.
“The plumbing knowledge of the average person is very limited. I’ve been called out to clients who have a broken toilet and the chain from the flapper of their toilet to the handle just got disconnected,” said Ariel Mizrahi of Ariel Plumbing.