Plumbing
Water supply and waste removal systems for buildings using pipes and channels.
Core metadata
- ID: plumbing
- Era: Classical
- First known date: -300 (century)
- Region: Mediterranean, South Asia, East Asia, and other urban societies
- Review status: source_checked
- Maturity: established
Prerequisites
Dependents
- Flush Toilet with Trap Seal (flush_toilet_trap_seal)
- Insulae (Apartment Blocks) (insulae_apartment_blocks)
- Public Baths (Thermae) (public_baths_thermae)
- Public Health Systems (public_health_systems)
- Modern Public Sanitation (public_sanitation_modern)
- Sanitary Sewer Networks (sanitary_sewer_networks)
- Skyscrapers (skyscrapers)
Fields
Field lanes
- Water & Sanitation Systems: Conveyance & Distribution
Node sources
- Plumbing (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026, textbook) • Supports: node, maturity
- Pottery water pipe, Roman, 100-350 CE (Science Museum Group Collection, 2026, museum) • Supports: node, maturity
- Lead water pipe, Roman, 20-47 CE (Science Museum Group Collection, 2026, museum) • Supports: node, maturity
Prerequisite edge evidence
Edge/source evidence summary:
- Prerequisite edges: 4
- Average edge confidence: 75%
- Prerequisite sources: 4
- textbook: 4
| Prerequisite | Type | Confidence | Evidence level | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aqueducts (aqueducts) | enabling | 74% | textbook | Roman aqueducts supplied cities with potable water and could feed urban plumbing, but building plumbing can also use wells, cisterns, or local sources. |
|
| Pottery (pottery) | enabling | 76% | textbook | Roman terracotta pipes show pottery as a practical pipe-material route for water supply networks; it is enabling rather than required because lead and other materials also existed. |
|
| Hydraulics (hydraulics) | enabling | 74% | textbook | Water distribution depends on pressure, gravity, flow, and pipe friction; hydraulic knowledge enables plumbing design without implying formal theory for every historical installation. |
|
| Lead Working (lead_working) | enabling | 76% | textbook | Roman lead water pipes supplied some homes directly, making lead working an enabling material route, not a hard prerequisite for all plumbing. |
|
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