Plumbing is a normal term used day to day by Americans, but where does the word plumbing come from? Where did the plumbers who fix our clogged drains and broken pipes get their title? The answer might very well surprise you.
The term plumber and plumbing does not come from anything in the modern world, it actually comes from the time of the ancient Romans. When the Roman Empire was the epitome of civilization, they used lead pipes inside their cities. Lead was called plumbum. Lead was used for many things within the Roman Empire. Lead was used in the roofing of Roman buildings. The drainage pipes were also made of lead. The famous Roman baths also used lead pipes to bring water to them. Then, as medieval times continued, anyone who worked with lead was called a plumbarius. Later, the word for anyone who works with pipes, especially water and sewer pipes, was shortened from plumbarius to the modern word plumber.
As a side note, this is also why the abbreviation for lead on the periodic table of elements is Pb.
Today, if you were to look in the dictionary under the word plumber, you would find a simple definition that explains that a plumber is someone who installs and repairs pipes and plumbing.
When you search for plumbing, you’ll see a definition of what a plumbing system really is. In most definitions, plumbing includes three aspects of plumbing systems which are fixtures, fixtures, and of course, pipes. Plumbing can also include not only water and sewage, but also gas pipes.
Nowadays plumbing is a very common job. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are approximately four hundred and twenty thousand plumbers working in the United States of America. Most plumbers earn just over twenty dollars an hour and just over forty six thousand dollars a year. Plumbers do not need a college degree. Most plumbers have a high school education and then have been trained through an apprenticeship. There are no federal laws on plumbing licenses, but each state has its own regulations on how plumbers must be licensed and educated within their jurisdiction.
So plumbing is a very popular career today, but as popular as it is in the United States, it will never change the fact that the plumbing trade and the name that goes with it comes from much further back in time, from the time of the Roman Empire.