April 25th is set aside each year to honor plumbers. At Sonnhalter, we have a great appreciation for plumbers and the work that they do. Today, Sonnhalter's PR Engineer Rachel Kerstetter will be sharing with you about plumbing. Often plumbers don’t receive the credit and fame that they deserve unless they’re Mario and Luigi and trying to save a princess. The Super Mario Brothers are the most famous plumbers, and they live in a Nintendo game. The reality is that without plumbers, our world would be far from sanitary or pleasant. As part of our team's commitment to getting our hands dirty in our clients' work, we've had the opportunity to see plumbers at work, we’ve used their tools and we’ve heard their stories; we know that they deserve to be honored today. Plumbers do much more than unclog drains and fix leaky faucets - it’s plumbers who install the miles of piping that make hot, cold and process water and gas utilities possible. Using a little research combined with our knowledge of the profession, we've put together a list of things you may not know about plumbing: The word "plumber" goes back to the Roman Empire and the Latin word "plumbum" for lead. It's because of a plumber that the Chicago River is dyed green every St. Patrick's Day. The river was first turned green in 1962 using plumbing dye for detecting leaks. (more of that story here) The ancient Egyptians had plumbing systems. Archeologists have found lavatories inside tombs as well. (more on that here) Since 1963, more than 28 billion feet, or about 5.3 million miles, of copper tubing has been installed in U.S. buildings. In 2004, there were more than 91,000 miles of water distribution piping in the U.S. 78% of that pipe is made of…
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