Breculiarities: what’s the deal with split water faucets, big plugs and left-hand side driving?
With all the talk of Brexit these days, we were inspired to take a quick journey to the British Isles and explore some of the endearing peculiarities of the region.
Why do many British homes still have split water faucets?
Our journey starts with a question that every visitor to the UK has asked themselves after nursing the scorching burns on their left hand: why are hot and cold water still commonly delivered in separate faucets?
Following World War II, most British houses were built with a water storage tank in the attic. As there were no strict standards on the sealing of these tanks, the stored water could become susceptible to contamination by bacteria, viruses, algae, rust and, apparently, even rats (be forwarned before opening this link). As a result, British water regulation prohibits the use of single faucets in these older buildings to prevent potentially contaminated water from being mixed back into the clean municipal water supply.
Across the Atlantic pond, the single-faucet movement was initiated by a Canadian patent in 1880 that included a special valve to prevent this back-feed from occurring. However, it took another 57 years for Seattle inventor Alfred Moen to create the now-ubiquitous “single-handle mixing faucet” that allowed the temperature and volume of water coming out of a faucet to be controlled more accurately with a single hand. Moen’s idea was originally turned down by the major plumbing manufacturers of the time, with the first trial run approved only a decade later in the post- World War II building boom. The design quickly transformed the industry, where over 70% of the kitchen faucets sold in the US are now of the one-handle variety. “In 1959, Fortune magazine named Moen’s single-handle faucet one of the top 100 best-designed mass-produced products, along with Henry Ford’s Model-T and Benjamin Franklin’s stove.”
These days, many British houses have replaced the attic storage tank with an on-demand boiler fed directly from the clean municipal supply enabling the installation of single faucet sinks. Although these boilers provide a clean supply, a colloquial stigma of hot water not being safe for drinking still remains. A number of passionate supporters of the double faucet arrangement defend their preference on the basis of Victorian nostalgia, along with possible economic and environmental benefits; single faucets encourage you to leave the water running for longer until it reaches optimum temperature.
Why are British plugs so massive?
While undeniably unattractive, the boxy 3-pinned standard British plug (known as British Standard 1363 and or type “G” in the international arena) is possibly one of the most ingenious and safest plug designs in the world. It is used in over 50 countries, including many former British overseas territories, and is responsible for crowning the UK with one of the lowest fatality rates relating to domestic electricity in Europe.
While undeniably unattractive, the boxy 3-pinned standard British plug is possibly one of the most ingenious and safest plug designs in the world.
The standard was a key component of post-war building standards produced by the British Ministry of Works. Prior to Type G, British plugs came in three different sizes and current ratings with round pins. In these times it would have not been possible to plug your smartphone charger into the same type of socket as your washing machine.
The new design was introduced as an all-purpose domestic standard that could support multiple types of electrical appliances. The standard revolved around a number of key safety-related requirements that resulted in some incredibly smart design features found in today’s plugs:
- The plug itself includes a fuse, which is responsible for its large size. These fuses were required by the so-called “ring circuit” arrangement recommended in the post-war building standards. This arrangement involves chaining one socket in a household to the next with thinner wire, rather than connecting each socket (or group of sockets) back to the main fusebox. While the post-war copper shortage is popularly quoted as the reason behind this design choice, there is no direct mention of this within the technical reports. Instead, the ring circuit and fused-plug simply offered a more efficient and lower cost system which would safely support the growing number of sockets required in households.
- The earth (or ground) pin is larger than the live and neutral pins (the ones that are dangerous to touch). This arrangement ensures that the “dangerous” pins do not have current flowing through them until the top pin is inserted.
- Half of the bottom two pins on the plug (the same dangerous ones mentioned above) are insulated, which allows the plug to be pulled out half-way without exposing live current.
- The design also includes standards for securing the plug in a socket, providing a flusher and sturdier fit than plug designs found in other countries (owners of heavy MacBook charging bricks will surely agree).
Pretty neat.
Why do the British drive on the left?
Yes folks, it appears that the infamous Medieval sword-carrying theory might hold some truth:
“In the Middle Ages you never knew who you were going to meet when travelling. Most people are right-handed, so if a stranger passed by on the right of you, your right hand would be free to use your sword if required. Similarly, medieval castle staircases spiral in a clockwise direction going upwards, so the defending soldiers would be able to stab down around the twist but those attacking (going up the stairs) would not.” (Source: Historic UK)
Today, the United Kingdom and around one-third of countries and territories follow left-hand traffic (LHT), while the remaining majority drive on the right (RHT). Most LHT countries were formally part of the British Empire, with a few exceptions including Japan, Thailand, and Suriname. Although LHT was already common in Japan in the 1600s, it wasn’t made official until 1872, when Japan’s first railway–built with support from the British–was introduced. Samoa is one of the few countries in history to switch from right- to left-hand driving in an effort to import cheap cars from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
To understand why Britain still drives on the left, it might be easier to explain why other countries switched to the right. Large long-distance wagons drawn by several pairs of horses became popular in France in the 1700s. In this configuration, the driver generally sat on the left-back horse, allowing him to control the increased horsepower with a whip in his right hand. To maintain a view of oncoming traffic these early-day truck drivers moved to the left side of the road.
The 1800s brought a global expansion in road infrastructure and the introduction of the first formal traffic rules. In London, a law was passed mandating LHT on London Bridge to control increasing traffic and road accidents. This ruling was soon incorporated into Highway Act of 1835 and was adopted by British overseas territories shortly after. On the other side of the channel, RHT began spreading through Europe with Napoleon’s empire, fuelling a movement towards harmonised road laws on the continent over the next century.
Right-hand traffic became dominant in the US following the American Revolution and the rejection of British customs. In addition, the influence of French immigrants and their “trucks” lead to the passing of RHT laws in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey in the late 18th– and early 19th centuries. With the rapid development of the US car industry and export of the mass-market Ford Model T, right-hand-drive vehicles became a global norm. (Source: BBC America)
With the majority of its neighbours having made the switch to the right side (excuse the opinionated pun), the UK held a referendum in the 1960s on whether to join the club. Strong opposition from conservatives, who cited the excessive costs that would be involved in making the switch, blocked this proposal, however.
Although there are mixed opinions on whether either of the configurations is safer, I assume the only additional risk present on British roads are tourist drivers with burnt left hands.
