Plumbing is Very Important – Even in Space

Plumbing is undoubtedly one of the most important systems in any home. You simply cannot postpone repairs or fixes when the problem is plumbing related. If you do, the likelihood is that you will end up in situations, which are both messy and expensive. If you have had problems with your toilet or bathroom recently, you will remember what a nuisance such situations can be and the repairs can cost a huge amount.

If faulty or broken plumbing systems can cause so much trouble at home, just imagine the state of the space men aboard the International Space Station who realized that the toilet at their station was not quite working the way it should. With nothing but empty space all around them and not a convenience store or gas station in sight for them to use a toilet, the astronauts were really hard pressed to come up with some creative ideas on how to fix the problem.

The men tried several things, and finally had to resort to plastic bags. The space station crew did not exactly have a pleasant time trying their hand at plumbing in the outer space. First, they tried installing a back up pump. Unfortunately this failed to yield results. A second back up solution also failed to do the job. Finally, the crew had to stick to the trusty plastic bags and that’s how they passed two weeks aboard the space station.

Considering that the Russian toilet aboard the station cost nearly $20 million to build, this problem was the last thing that was expected to crop up. It was only when the shuttle Discovery brought along a ‘spare toilet’ that the astronauts got some relief.

Whatever else they may have learned from the whole incident is not known, but one thing’s for certain, plumbing gone wrong anywhere is the one of the worst problems to deal with.

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