were not readily available in middle-class American homes until the early 20th century. Before this time, Americans often discarded the dirty water collected in basins after use. Limited piping systems gradually developed with lead materials, but after WWI, when the poisonous properties of lead became more well-known, piping was reconstructed with galvanized iron.

Galvanized iron is actually steel coated with a protective layer of zinc, but it was soon discovered that this zinc layer naturally corroded