1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,600 Forget spending a penny. 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:07,240 Last year in the UK, we spent £2.5 billion on toilet roll. 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:09,480 That's about 100 rolls per person. 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:16,720 Used on an average of six daily trips to the loo. 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:23,040 Tonight we follow the journey your toilet roll takes - 940 miles, 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:24,640 from forest... 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,760 ..to factory. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,920 It runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up... 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:34,400 ..with demand. 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:36,760 I'm Gregg Wallace. 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,600 If King Kong used toilet paper, that'd be the one he used! 12 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,000 And I'll be discovering the extraordinary technology 13 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,680 behind this most ordinary bathroom essential. 14 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,600 Toilet paper at 40mph, 15 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,920 scraped off with the biggest razor blade in the world. 16 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:54,960 That's the way we do it! 17 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:56,000 GREG LAUGHS 18 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:58,320 I'm Cherry Healey. 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,120 Oh! What is that?! 20 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,080 I'm getting hands on at Britain's oldest toilet factory... 21 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,920 Is this going to toilet heaven? 22 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,880 ..and having a cheeky encounter with a futuristic loo. 23 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:17,080 OK, here comes the wand! 24 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,120 Woohoo! 25 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:22,800 And Ruth Goodman... 26 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,080 Richard! Hello. 27 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,160 ..gets to the bottom of our historical toilet habits. 28 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,800 At my nan's house, if you ran out of loo paper, there was a nail. 29 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,680 In the next 24 hours, this place will produce 30 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,880 more than 700,000 toilet rolls. 31 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,720 Welcome to Inside The Factory. 32 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,800 This is the Essity mill in Manchester. 33 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:23,160 This 27 acre site produces 130 tonnes of tissue every day. 34 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,000 That's kitchen roll as well as loo roll. 35 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,000 But tonight, we are following the production of their bestseller... 36 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,360 Cushelle two-ply toilet paper. 37 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,000 Before we can start making the paper, we need one vital ingredient. 38 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:46,040 Trees. 39 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,720 And these ones are growing on the remote east coast of Sweden. 40 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:56,560 What an absolutely beautiful place. 41 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,000 They normally only let me walk around factories. 42 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:08,040 This 6.5 million acre sustainable forest is larger than Wales, 43 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,240 and contains more than a billion spruce and pine trees. 44 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,920 Bjorn Lingfelt has been in the timber and paper business 45 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:17,160 for over 30 years. 46 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,080 Bjorn! Hi there. 47 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,520 What a beautiful place to come to work every day! 48 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:23,560 It is! 49 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,640 That undoubtedly is an incredible piece of machinery. 50 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:30,960 It is indeed. It's a harvester. 51 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,840 It cuts trees, takes off the branches and then cuts the stem 52 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:37,040 in logs of different qualities. 53 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,040 Look, look, look! He's got one now. 54 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:40,280 Look! La, la, la, la, la! 55 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,600 This is where our toilet roll production line begins. 56 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,840 Wow, that's the bit I like! 57 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:52,880 Look at that! 58 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,320 The harvester chops down nearly 1,500 59 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,400 of these 30 metre tall trees every day. 60 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,000 Half the wood produced is shipped around the world to make products 61 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,960 like furniture and window frames. 62 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,000 The other half, the offcuts, 63 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,840 is the raw material for all kinds of paper - including toilet roll. 64 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,560 The sub-zero temperatures here mean the trees grow slowly, 65 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,280 producing high-quality wood. 66 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:27,520 How long does a tree take to grow, Bjorn? 67 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,520 These trees here, they are about 100 years old. 68 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,520 If you can cut down a tree in minutes, 69 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,880 and it takes 100 years to grow... Yep? 70 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:40,840 ..does that mean you're running out of trees? 71 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:44,360 No, no, we have the world's greatest tree nursery, 72 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,440 growing 100 million trees per annum. 73 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,640 So you are planting more trees than you are cutting down? 74 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,680 We are planting far more trees than what we are cutting down. 75 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:01,040 Huge 35 tonne grapplers lift our logs onto a waiting lorry. 76 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:05,640 Then they are driven 16 miles to a saw mill, 77 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,080 where they are cut into square sections of timber. 78 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,640 And the leftovers are chopped to produce wood chips, 79 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:15,040 which are what we need. 80 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,360 They take a short hop to the largest pulp mill in the world. 81 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:30,280 It receives 20 of these 45 tonne deliveries every day. 82 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:32,280 This place is massive! 83 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,600 Two hours and 36 minutes into our toilet paper production... 84 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,640 ..the woodchips head to the digester. 85 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,240 We started off with this... 86 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,280 Yeah, the woodchips, right? ..coming into this mill. 87 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:52,960 Now we'll see what we've done with it. 88 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,880 May I? Yes, please. It's a bit hot. 89 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,400 Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's hot! This is cellulose pulp. 90 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,320 What we have in these woodchips is a number of wood substances of which 91 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,360 cellulose is one, about 50% of it. 92 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,040 We cook those chips with chemicals in order to separate the fibres 93 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:11,720 and the good substances. 94 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,520 Cellulose exists in the cell walls of plants, 95 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,760 giving them their basic structure. 96 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,160 Put simply, it's nature's building blocks. 97 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,440 And what are the properties of cellulose 98 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,520 that make it ideal for toilet paper? 99 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,640 It is strong, it is very clean, and this kind of pulp is ideal 100 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,760 for making toilet paper hold together. 101 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,800 Then is that now ready to ship to Manchester? 102 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,320 No, it's not. First, it's wet, 103 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,240 and we don't want to send water to Manchester. 104 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,480 There is already water in Manchester, I've heard. 105 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,360 Second, these fibres are entangled and knotty 106 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:50,760 and we need to sort them out. 107 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:58,240 But sorting them out seems to involve even more water. 108 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,200 The soggy fibres are sent to a steamy machine 109 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:03,760 called the pulp former. 110 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:10,520 That, to me, looks like a fast flowing river of boiling milk. 111 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:12,560 What on earth is that?! 112 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,680 That's actually the same fibre that we saw a minute ago, 113 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,800 but here they are disentangled. 114 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,480 We have mixed them up with lots and lots of water and then 115 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,720 we are spraying them out of this wire, as it's called. 116 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,520 The wire is a 40 metre long revolving sieve 117 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,160 through which the water drains away, 118 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:37,240 leaving a two millimetre thick cellulose sheet behind. 119 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,360 If you'd have asked me to make a list of the things I would 120 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:42,280 least expect to find making toilet paper, 121 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,080 it would have been a fast-flowing river of porridge. Yep. 122 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:46,640 It's amazing. 123 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,520 Pretty cool, isn't it? It's hot like a Swedish sauna. 124 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:55,240 The neatly-arranged cellulose is flattened between rollers... 125 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:02,080 ..then run through a series of driers behind this vast orange wall. 126 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,480 It emerges as a continuous sheet of dried pulp... 127 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,400 ..which is sliced into 70 centimetre rectangular pieces. 128 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,760 This machine looks like it's dealing out playing cards. 129 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,600 Yep, sure. And that is stacking up now, what, usable sheets? 130 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:24,960 This is the end product of this pulping. 131 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,800 That can now get shipped to Manchester? 132 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:29,400 Yes. This is bone dry pulp, 133 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,000 ready to be used in the papermaking process in Manchester. 134 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,400 Bjorn, thank you, it was fascinating. 135 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,640 Been a pleasure. And it was nice to be out in the snow. 136 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,560 These hard, thick sheets have a long way to go before they are the soft, 137 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:50,040 absorbent paper we expect in our bathrooms. 138 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,560 And softness has always been toilet roll's ultimate sales pitch. 139 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:01,480 Cute puppies and toilet paper, 140 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,200 they go together like fish and chips or jelly and ice cream. 141 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:09,680 But if you think about it, it's a really odd combination, isn't it? 142 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:11,200 Almost illogical, really. 143 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,240 The connection between puppies and paper... 144 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,280 ..was first made in this famous advert in 1972. 145 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,600 Former ad man Carl Jones tells me 146 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,160 the partnership was a happy accident. 147 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,040 The original idea by the advertising agency J Walter Thompson 148 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,040 was the child running with the roll of toilet paper, 149 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,880 and the regulators thought it produced the idea of wastefulness, 150 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,320 and that children would be encouraged to waste, 151 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,760 so the... OK. ..agency went back 152 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,720 and they came up with this idea of a dog, 153 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,680 a small, innocent dog that took the toilet paper and ran with it. 154 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:54,120 And they were sort of emphasising 155 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,640 not so much the usefulness of the product, 156 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,960 but more the emotions that it's supposed to conjure up. 157 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:02,080 Yes, and you're showing an idealised world, 158 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,800 and this is what life could be like if you buy this product 159 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,200 and bring it home. 160 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,160 And how successful was it? 161 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:13,360 Apparently, the market share of this specific brand went up to 30%. 162 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:20,280 This advert transformed loo roll advertising for ever. 163 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,960 But it hasn't always been paper we've reached for in the bathroom. 164 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,640 What we need is a toilet historian. 165 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:31,080 Richard. Hello! 166 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,920 And here he is! Richard Smith. 167 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,920 And where better to meet than an old public lavatory? 168 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,600 So Richard, before there was commercial toilet paper, 169 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:41,680 what did we all use? 170 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:43,880 Well, for centuries people were, so to speak, 171 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:45,560 taking matters into their own hands. 172 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:49,920 There's things like the notorious sponge on a stick which dates from 173 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,680 Ancient Rome. You used it, rinsed it off in a vat of vinegar 174 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:55,600 and you left it for the next user. 175 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,200 In America, the corn cob with the corn removed and dried out... 176 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,320 Oh, gosh! ...was kind of emblematic of rural American society. 177 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,680 Really?! It was really treasured as an icon of that way of life. 178 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:08,800 When papers started being widely manufactured, 179 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:09,920 people did the obvious. 180 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:11,960 They put it in their outhouses and their toilets 181 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:13,200 and used it for that purpose. 182 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,520 Do you know, I actually remember doing this, 183 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,120 because in my nan's house, 184 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,680 if you ran out of loo paper, there was a nail! 185 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:20,720 SHE LAUGHS 186 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,640 I suppose that sort of raises the question, why did we move from that 187 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:27,720 to what we have now? 188 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,040 Commercial toilet paper. When it was launched 189 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,760 there was no obvious need for it, and so when Joseph Gayetty cooked up 190 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,760 the idea in the middle of the 19th century in New York, 191 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,960 his masterstroke was to create not just toilet paper, 192 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:41,720 but medicated toilet paper. 193 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:43,800 Loo roll as we know it gained popularity 194 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,480 thanks to some good old-fashioned scaremongering. 195 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,400 Adverts in the 1920s suggested that newspaper ink could cause 196 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:56,040 fatal illness, and that the only way to avoid a grisly death 197 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:57,960 was to wipe with this exciting new product, 198 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:02,840 although these early rolls came with their own hazards. 199 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,080 The quality was extremely questionable. 200 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,960 There was one product that was actually sold with the selling point 201 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:09,720 of being splinter-free. Sp... 202 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,240 Which...you know, you would think was just a given 203 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,120 when you are buying a toilet paper. You would. 204 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,480 It was only later that, as the technology advanced, 205 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,040 two-ply paper became possible, which was softer, more absorbent. 206 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,640 As the paper got softer, the message did too... 207 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:33,240 So much so that it wasn't always clear what the ads were for. 208 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:38,240 So at the very moment in which toilet paper becomes more useful, 209 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,760 it's getting better at doing its job, 210 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:42,080 is the very moment 211 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,280 that the advertisers stop talking about it doing its job. 212 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,720 Absolutely, we're moving into the age of euphemism here. 213 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,200 We're leaving behind this frightening talk 214 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,080 about toilet illnesses which dominated the advertising, 215 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:56,800 certainly before the Second World War, 216 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,080 and we're moving into the luxury product. 217 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,640 And luxury led straight to labradors... 218 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,760 Aren't you gorgeous?! 219 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,120 ..an ingenious way to suggest softness and cleanliness. 220 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,240 Toilet paper puppies mark a real watershed 221 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,520 in the marketing of this product. 222 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,240 Today, all the brands emphasise comfort 223 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:25,440 and try to produce a warm, emotional connection with their product. 224 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,280 No-one ever felt that way about a corn cob! 225 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:47,240 My wood pulp has made the 940 mile journey from the forests of Sweden 226 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:48,600 to the factory in Manchester. 227 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,160 At the intake area, it's ready to be turned into loo roll. 228 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,000 Seven lorries arrive here every day, 229 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:03,880 each one laden with 28 tonnes of pulp from all over the world. 230 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,600 Mill manager Jim Lang is overseeing the delivery. 231 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,560 That's the pulp that you've seen made in Sweden. 232 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,840 Why do you need a massive, massive factory to just turn that, 233 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,640 that looks like paper already, into paper? 234 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,200 You'd be forgiven for thinking that that's quite close 235 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,440 to the finished product, but it's nowhere near. 236 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:26,680 That's a lot of pulp. 237 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,000 I mean, many people would consider that fiction. Oh... 238 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:37,160 Like my jokes, wood pulp comes in different qualities. 239 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:42,360 It's categorised into short and long fibre and we need both types. 240 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,240 This is the pulp from Sweden, OK? 241 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,280 So, this is your long fibre. 242 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,120 This pulp is from Brazil, this is eucalyptus, 243 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:54,680 this is short fibre. 244 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:58,240 Sweden, long fibre. Yeah. Brazil, short fibre. 245 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,680 Correct. Right. It's a bit like a salsa meets a smorgasbord. 246 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,840 Yeah, so if you take that, that's the short fibre. 247 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:07,800 You rip that. 248 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:08,840 Yeah? 249 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:12,720 Now rip that. 250 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:15,400 Whoa, this is a lot stronger. 251 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,200 You see the difference? 252 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,000 Whoa. Most certainly the one from Sweden is harder to rip. 253 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:21,920 That is as tough as old boots. 254 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,520 I mean, remember what we've got to do with this thing. 255 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,040 You want strength, but you only want it for a few seconds. 256 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,320 You've got to put some South American stuff in it. 257 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:30,720 If we were just to use that, 258 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,560 it would be too rough and it would also be difficult to flush. 259 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,680 Yeah. Right? 260 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,280 Softness is what we're going to try and maximise and bring out 261 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:40,320 using this pulp. 262 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,000 We're going to blend those two pulps together, Gregg, 263 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:44,920 and you're going to make a batch, so... 264 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,520 Really? Yep, come on. Am I going to get wet and messy? 265 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:56,480 The long and short of it is, we need both fibres to make our loo roll. 266 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,360 We're starting with the strong Swedish long fibre... 267 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,160 ..which takes a leisurely trip up a conveyor belt 268 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:05,760 into the papermaking area. 269 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:13,560 And then, ten hours and 21 minutes into the production process, 270 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,080 tumbles into a super-sized mixer... 271 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,560 ..where I am with process engineer Mark Spooner. 272 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,640 This is where the action is at, then? 273 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:30,520 This is the pulper. This is where we mix these bales with water in here. 274 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,800 When I was out in Sweden, it took ages to dry those fibres, 275 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,000 why are you making them soaking wet? 276 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,360 Everything needs to be wet 277 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,160 so you can actually create a uniform sheet downstream. 278 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,880 We can only do that when it's diluted with water, 279 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:45,400 completely diluted with water. 280 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:52,720 This huge pulper mixes 3750kg of fibre 281 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,200 with 34,000 litres of water. 282 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:03,760 As the bales fall in, a blade spins at 1500rpm and rips them up. 283 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:08,520 So that literally is blades like a mixer at home, 284 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,240 whizzing the water round 285 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,560 and you are, bit by bit, like, adding enormous stock cubes. 286 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,360 Yes. And you're going to come out with a thick gravy, is that right? 287 00:17:16,360 --> 00:17:18,720 A v... Sorry, I just think about things in terms of food! 288 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,320 Essentially at the end, it will just be a thick pulp, 289 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:24,880 a thick gravy for us to send forward. 290 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:30,480 Once all the bales are in, a further 11,000 litres of water are added. 291 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:37,360 After 14 minutes of mixing, the pulp is just 4% fibre, and 96% water. 292 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,080 How old are you, Mark? 24. 293 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,720 And so if you meet somebody you like, and they ask you what you do, 294 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,520 what do you tell them? I tell them I make toilet roll. 295 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:49,360 It's recession-proof. At the end of the day, 296 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,040 everyone's always going to need the product that we produce. 297 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:53,360 And that's your bottom line? 298 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:55,320 That's always my bottom line, yeah! 299 00:17:57,560 --> 00:17:59,680 Since we're on the subject of bottoms... 300 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,160 ..Cherry is making toilets. 301 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:12,440 Armitage Shanks have been making sanitaryware here in Staffordshire 302 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:14,520 for the last 150 years. 303 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,080 Britain's oldest bathroom factory churns out more than 304 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,480 1,000 ceramic loos a day. 305 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,920 It all starts with the delivery of 30 tonnes of powdered clay. 306 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,680 When I was a kid, one of my favourite things in the world 307 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:38,480 was playing with clay. So this is like heaven on Earth! 308 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,360 Ashley Spink has worked here for 20 years. 309 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:42,760 So, where has this come from? 310 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,600 This has come from Cornwall. So does it come out of the earth 311 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:46,680 looking like that? 312 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,720 No, Cherry, it's mined as clay, and then it's refined 313 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,000 and dried out and transported to us like this. 314 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,800 I mean, it's mixing with water right here, 315 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:56,520 and I can feel how sticky it is. 316 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,480 Yeah. It's actually quite hard to lift my shoe up. 317 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,680 This really gives me a sense of how strong this stuff is. Yeah. 318 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,720 Our powder is combined with 360 litres of water, 319 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,920 sand and sodium silicate, 320 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,760 turning it into liquid clay. 321 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:17,000 Now called slip, this is all they need to make toilets. 322 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,040 Oh, wow! 323 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:21,320 That looks very like an elephant's trunk. 324 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:22,720 This is the sieving process. 325 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,160 Underneath this vat here, we've got one of these. 326 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,080 We need to take out any contamination, coarse material, 327 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,800 we need to make sure this slip is as smooth as possible. 328 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,640 It takes four days for the mix to settle before it's ready 329 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,960 for the moulding machines. 330 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,680 Each one produces eight toilets at a time. 331 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,120 The slip is solidified under high pressure. 332 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:52,680 Then the soft, newly-formed loos are carefully removed by robots. 333 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,680 So how long is the slip in the mould? 334 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,600 The whole cycle time, it's 30 minutes and 20 seconds currently. 335 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,000 What happens if it's more or less than 30 minutes and 20 seconds? 336 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:04,640 If it's in the mould too long, 337 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,360 then we can get a problem where they can collapse. 338 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,640 So it's a very delicate process. 339 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:11,320 They need to be soft enough to mould, 340 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:13,960 but solid enough to hold their shape? 341 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:15,000 That's correct, yeah. 342 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,480 These brand-new loos have a long way to go before they're bathroom-ready. 343 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,440 While they're still soft, rough edges are quickly rubbed off. 344 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:32,760 I love that you have both the coolest robots ever at this factory, 345 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:34,600 but also, you still do stuff by hand. 346 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:36,080 It's all down to finesse, really. 347 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:37,400 All these pots are different, 348 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,400 they all need different things doing to them. 349 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,560 Because of slight variations, 350 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,520 the lip inside the rim of the bowl must be trimmed by hand. 351 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,400 Put the knife through, and we go all the way round... 352 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:50,840 ..then we take the waste out. 353 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:52,720 Great. Wow! There we go. 354 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:53,760 Would you like a go? 355 00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:58,880 What happens if I break it? 356 00:20:58,880 --> 00:20:59,920 You're OK, don't worry. 357 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,240 You've got to be quite dextrous, don't you? 358 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:06,360 Woohoo! 359 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,400 Shall we have a look at the final piece? Yeah. 360 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,880 Well, it's a bit gnarly in places. 361 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,960 Is this going to toilet heaven? 362 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:16,000 It's going to the skip! 363 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,600 My toilet may have to be dumped... 364 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,240 ..but the rest of the batch have made the grade. 365 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,000 They march into the drying tunnels... 366 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:38,040 ..and emerge 16 hours later, drier, lighter, and 2.5% smaller. 367 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,360 OK, so this is the glaze robot area where we glaze the toilets. 368 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,800 Three coats of white glaze are applied. 369 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,480 White has always been the best seller, and currently accounts 370 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,840 for more than 99% of the toilets they produce here. 371 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,720 It gives it its finish and it's hygienic, too. 372 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,800 So it seals the deal? It certainly does. 373 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,720 The glaze takes another four hours to dry. 374 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:07,680 While this happens, they take a very sedate spin around the factory. 375 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,920 They're not quite ready to go, but they do look beautiful and perfect. 376 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:12,240 ALARM SOUNDS 377 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:13,720 Oh, here we go! 378 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:20,800 And finally, they face 17 hours in the 1,200 degree kiln. 379 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:23,760 This fixes the glaze. 380 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,280 These toilets have been on an immense three-day adventure. 381 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,600 They've been moulded, hand-finished, glazed and fired, 382 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,360 and now they're ready for a long life of service. 383 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,640 Ten hours and 35 minutes into the papermaking process... 384 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:53,400 ..my long-fibre wood pulp is drained from the pulper, 385 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,400 and pushed along to a container known as a chest. 386 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,760 The short-fibre pulp has been through a parallel process, 387 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,840 and is sitting ready in its own chest. 388 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,560 Both mixes contain 4% fibre and 96% water. 389 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,800 But as they're pumped towards the next stage of production, 390 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:19,480 more water is added, taking them to 99.9% liquid. 391 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,760 So this is the 4% pulp. 392 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:27,720 That is the consistency of papier-mache. 393 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:32,040 At this point, we need to get that consistency down to 0.1%. 394 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,320 OK. That is dishwater. 395 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:37,800 There's a bit of fibre in there, I promise you. 396 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,240 That seems ludicrous to me. 397 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:40,880 You've taken something 398 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,480 that looked like it was going to become toilet paper, 399 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,880 to something that looks like it's going 400 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,080 to flush the toilet paper away. Yeah. 401 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:50,840 It's all stages of the process. 402 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,920 Well, I believe you, but it's quite incredible. 403 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:56,040 Where's all this water coming from? 404 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,760 Well, on site, it's 6,000 metres cubed, but we re-use that water. 405 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,040 Just in this process alone, we re-use the water 30 times. 406 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,680 Right, OK, you're not just chucking it away? 407 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,280 No, and even the water that becomes waste from this process, 408 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,800 we re-use another ten times around the site, 409 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,840 so we re-use water again and again and again. 410 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,160 All right. I thought we were just about to get millions of complaints. 411 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:19,920 Right, OK. OK, I get it. 412 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:22,720 You recycle all the water, all the time. 413 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:30,640 The watery mixes have until this point been kept firmly apart. 414 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,560 But now they're on a collision course with a 40-metre long, 415 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:39,240 11-metre high machine that will turn them from pulp to paper. 416 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:49,240 Wow! That looks like some sort of crazed church organ. 417 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,840 What is this? This is the first part of our paper machine. 418 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:57,200 This is known as the head box and it's a more complicated version of 419 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,760 the very steamy machine I saw in Sweden. 420 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,920 Over there, I was only dealing with one kind of fibre. 421 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,120 But here, we have two. 422 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:11,320 So, in this pipe and this pipe, we have the long fibre mixture. 423 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,920 In this pipe, we have our short fibre. 424 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:19,040 What happens is, that is driven down these pipes onto a sieve 425 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,880 that lets the water go straight through, 426 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,480 and all the fibre is stuck on the wire. 427 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:31,400 A five-metre wide wire filter loops through the machine. 428 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,600 Onto this, the pipes spray one layer of the short-fibre pulp 429 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,680 which will make our paper soft, 430 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,840 and two layers of the long-fibre pulp, 431 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:41,800 which will make our paper strong. 432 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,000 So you can have a look a little bit closer at where we spray it, 433 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:48,280 if you'd like. 434 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,160 This is where the jets are squirting the pulp that's going to 435 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:52,600 be paper, right? Yeah. 436 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,640 I'm really sorry, that does not resemble paper. 437 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:00,920 That is still water. 438 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,600 The purpose of the rest of this massive machine 439 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,400 is to remove this water. 440 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,240 Heated rollers push hot air up through the fibres, 441 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:15,520 fluffing them up, 442 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,880 adding extra softness, and eliminating 30% of the moisture. 443 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:25,520 Finally, 40 metres into its journey through this monster machine... 444 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:32,320 ..the fibre reaches a huge 138-tonne, 12-metre high drier 445 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,120 called the Yankee. 446 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,000 Alan Morton is waiting for me. 447 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:39,320 Are you Alan? I am, Gregg, yes. 448 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,840 Are you in charge of that? I am responsible for this. 449 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,000 That is an absolute beast. It is, yeah. 450 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:51,480 This huge pressurised cylinder is heated to 170 degrees C, 451 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,000 and spins at 1,100 metres per minute. 452 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:56,880 As the fibre approaches, 453 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,120 a thin layer of glue sticks it onto the drum. 454 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:01,800 It's carried over the top, 455 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,400 where the heat evaporates off the remaining water. 456 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:10,200 At the bottom, a 5.7-metre-long razor blade scrapes it off... 457 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,520 ..producing this fast-moving sheet of soft, dry paper. 458 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:18,240 You can see the actual blade, 459 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,840 it's scraping the paper off the Yankee at that point. 460 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,720 That must have to be a very precise angle? 461 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:24,840 Very precise angle. 462 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,840 From the point where I had that mush in my hand, to this point here, 463 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:31,040 has taken how long? 464 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,840 Well, from the head box, it's taken four seconds 465 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,840 before it gets to this point where it's coming off dry. 466 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,000 Look at that! 467 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:41,720 I'm glad you're impressed. 468 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,760 Toilet paper at 40 miles an hour, drying out, stuck on by glue 469 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,120 and scraped off with the biggest razor blade in the world. 470 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,200 That's the way we do it! Ha-ha-ha! 471 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,000 The wet pulp has been dramatically transformed into one enormous, 472 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,720 continuous sheet of paper. 473 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,560 But it will need cutting down to size before it's ready 474 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,120 for the average bathroom. 475 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:18,200 Ruth's doing the same to one of the most famous names in toilet history. 476 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,080 To this day, Thomas Crapper's name 477 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,080 is proudly stamped on many of his surviving toilets. 478 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,720 This magnificent row of eight was built in 1899. 479 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,280 With beautiful ceramic bowls and flushing cisterns 480 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,320 connected to the sewer system, 481 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,320 these were the very models of modern toilets. 482 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:49,840 So we all owe a debt of gratitude to this Victorian gentleman, right? 483 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,320 Well, like a lot of history, 484 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,360 the history of toilets is a lot murkier than that. 485 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,960 To get to the bottom of the story, I've come to Westminster. 486 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:06,680 I'm meeting toilet historian Angela Lee. 487 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:11,000 Now, tell me, it was Thomas Crapper who invented the toilet, yeah? 488 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,440 No, that's one thing we can be sure of, he didn't invent the toilet. 489 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,360 The first English flushing toilet is more associated with the building 490 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,360 behind us, Westminster Abbey, and the lady who was crowned there. 491 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:23,840 That's going to be Victoria... 492 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,400 ..Elizabeth. Elizabeth I, yes. 493 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,760 Good gracious. So, that's, what, 400 years ago? 494 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,280 Yeah, 1596. 495 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,920 The person who invented it was Sir John Harington. 496 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:35,600 He was the godson of Elizabeth I. 497 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,920 But only two were ever made. 498 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,120 He had one in his own home, and he had one made for Queen Elizabeth. 499 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:48,080 Harington's model featured a large tank of water behind the seat. 500 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,280 This was released into the pan and drained via a plug. 501 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:54,600 But it wasn't a toilet as we know it. 502 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:58,080 Once ejected, the effluent drained straight down the walls 503 00:29:58,080 --> 00:29:59,800 of wherever it was installed. 504 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,440 There were only two of them? 505 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:02,960 It didn't catch on? It didn't. 506 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,600 It was really too elaborate and too expensive for people's needs, 507 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,000 when you could use chamber pots 508 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,200 or just throw your waste into the street. 509 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:15,400 When does the water closet make another appearance? 510 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,320 It comes back really in the mid-18th century when towns are growing, 511 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,160 but particularly it's wealthy people, grand houses, 512 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,840 and they want indoor facilities. 513 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,480 And they don't come much grander than the House of Lords. 514 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,640 Deep inside, there's a rare surviving example... 515 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:41,560 This way. ..of one of these 18th-century designs. 516 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:43,760 It was created by inventor Joseph Bramah, 517 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,440 also known for his hydraulics... 518 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,360 ..and locks. 519 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,720 Oh, this is posh! This is a Bramah water closet. 520 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:56,240 So, we lift the lid. 521 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,280 Ah, this is rather glorious. 522 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,680 Can I flush it, can I just give it a try, is that all right? 523 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:03,800 Yeah. Pull handle. 524 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,840 Ah. Instead of a big whoosh, this is just a little... 525 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:08,320 Trickle. 526 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,960 I do find it rather remarkable that it's still actually in use. 527 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,320 It is. 528 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,040 Oh, we can see the workings! 529 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,160 Does this...oh, this bit comes up as well. 530 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:17,680 If we lift that, we should... 531 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,920 It's out of sight, but what makes this special is the S-bend. 532 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,480 The S-bend enables water to be held, 533 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,960 and this prevents the gases, rats, 534 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,640 coming back in. So it's really important 535 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,040 in enabling toilets to come indoors. 536 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,440 Thank goodness for the S-bend, I say! 537 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,440 Despite this innovation, the waste from this toilet, 538 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,840 along with the rest of London's sewage, 539 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,440 was discharged straight into the River Thames. 540 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:52,520 By Victorian times, 541 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,440 the river was so polluted that it caused a public health crisis... 542 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:02,480 ..and the summer of 1858 was dubbed The Great Stink. 543 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,360 There's a picture in Punch 544 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,400 showing what people felt about the Thames at the time. 545 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,520 There was outbreaks of cholera. 546 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,320 It wasn't just a horrible smell, it was killing people. 547 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:15,960 It was a catalyst for change, 548 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:18,680 bringing in legislation really very quickly, 549 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:22,520 to introduce the building of drains and sewers. 550 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:28,200 And it also set in train a frantic flurry of companies and individuals 551 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,440 looking at ways of developing a new kind of toilet. 552 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,040 In this frenetic period of innovation, 553 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,480 the toilet as we know it emerged. 554 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,080 Which is where Thomas Crapper got involved. 555 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,840 It's a market that everyone wants to get into, 556 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,040 but it's not Thomas Crapper who's the inventor. 557 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,800 He did, however, really promote and popularise 558 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,920 the idea of a ceramic water closet. 559 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,480 So he was much more of a marketing and sales man? 560 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,080 He was, he puts his name on everything, 561 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,240 and he supplies them and promotes them. 562 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:07,520 It's a bandwagon. Yes. 563 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:08,800 "Let's jump quick." Yeah. 564 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,240 Everyone who's anyone is working on toilets. 565 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,480 So it turns out that we have lots of people to thank 566 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:20,800 every time we use the loo. 567 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,280 The one thing we do know 568 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,120 is that Thomas Crapper may well have been brilliant 569 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,760 at popularising the WC, but he did not invent it. 570 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,840 We're ten hours and 55 minutes into the production process. 571 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,920 Back in the factory, our toilet paper has been fully dried, 572 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:52,360 and is a huge five-metre-wide sheet travelling at a rate of nearly 573 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,960 40 miles an hour towards the quality control area. 574 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,440 Keith Jones is making sure it's up to scratch. 575 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:03,360 Keith! 576 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,000 Hey! Hello, Gregg, welcome to the office! 577 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,640 Is that finally the toilet paper? 578 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:10,760 That's finally your toilet paper. 579 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:13,600 Wow! What is happening under here? 580 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,720 So, what happens under here is we have our test station, 581 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:19,640 which is our scanner which is just behind us there, 582 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,800 and that scans the sheet continuously when we're not in here, 583 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:25,720 and it tells us exactly how much moisture is in the sheet 584 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:27,480 and how heavy the sheet is. 585 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,360 What happens if the scanner says, "This is not right, 586 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,160 "this paper is too wet?" 587 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,640 Before it goes too far out of tolerance, 588 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,040 it will make those changes back in the system. 589 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,160 So this is spinning how fast? 590 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:43,120 That's spinning now at 1,150 metres per minute. 591 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,560 Every 23 minutes, we make 21km of paper. 592 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,600 So, nearly every minute is another kilometre of paper? 593 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,680 Not far off, not far off. 594 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,480 With Keith and his quality check scanner happy, 595 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,280 a five-metre-long cardboard tube is locked into position... 596 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:06,320 ..and 17,000 metres of half-a-millimetre thick paper 597 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:07,880 is wound on to it. 598 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,560 That is one ginormous roll of toilet paper! 599 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:16,040 Yep. If King Kong used toilet paper, that would be the one he'd use! 600 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:19,360 Is there a name for that? 601 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:20,760 We call that a mother reel. 602 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,440 Why? Because that...that is going to give birth 603 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:25,720 to all the little reels? 604 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:27,960 That gives birth to thousands of little rolls. 605 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,000 How many toilet rolls out of that? 606 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,960 Well, what we're looking at there, Gregg, is 25,000 toilet rolls. 607 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:35,320 Ha-ha! 608 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,760 I don't know whether to giggle or just be aghast at that. 609 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,080 As these monster reels roll off the end of the production line, 610 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:51,360 they are sliced in half... 611 00:35:55,080 --> 00:36:01,000 ..producing a pair of 2.5 metre-wide single-ply mother reels, 612 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,320 each weighing 1.2 tonnes. 613 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,840 Paper made, now it's time to create toilet rolls 614 00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:09,640 in the converting area... 615 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,160 ..where I'm meeting Alan Hughes. 616 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:16,320 Are you Alan? 617 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,720 Pleased to meet you, Gregg, how are you doing? 618 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:20,960 I've been watching this monster being made. 619 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,280 Right, OK. Now, I've come to you because I want to see that made 620 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,720 into proper toilet rolls. No problem. 621 00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:30,280 The toilet rolls we're producing will end up being two-ply - 622 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:34,920 two sheets stuck together - so we need both of the mother reels. 623 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:36,360 What we have is a plugging system. 624 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:38,960 Do you want to have a go? Can I? Yeah. 625 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:46,160 The first step is to bung the plug in each side of our reels. 626 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:50,240 It's a slightly bigger version of putting the loo roll on its holder 627 00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:52,720 in your bathroom. 628 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:54,240 That's it. 629 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:55,440 Bull's-eye. Yeah. 630 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,240 It's a job that requires pinpoint accuracy. 631 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:06,520 That's it. Perfect. 632 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:09,240 Two cranes running on tracks in the ceiling 633 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:11,200 lift our rolls off the ground... 634 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:15,640 Quite an effort considering each one weighs the same 635 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:17,360 as a typical hatchback car. 636 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,960 Everything about this factory is super-sized. 637 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:23,680 Everything. 638 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:27,840 Do you, out of interest, when you visit other places... 639 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:29,200 Yes, is the answer. 640 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,280 Do you look at their toilet paper? Yes. 641 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,360 And I also turn the toilet paper round, 642 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:36,760 so they have it coming off the front of the toilet roll. 643 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,040 That's how I do it. I have it coming off the front, 644 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:40,600 not coming off the back. Me, too. 645 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:42,880 I think that's a touch of class. Yeah. 646 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,080 Our rolls are loaded with the sheet in the correct position, 647 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,240 and head towards the converting machine. 648 00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:55,080 This will be a match made in toilet paper heaven. 649 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:57,920 Where they actually go into the machine, 650 00:37:57,920 --> 00:37:59,280 that's what we call marrying, 651 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,200 so it's where we actually put the two sheets together. 652 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:03,960 You actually call it marrying? 653 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:07,640 Yeah. And they go to their wedding in a carriage! 654 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,600 MUSIC: Here Comes The Bride 655 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,400 These two now, they're going to have their wedding night... Yep. 656 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:16,360 ..they're going to combine together and eventually create loads of 657 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,440 little toilet rolls? Correct, yeah. 25,000. 658 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,840 "Do you, toilet roll, take this other toilet roll?" 659 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:33,640 It's going to be some honeymoon, mate! 660 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:36,200 Alan, cheers, mate, I enjoyed that. 661 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,760 Pleased to meet you. Forgive me, but I've got a wedding to go to! 662 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:39,800 See you later! 663 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,880 Presiding over the ceremony is Tony Gilbody. 664 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:52,920 Tony? Hi, Gregg. 665 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,520 I want you to show me how we turn that giant toilet roll 666 00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,320 into normal toilet rolls. You've come to the right man. 667 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,560 The paper from my two mother reels 668 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:08,240 is unwound and fed into this machine. 669 00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:11,840 One sheet comes in from the top, the other from the bottom. 670 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,760 Embossing rollers lock the two sheets together, 671 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:18,480 pressing in a pattern. 672 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,560 This isn't just decorative, it also helps glue the sheets. 673 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:26,760 My paper is now two-ply. 674 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,200 The glue is in this chamber, here. 675 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:30,960 It's transferred to this roll. 676 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,880 This roll has tiny little pockets in it which pick up the glue. 677 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,680 It's then picked up by this rubber roll and applied to the paper. 678 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,120 Glue-getter, glue-spreader, pattern-maker. 679 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,520 Simply. Is that it? Yeah. 680 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:49,400 Brilliant! And it's that glue that helps the two sides of the paper 681 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:50,920 to stick together? That's right. 682 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:52,320 It keeps the ply together. 683 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:54,520 When I watched the fibres when they were wet, 684 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:56,760 being sprayed on to the mat, 685 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:01,920 they had the soft ones on top and the strong ones in the middle. 686 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:04,840 This is what's happening now, right? 687 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:08,600 You're putting the two bits together so that the soft bits are always 688 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:10,400 on the outside? That's right. 689 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,080 Now happily married, from here it's till toilet flush do us part. 690 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:20,240 Across the UK, 691 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:27,520 we use an astonishing 283,000 miles of this highly-engineered paper 692 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:28,720 every day. 693 00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:32,400 But, of course, that's not the only thing we put down the loo. 694 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,040 Cherry got the bum deal when it came to following the flush. 695 00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:42,720 I don't know about you, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about 696 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:44,680 what happens after I flush. 697 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:48,400 And I suppose it's because it just works. 698 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:52,240 But what does go on down here? 699 00:40:52,240 --> 00:40:53,560 I want to find out. 700 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:02,640 I've come to Brighton, home to around 180,000 domestic toilets. 701 00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:06,880 Everything the residents flush 702 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,720 whizzes along an underground network of pipes. 703 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:12,800 These feed into the main sewer. 704 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,080 Hi, Sharon. 705 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:17,480 Hi, Cherry, nice to meet you. 706 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,320 Sharon Holdstock from Southern Water 707 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:23,120 has a smelly invitation for me. 708 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:25,680 We're going to take you into a live sewer network, 709 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:31,040 and you will see where all of Hove and Brighton's sewage goes through. 710 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,240 All right. Here we go! 711 00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:36,680 These sewers, like those in many of our big cities, 712 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,640 were built over 140 years ago. 713 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:40,680 Let's go. 714 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:43,600 Your first glimpse. 715 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,440 Definitely noticing that there are very big bits of poo. 716 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:54,320 So, if you sat on the toilet three and a half miles away, 717 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,880 within 20 minutes, it will be coming down into this system. 718 00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:03,040 These tunnels do more than carry the sewage, 719 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:06,120 they also begin the process of breaking it down. 720 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:11,200 Why is it in an egg shape? 721 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:14,120 Because what happens is, as the flow comes in, 722 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,560 the shape of it at the bottom causes turbulence. 723 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,880 It breaks down the actual sewage. 724 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:22,640 Is that why I'm not seeing as many whole poos 725 00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:24,480 as I thought there might be? 726 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,120 Yeah. 727 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:31,520 Brighton's sewers can carry up to 100 million litres of sewage a day. 728 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:35,400 But it's not just toilet waste that's getting flushed. 729 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,960 What is the weirdest thing you've found? 730 00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:40,800 We quite often find toys. 731 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:45,640 We've also had false teeth, mobile phones, glasses, 732 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,640 the odd gold ring, the odd finger. 733 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:50,160 Oh! 734 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:55,920 So, I mean, so many questions about the finger! 735 00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:57,800 But we'll leave that. Yeah. 736 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,360 So, what happens now? 737 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:05,440 This sewer network will take a seven-mile trip along 738 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:06,480 to our treatment works. 739 00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:10,920 40 minutes after it was flushed, 740 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:14,960 the sewage arrives at the Peacehaven waste water works. 741 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,200 The operations director here is Nick Bowd. 742 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:22,080 So, I've just seen the sewage making its way to you. 743 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,640 Once it gets here, what happens? 744 00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,120 We basically treat that water to a level 745 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:30,040 that it's safe to be released back to the environment. 746 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:33,440 So, sewage comes in, and water goes out? 747 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:34,480 That's exactly right. 748 00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:38,920 Cleaning this polluted water 749 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:42,760 requires an arsenal of purification techniques - 750 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,800 some highly technical, others less so. 751 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,720 The water passes into 34 of these panels. 752 00:43:48,720 --> 00:43:50,360 So they're like huge sieves? 753 00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,960 That is it. These are taking out anything that is larger than 6ml. 754 00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:56,800 Here we have an example. 755 00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:59,720 This is a mixture of fat and rag. 756 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:02,160 Rag for us is anything that's not toilet paper, 757 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,280 flushable wipes and things like that, 758 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,240 they don't degrade in the sewage system. 759 00:44:06,240 --> 00:44:08,080 That is disgusting! 760 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:09,320 It is pretty grim. 761 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:11,440 It should not be put down the loo! 762 00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,080 Toilets aren't the only source of waste. 763 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:21,000 Sinks, showers and surface water all contribute. 764 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:25,040 The next stage takes out fat, oil, grit and grease. 765 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:28,800 We have pipework that releases small bubbles. 766 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,200 Those bubbles lower the density of the water, 767 00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:35,680 which means the heavier items like grit will sink to the bottom, 768 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:38,080 and the lighter items like fat, oil and grease, 769 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:39,200 will rise to the top. 770 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:42,800 Clear of debris and grease, 771 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,960 now the poo particles in the water are targeted. 772 00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:49,600 Chemicals force them to clump together into a sludge 773 00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,000 which is thickened and dried, 774 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,600 then sold on to farmers as fertiliser. 775 00:44:55,600 --> 00:44:59,200 Now there is one final form of attack. 776 00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:02,600 Basically, behind this brick wall, we have a layer of beads. 777 00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:04,600 It's 3.5 metres deep. 778 00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:07,480 So the water comes, flows through these beads, 779 00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:09,520 and on these beads live our bacteria, 780 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:11,400 and they help break down any other nasties 781 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:13,200 that are still in the water. 782 00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:17,680 So, you give the bacteria a lovely home, something to live on. 783 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:22,760 In return, they nibble away at any unwanted particles. 784 00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:24,840 So then it's ready. It's the end of process. 785 00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:32,960 The water is now clean, but it's not quite clean enough for drinking, 786 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:35,520 so it's piped a mile and a half offshore, 787 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:38,680 where it is safely discharged into the English Channel. 788 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:43,680 There's no doubt about it, water treatment is a dirty job. 789 00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:49,080 But any system that can turn this into this clean water in little less 790 00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:52,800 than an hour is nothing short of astonishing. 791 00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:05,040 We're 11 hours and 30 minutes into the production process. 792 00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:08,360 Our newly-created two-ply toilet paper 793 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,880 heads through the perforation machine, 794 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:17,000 which cuts it into 12-centimetre, easy-to-rip sections. 795 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,320 This is our paper after it's been perforated. 796 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:22,680 That's our perforation blade. 797 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:25,560 So it cuts holes in some of the paper? 798 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:26,920 That's right. We can have a look. 799 00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:30,720 Great, isn't it, really? 800 00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:38,080 Next, it needs to be wound around a cardboard inner tube 801 00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:39,200 known as a core. 802 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,760 The core maker winds and glues a continuous ribbon of cardboard 803 00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:47,160 around a mould, 804 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:52,160 producing 33 of these extra-long centres every minute. 805 00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:55,160 Why is that over six feet long? 806 00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:56,520 It needs to be the same width 807 00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:59,840 as the paper which is getting fed through the machine. 808 00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:02,520 So are you going to have to reroll the paper around this? 809 00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:04,840 Exactly. That's the next stage of our process. 810 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:07,360 You just don't do anything in small sizes, do you? 811 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:15,120 The cores make their way up a carousel and towards the rewinder, 812 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:20,920 where 21.6 metres of perforated paper is wound onto each one, 813 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:24,440 producing an extra-long toilet roll capable of spawning 814 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:26,840 24 individual rolls. 815 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:30,840 What are they called? Logs. 816 00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:33,760 That machine just pushed out a log! 817 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,520 Mate, I'm trying really hard to keep this clean! 818 00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:38,600 You're not making it very easy for me! 819 00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:42,920 So, you can see a nice embossed pattern on the paper. 820 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:46,280 Feel it, what does it feel like? It feels soft. 821 00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:48,400 Feels nice and soft, exactly. 822 00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,920 This is the size of the toilet roll I'd have at home? 823 00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:52,400 Exactly, this is 180 sheets. 824 00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,840 The diameter is perfect, but the length isn't. 825 00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:06,120 We need our finished toilet rolls to measure 104.5 millimetres. 826 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:11,760 They are cut down to size at the aptly-named log saw. 827 00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:23,320 Oh, my word! 828 00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:26,400 That's a big, scary machine! 829 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:28,400 That is cutting through those so fast! 830 00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,840 The ones they're cutting through don't look like they're moving. 831 00:48:33,400 --> 00:48:37,800 Two razor-sharp blades on there, and it cuts 230 rolls a minute. 832 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:40,800 That is spinning really fast! 833 00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:47,080 What you have on the logs is from the process previous, 834 00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:49,160 there's a bit of imperfection on the end. 835 00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:51,880 And we cut those off. They're called the doughnuts. 836 00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:58,680 But I'm not here for doughnuts. 837 00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,560 This is what it's all about. 838 00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:09,720 14,000 rolls of toilet paper fly out of the log saw every hour. 839 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:15,480 There we are. 840 00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:19,640 Toilet rolls marching forward to their final destination. 841 00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:23,800 Look at that! 842 00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:30,640 You'd never think it, looking at the toilet roll on the shelf. 843 00:49:34,560 --> 00:49:36,240 There's the sad little doughnut, right? 844 00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:38,760 Yeah. Why do you cut the end off? 845 00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:40,760 OK, if you just turn it over. 846 00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:42,800 See you've got the imperfect edge? 847 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:45,400 Yeah? So we just cut the waste off. 848 00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:47,640 There must be something we can do with him? 849 00:49:47,640 --> 00:49:52,760 We don't waste them. We put them back into our system. 850 00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:55,120 I feel sorry for the doughnut. 851 00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:56,880 I think he wants to be with his mates. 852 00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:03,760 The doughnuts head off to be turned back into pulp... 853 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:10,760 ..while our toilet rolls file through to the packing hall. 854 00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:14,480 There's a lot of thought and effort that goes into making these 855 00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,400 to make sure that one of the most personal things we do, 856 00:50:17,400 --> 00:50:20,000 wiping our bums, is a comfortable experience. 857 00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:23,360 But just how luxurious could a trip to the toilet get? 858 00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:30,440 Our bathrooms have never been so stylish. 859 00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:34,320 But the technology contained within them is still pretty simple. 860 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:40,560 While soft-close lids and water efficient flushes have improved 861 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:45,320 our toilets, the basic design hasn't changed in over a century. 862 00:50:45,320 --> 00:50:47,600 But could all that be about to change? 863 00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:52,880 I want to find out what the toilets of the future will look like. 864 00:50:56,400 --> 00:51:00,680 The Japanese have long been ahead of the game with bathroom tech, 865 00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:04,520 and now they're selling their fancy loos in the UK. 866 00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:05,920 Oh! That's hot! 867 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:08,160 It's a heated seat. I wasn't expecting that! 868 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:11,600 Floyd Case works for Toto, 869 00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:14,760 who have sold more than 30 million of these hi-tech toilets 870 00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:15,800 around the world. 871 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:18,800 The main function is to clean you. 872 00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:19,880 If I can show you. 873 00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:22,040 I'll put this little hat in place. 874 00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:26,120 And you'll see on the remote control we have a number of functions. 875 00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:27,400 If I press the rear button, 876 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:30,440 a little wand that lives in the seat will come out... 877 00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:32,440 Oh! What is that?! 878 00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:34,200 ..and wash you with clean, warm water. 879 00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,160 Oh! I don't know if that looks nice! 880 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:38,600 Dare I say, it's very pleasant. 881 00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:39,920 I can change the position, 882 00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:42,240 because we're all different shapes and sizes. 883 00:51:42,240 --> 00:51:45,240 I can even have what we call an oscillating wash. 884 00:51:45,240 --> 00:51:47,920 Wow! I...that's too much for me. 885 00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:50,800 It's getting rid of a lot of debris. 886 00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:54,240 Absolutely. I mean, this person needs to go and see the doctor. 887 00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:57,160 So you said there's a rear. Does that mean there's a front? 888 00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:59,840 Absolutely. So the front wash is for ladies. 889 00:51:59,840 --> 00:52:01,280 I can even have a pulsate wash. 890 00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:02,320 Stop it! 891 00:52:03,680 --> 00:52:07,160 That is so incredibly... 892 00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:09,760 Hygienic. ..hygienic. Absolutely. 893 00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:14,800 I can then use the drier function to dry myself using warm air. 894 00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:18,920 Get a lovely wash and then a blow-dry. 895 00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:19,960 Absolutely. 896 00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:28,520 This top-of-the-range model costs £10,000. 897 00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:29,960 And, of course... 898 00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:31,760 ..there is only one way to see 899 00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:34,400 if this toilet actually does what it says. 900 00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:40,240 Max temperature. 901 00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:42,440 That is warm. 902 00:52:42,440 --> 00:52:44,440 OK, here comes the wand. 903 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:48,480 CHERRY SQUEALS AND LAUGHS 904 00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:53,080 I've got to admit, I jumped up because it was so alarming. 905 00:52:56,680 --> 00:53:00,400 Well, I can safely say that that's an experience I haven't had before. 906 00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:03,240 I mean, ultimately, loos like this are to make 907 00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:06,200 the toilet-going experience more pleasant. 908 00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:08,240 It's one vision of the future. 909 00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:13,560 While these toilets are water-efficient, 910 00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:17,800 the average loo uses up to ten litres of water with every flush. 911 00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:20,920 And for a third of the world's population, 912 00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:24,680 with no proper sanitation or sewers, that's a real issue. 913 00:53:27,120 --> 00:53:31,320 A team at Cranfield University, with the help of international funding, 914 00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:34,760 has set out to radically rethink loo design 915 00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:40,400 for the first time in 100 years - by removing the need for water. 916 00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:42,560 They're led by Dr Ewan McAdam. 917 00:53:44,480 --> 00:53:46,000 Oh, wow! 918 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:47,920 So this is our working prototype. 919 00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:52,600 I mean, it looks like a toilet, but not quite as I know it. 920 00:53:52,600 --> 00:53:56,040 That's right. Rather than a water flush, we use a dry flush mechanism. 921 00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:01,640 Every time this seat is pushed down, inside here is a mechanism. 922 00:54:01,640 --> 00:54:02,760 That cleans that bowl. 923 00:54:04,640 --> 00:54:08,000 OK. So rather than using water to transfer the urine and faeces, 924 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:10,680 we use a swipe to clean the bowl inside, 925 00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:13,880 and that then enables us to use no water at all. 926 00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:17,880 What's so incredible is how simple that solution is. 927 00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:22,520 Yeah. So instead of using tonnes of water to get the waste out 928 00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:26,360 and to clean it, you're simply using gravity and tipping? 929 00:54:26,360 --> 00:54:27,400 That's right, yes. 930 00:54:29,320 --> 00:54:32,560 The seat movement also powers an Archimedes screw 931 00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:36,080 that separates solid waste from liquid. 932 00:54:36,080 --> 00:54:37,960 They are working on a tiny combustor 933 00:54:37,960 --> 00:54:42,280 which will sit at the back of the unit and burn up the poo. 934 00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,960 They've already devised a way to get clean water from the urine, 935 00:54:45,960 --> 00:54:48,280 using a special membrane. 936 00:54:48,280 --> 00:54:50,280 So these membranes are hydrophobic. 937 00:54:50,280 --> 00:54:53,240 So what that means is, they repel water, and instead 938 00:54:53,240 --> 00:54:56,720 the only thing that's allowed to pass through that membrane 939 00:54:56,720 --> 00:54:58,000 is water as a vapour. 940 00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:00,880 So what you can see here, as a result of that separation, 941 00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:02,000 is nice, clear water. 942 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:05,280 It's safe to discharge into the environment and it would be safe 943 00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:06,640 for re-use. 944 00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:11,760 A more refined prototype is currently being worked on. 945 00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:15,600 It should be ready for use in 18 months' time. 946 00:55:15,600 --> 00:55:19,920 A very different vision of what the toilet of the future looks like. 947 00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:32,080 Our toilet rolls have been trimmed 948 00:55:32,080 --> 00:55:35,600 to size and are heading to the packing hall 949 00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:40,000 via 155 metres of computer-controlled conveyors. 950 00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:43,080 They're wrapped and heat sealed into packs of nine, 951 00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:44,720 then loaded onto pallets. 952 00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:02,480 Now they head to the 5,000 square metre distribution area. 953 00:56:03,640 --> 00:56:06,040 After 11 hours and 31 minutes 954 00:56:06,040 --> 00:56:10,000 of soaking, drying, unrolling and rerolling, 955 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:12,560 they are about to make their way out of the factory. 956 00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:16,600 Tony Slevin is overseeing the operation. 957 00:56:16,600 --> 00:56:18,520 Are you in charge of all of this, Tony? 958 00:56:18,520 --> 00:56:20,240 Yeah, this is the distribution area. 959 00:56:20,240 --> 00:56:21,640 I don't suppose you know, do you, 960 00:56:21,640 --> 00:56:23,880 how many individual rolls are there on that lorry? 961 00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:26,560 Well, on the pallet is 1,080 rolls. 962 00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:28,960 We have 48 pallets on the trailer. 963 00:56:28,960 --> 00:56:31,880 Which works out round about 52,000 rolls. 964 00:56:31,880 --> 00:56:32,960 52,000 rolls. 965 00:56:32,960 --> 00:56:37,200 And we use individually about 100 a year? Yeah. 966 00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:40,400 So that lorry would last me 500 years? 967 00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:42,240 Yeah. Last you around about 500 years. 968 00:56:43,240 --> 00:56:45,480 Even if I ate curry and prunes everyday? 969 00:56:45,480 --> 00:56:47,120 If that's your choice, yeah! 970 00:56:48,280 --> 00:56:50,280 There is no seasonal peak for you, is there? 971 00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:51,960 You don't sell more around Easter. 972 00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:54,200 No. The same, constant, all year round. 973 00:56:54,200 --> 00:56:57,320 Just constant supply, day in, day out. Yeah. 974 00:56:59,720 --> 00:57:01,640 That's the very last pallet going on, right? 975 00:57:01,640 --> 00:57:04,640 Yeah, they're the last pallets going on. Brilliant. Do you know what? 976 00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:06,720 If I hadn't have seen that process with my own eyes, 977 00:57:06,720 --> 00:57:09,000 I don't think I'd have ever have believed it. 978 00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:13,440 Who'd have imagined that anything so simple could be so complicated? 979 00:57:13,440 --> 00:57:15,400 It's a long way from the Swedish forest! 980 00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:26,160 Every day, 16 lorries ship loo roll out of here and send it off 981 00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:28,800 around the UK. 982 00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:31,240 The biggest users are in the north-east, 983 00:57:31,240 --> 00:57:34,760 with London and the East of England hot on their heels. 984 00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:41,960 I am genuinely surprised that it takes this much big, 985 00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:44,080 heavy industrial machinery 986 00:57:44,080 --> 00:57:48,040 to make something as light and fluffy as toilet roll. 987 00:57:48,040 --> 00:57:50,720 But then I suppose they have to make so much of it. 988 00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:52,720 Because if there is one item, 989 00:57:52,720 --> 00:57:55,640 no matter how mundane we consider it to be, 990 00:57:55,640 --> 00:57:58,880 that we would never, ever want to run out of, then it's this. 991 00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:02,600 Next time... 992 00:58:02,600 --> 00:58:04,640 That's a sausage superhighway! 993 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:07,440 ..I'm in a North Yorkshire sausage factory... 994 00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:08,760 Yeah! 995 00:58:08,760 --> 00:58:12,880 I love the sudden waterfall of sausage meat. 996 00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:14,680 ..getting some hands-on experience. 997 00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:16,920 Pressing it here, right? Yeah, that's correct. 998 00:58:18,080 --> 00:58:21,520 Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! 999 00:58:21,520 --> 00:58:25,840 And Cherry learns how to get the best from your banger. 1000 00:58:25,840 --> 00:58:28,240 Wow. Slow and painful!