Urinal
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A urinal is a specialized toilet for urinating only, generally by men and boys. It has the form of a container or simply a wall, with drainage and automatic or manual flushing.
There are two types of urinals, single person or multiple persons. A single urinal is designed for one man standing upright. The multiple man urinal is in a trough style and can accommodate more people. Community urinals are less common in the western world, but urinals like the one on the right still appear throughout the world.
Public urinals are normally designed for use while standing upright, and often contain a deodorizing urinal cake contained within a plastic mesh guard container or a plastic mesh guard without a urinal cake. The plastic mesh guard is designed to prevent solid objects (such as cigarette butts, feces, chewing gum, or paper) from being flushed and possibly causing a plumbing stoppage.
The term may also apply to a small building or other structure, in which such toilets are contained. It can also refer to a small container where urine can be collected for medical purposes, or for use where access to toilet facilities is not possible, such as in small aircraft or for the bedridden.
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[edit] Purposes
In busy men's washrooms, urinals are installed for efficiency: compared with urination in a general toilet, usage is faster because within the room there are no additional doors, no locks, and no seat to turn up; also a urinal takes less space and is simpler than a toilet. Finally the higher position makes usage more convenient (except for short men and boys).
Because of the simplicity sometimes no other facilities than urinals are offered, e.g. on the street.
[edit] History
The urinal was first patented in the United States by Andrew Rankin on March 27, 1866.[1]
[edit] Flushing
Most public urinals incorporate a flushing system to rinse urine from the bowl of the device to prevent foul odors. The flush can be triggered by one of several methods:
[edit] Manual handles
This type of flush might be regarded as standard in the United States. Each urinal is equipped with a button or short lever to activate the flush, with users expected to operate it as they leave. Such a directly-controlled system is the most efficient provided that patrons remember to use it. This is far from certain, however, often because of fear of touching the handle, which is located too high to kick.[2] Urinals with foot-activated flushing systems are sometimes found in high-traffic areas; these systems have a button set into the floor or a pedal on the wall at ankle height. Some establishments, often bars, pubs, or nightclubs, fill their urinals with ice cubes during peak hours. As the ice melts, it serves to slowly flush the urinal, and also cools the urine to prevent smells from rising during use. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that flush valves be mounted no higher than 44 in AFF (above the finished floor). Additionally, the urinal shall be mounted no higher than 17 in AFF, which has a rim that is tapered and elongated and protrudes at least 14 in from the wall. This enables users in wheelchairs to straddle the lip of the urinal and urinate without having to "arc" the flow of urine too high.
[edit] Voice-activated flush
In some regions of Japan, particularly the industrial zones of Honshū, many urinals feature a voice-activated flushing system. These flush systems are triggered by the word "wash!", "fire" or "destroy the grime" in over 30 different languages.[citation needed]
[edit] Timed flush
In Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Canada and some parts of Sweden and Finland, manual flush handles are unusual. Instead, the traditional system is a timed flush that operates automatically at regular intervals. Groups of up to ten or so urinals will be connected to a single overhead cistern, which contains the timing mechanism. A constant drip-feed of water slowly fills the cistern, until a tripping point is reached, the valve opens (or a siphon begins to drain the cistern), and all the urinals in the group are flushed. Electronic controllers performing the same function are also used.
This system does not require any action from its users, but it is wasteful of water where the toilets are used irregularly. However, in these countries men are so used to the automatic system, attempts to install manual flushes to save water are generally unsuccessful. Users ignore them not through deliberate laziness or fear of infection, but because activating the flush is not habitual.[citation needed]
To help reduce water usage when restrooms are closed, some restrooms with timed flushing use an electric water valve connected to the restroom light switch. When the building is in active use during the day and the lights are on, the timed flush operates normally. At night when the building is closed, the lights are turned off and the flushing action stops.
A flushing system connected to the opening of the washroom door can count the number of users and operate when the count reaches a certain value. At night, the door never opens, so flushing never occurs.
[edit] Automatic flush
Electronic automatic flushes solve the problems of both previous approaches, and are common in new installations. Active or (more usually) passive infrared sensors identify when the urinal has been used (or when someone has stood in front of it and moved away), and activate the flush. Thus the urinal is cleaned, where with a manual flush it might not have been, but water is not wasted when the toilet is not used.
Automatic flush facilities can be retrofitted to existing systems. The handle-operated valves of a manual system can be replaced with a suitably-designed self-contained electronic valve, often battery-powered to avoid the need to add cables. Timed-flush installations may add a device that regulates the water flow to the cistern according to the overall activity detected in the room. This does not provide true per-fixture automatic flushing, but is simple and cheap to add because only one device is required for the whole system.
To prevent false-triggering of the automatic flush, most infra-red detectors require that a presence be detected for at least five seconds, such as when a person is standing in front of it. This prevents a whole line of automatic flush units from triggering in series if someone just walks past them.
The automatic flush mechanism also typically waits for the presence to go out of sensor range before flushing. This reduces water usage, compared to a sensor that would trigger a continuous flushing action all the while a presence is being detected.
[edit] Door-regulated flush
This is an older method of water-saving automatic flushing, which only operates when the room is being used. A push-button switch is mounted in the door frame of the restroom, and triggers the flush valve for all restroom urinals every time the door is opened. While it can't detect the use of individual urinals, it provides reasonable flushing action without wasting excessive amounts of water when the restroom is not being used. This method requires a spring-operated automatic door closer, since the flush mechanism only operates when the restroom door opens.
[edit] Waterless urinals
A more recent innovation is urinals that do not use water at all. Models introduced by Waterless Company in 1992[3] and others in 2001 by Falcon Waterfree Technologies and Sloan Valve Company, as well as Duravit, utilize a trap insert filled with a sealant liquid instead of water. The lighter-than-water sealant floats on top of the urine collected in the U-bend, preventing odors from being released into the air. Although the cartridge and sealant must be periodically replaced, the system saves anywhere between 15,000 and 45,000 gallons (approx. between 56,800 and 170,000 liters) of water per urinal per year[citation needed]. Other companies do not use a cartridge; instead they have developed an outlet system that traps the odor, preventing the smell often present in toilet blocks. They can be installed in high-traffic facilities and in situations where providing a water supply may be difficult or where water conservation is desired. Due to high-level water restrictions, Brisbane has mandated conversion to waterless urinals and flush urinals are rarely seen.
In March 2006, the Associated Press reported that the plumbers union in Philadelphia had become upset because the developer of the city's newest skyscraper, Liberty Property Trust, has decided to use waterless urinals in the Comcast Center. Many in the union decided that because of the decision that this would lead to less work for them. The developer cited saving the city 1.6 million gallons (approx 6.06 million liters) of water per year as its deciding factor.[4]
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[edit] Arrangement of urinals
Urinals in high capacity men's washrooms are usually arranged in one or more rows. Those in the street may come in sets arranged in a circle, with all men facing the center, with screens high enough that men cannot wet each other, and usually high enough that they cannot see over it. In a street urinal with an outside screen or wall, the men may stand back to back.
Urinals used for high throughput capacity are part of an efficiently designed washroom architecture. For this reason, one seldom finds an individual urinal. Instead, large numbers of them are installed along a common supply pipe and drain. They are always out in the open so that those using them are in plain sight to everyone in the room. They are usually located in the traffic pattern of the room so there is little to no privacy at a urinal. There may be partitions for privacy.
Often, one or two of the urinals, typically at one end of a long row of urinals, will be mounted lower than the others; they are meant for young boys and other males who cannot reach the regular urinals. In facilities where males of various heights are present, such as schools, urinals that extend down to floor level may be used to allow anyone of any height to use any urinal. Individual single-user facilities usually do not have a urinal, and instead have just one toilet.
Once used exclusively in commercial or institutional washrooms, urinals for private home installation are now available. They offer the advantage of substantial savings of water in homes with multiple male occupants.
[edit] Street urinals and vespasiennes
In some localities, urinals may be located on public sidewalks or in public areas such as parks. These urinals are usually equipped with partitions for the sake of privacy. They may or may not be equipped with flush mechanisms.
Urinals have on some occasions been used for public sex between men. The signal involves whistling while rotating the index finger indicating wanting sex in the cubicles. The police have picked up on this and have been on the look out for this activity.[citation needed]
A city famous for its street urinals is Paris, France. Until the 1990s, street urinals were a common sight in the city, and in the 1930s more than 1200 were in service. Parisians referred to them as vespasiennes, the name being derived from that of the Roman Emperor Vespasian, who imposed a tax on urine. Beginning in the 1990s, the vespasiennes (renowned for their smell and lack of hygiene) were gradually replaced by Sanisettes. Today only one vespasienne remains in the city (on the boulevard Arago), and it is still regularly used. They still exist in other French cities, and in other countries.
See also Public toilets.
[edit] Makeshift urinals
During the Korean War, Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm etc., "piss tubes" were used as makeshift urinals.[citation needed] To make one, soldiers would affix an inverted water bottle on one end of a rigid tube, burying the other end. Removing the base of the bottle made a funnel which would be left at the proper height. Deposited urine simply soaked into the ground. When the area became saturated, the device was relocated.
[edit] Urinals for women
Nearly all urinals are intended for use by males, but a few have been designed for use by women. From 1950 to 1974, the American Standard company offered the mass-produced "Ladies' Home Urinal." It did not provide significant advantages over conventional toilets, because it used just as much floor space and flushing water. Its main selling point was that women could use the fixture without touching it.
Several other designs have been tried since then, but they either required the user to hover awkwardly or to bring her genitals into close contact with the fixture. Most have not caught on. Current clothes fashion such as panty hose and slacks inhibit women from using them because they don't want their garments to touch the urinals or the floor. Often, women have little experience with them and don't know whether to approach them forward or backward.[citation needed]
More recently, models that use specialized funnels have been introduced, with some success, at outdoor festivals (to reduce cycle times and alleviate long lines).
- Further information: Female urination device
[edit] Special urinals
"Kisses!" is a controversial urinal designed by the female Dutch designer Meike van Schijndel. It is shaped like an open pair of red lips.[5] In early March of 2004 the National Organization for Women (NOW) took offense to these new urinals Virgin Atlantic Airways decided to install in the Virgin Atlantic clubhouse at JFK Airport in New York, New York.[6] After receiving many angry phone calls from female customers Virgin Atlantic Vice President John Riordan called NOW to apologize.[7] Protestors surmised a connection to oral sex and/or urolagnia, and based complaints on the urinals being sexist.
A McDonald's restaurant in the Netherlands removed them after a customer complained to the U.S. head office.
- "The apparatus includes a mounting member adapted for attachment to an upright bathroom wall either above the commode or urinal or below the showerhead. A compressible head support member is attached to and extends from the wall and said mounting member. The head support defines an elastically deformable or resilient forehead support surface which is spaced above the floor and from the wall a distance sufficient for the user to lean his forehead thereagainst and be supported while using the commode or urinal."
[edit] Manufacturers
Some manufacturers of urinals are:
