Urinal

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.

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 make 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.

History

The urinal was first patented in the United States by Andrew Rankin on March 27, 1866. [cite web|url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1866/march_27_1866_56552.html|title=Andrew Rankin patents the urinal March 27 in History|publisher=www.brainyhistory.com|accessdate=2008-06-17]

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:

Manual handles

requires that flush valves be mounted no higher than 44" AFF (above the finished floor). Additionally, the urinal shall be mounted no higher than 17" AFF, which has a rim that is tapered and elongated and protrudes at least 14" 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.

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.Fact|date=August 2008

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.Fact|date=July 2008

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.

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.

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.

Waterless urinals

A more recent innovation is urinals that do not use water at all. Models introduced by Waterless Company in 1992 [ [http://www.exceldryer.com/TopTen2002.asp XLerator Hand Dryer - Top Ten ] ] 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 yearFact|date=June 2008. 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. 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. [cite news
first= Inga (Inquirer Architecture Critic) | last= Saffron
title= Phila. no-flush standoff unclogged, with a catch
publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer | pages=A1, A10 | date=April 5, 2006 "Note: available on-line from publisher with account"]

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 even cannot look over it. In a street urinal with 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 small partitions for privacy but they only serve the purpose of hiding the exposed private area. The rest of the person will be in plain view. Also, the urinals may be spaced far apart to create an air of comfort. Where urinals are more closely arranged, some men follow the so-called "1-3-5 rule," under which men only occupy the odd-numbered urinals, thus leaving the even ones to serve as barriers. Of course, this rule can be followed only when the facility's instantaneous usage is low enough to permit using only every other urinal. However, men will generally stare straight ahead at the wall or down into their own urinal rather than at a man at an adjacent urinal. Urinals will generally not be placed straight inside the door of the bathroom so that people cannot see men and boys urinating from the door.

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.

treet 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 been recently used for public sex by gays. The signals whistling while rotating the index finger indicating wanting sex in the cubicles. The police have picked up on this and have be on the look out for this new crime. Fact|This sounds like it was made up by a homophobe, and certainly could be worded better.| ()|date=October 2008

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 the far superior 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.

Makeshift urinals

During the Korean War, Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm etc., "piss tubes" were used as makeshift urinals.Fact|date=June 2008 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.

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.

More recently, models that use specialized funnels have been introduced, with some success, at outdoor festivals (to reduce cycle times and alleviate long lines).

pecial urinals

"Kisses!" is a controversial urinal designed by the female Dutch designer Meike van Schijndel. . [cite web
date = March 18, 2004
url = http://www.now.org/issues/media/031804virginatlantic.html
title = Tell Virgin Atlantic: There's Nothing 'Fun' About Exploiting Women | work = Media Activism
publisher = National Organization for Women
accessmonthday = April 23 | accessyear = 2006] After receiving many angry phone calls from female customers Virgin Atlantic Vice President John Riordan called NOW to apologize. [cite press release
publisher= National Organization for Women
date= March 19, 2004 |url= http://www.now.org/press/03-04/03-19.html
title= Outrageous Interruptus: NOW Cheers Decision to Abandon Sexist Urinals
accessdate=2006-04-23] 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 an American complained to the U.S. head office.

*Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" (1917) is one of the most influential pieces of modern art. [cite news
publisher= BBC News |date= December 1, 2004
url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4059997.stm
title= Duchamp's urinal tops art survey: A white gentlemen's urinal has been named the most influential modern art work of all time
accessdate=2006-04-28]
*On January 27, 2004, inventor Eric D Page from Sarasota, Florida was granted US patent|6681419 for a "Forehead support apparatus". The abstract of the patent makes it clear that this is "...for resting a standing users forehead against a wall above a bathroom commode or urinal or beneath a showerhead." The abstract continues:
*:"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."
* Nassau County, New York Police adopt Talking Urinals in a unique Anti-Drunk Driving initiative. Utilizing Wizmark, a talking urinal screen, police can provide bars with free pre-programmed urinal screens urging patrons not to drink and drive. [cite web|url=http://www.wizmark.com] [http://www.policemag.com/t_newspick.cfm?rank=76670|title=http://www.wizmark.com] [http://www.policemag.com/t_newspick.cfm?rank=76670]
* The bullet damaged brick wall from the St. Valentines Day Massacre was disassembled where it had been originally constructed at 2122 N. Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois [cite web|url=http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2122+N+Clark+Street,+Chicago,+IL|title=http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2122+N+Clark+Street,+Chicago,+IL] and reassembled in men's restroom of a bar called Banjo Palace in Vancouver, British Columbia where it served as a urinal wall.
* Ernest Hemingway converted a urinal from Sloppy Joe's bar into a water fountain for his cats. The fountain remains a prominent feature at his former home in Key West, Florida; which remains a popular tourist destination in the city. [cite web|url=http://www.hemingwayhome.com/HTML/house.htm|title=http://www.hemingwayhome.com/HTML/house.htm]
*One example of urinals in popular culture was in a 1990 episode of the sitcom "Roseanne". Roseanne Conner is dressed as a man for Halloween and is somehow forced into using a urinal. While doing so, she looks at and talks loudly to the men next to her, and when she gets silence and uncomfortable looks in return, she then looks straight ahead, and says: "Oh, I get it! It's like an elevator!" In the late 1990s, a similar gag was used on "Third Rock from the Sun", when Sally Solomon and Dick Solomon switch bodies, and Sally (in Dick's body) has to use a urinal alongside Officer Don (Sally's boyfriend).
*Some urinals for men incorporate "fly targets:" images of flies that are either printed on labels stuck to the inside of the urinal or embossed directly into the porcelain. Men often feel a compulsion to aim their urine stream at the fly, and thus the fly target helps prevent men from urinating outside the basin or bowl of the urinal. Maintenance crews at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam reported in 2005 that adding a fly target to urinals reduced bathroom cleaning costs by giving men something to aim at. The urinals at terminal 4 of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City have a fly target in the urinals. These are replaced every month because they slide off.
*Urinals are mentioned briefly by George Carlin () in his routine about sports, in which he comments, about ice hockey, that "the only other place you'll find a puck is in the urinal to control the smell in the bathroom." In an earlier album he relates how important it is to "wetdown" all the dry spots on the porcelain, and how Kent cigarettes with the Micronite filter are the hardest to break up by urinating on them - requiring "...three men and a keg of beer."
*"Pissoir", retitled "Urinal" in some countries, was the first feature film directed by John Greyson. It was released in 1980 and takes place in a toilet.Fact|date=September 2008
*Gabriel Chevallier's 1934 satirical novel "Clochemerle" deals with the ramifications over plans to install a new urinal in a French village.
*The aircraft manufacturer Airbus wil be offering its customers the option of installing urinals in its A380 aircraft. [cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/04/10/222871/a380-male-urinals-to-become-bog-standard.html|title=A380 male urinals to become 'bog standard']

Manufacturers

Some manufacturers of urinals are:

* Addicom
* American Standard Brands
* Armitage Shanks
* Dongfeng
* Falcon Waterfree Technologies
* Gustavsberg
* Ifö Sanitär AB
* Kohler Company
* Siam Cement
* TOTO Ltd.
* Villeroy & Boch
* Zurn

References

See also

* Ecological sanitation
* Female urination device
* Outhouse
* Pay toilet
* Pissoir
* Plumbing fixtures
* Plumbing
* Sanistand
* Sanitation
* The Urinals (music group)
* Toilet
* Water closets

External links

* [http://www.urinal.net Collection of urinals worldwide] (eg [http://www.urinal.net/main_st_sta/ Berlin wall] , [http://www.urinal.net/naturescall/ flowers] and at the [http://www.urinal.net/south_pole/ South Pole] )
* [http://www.pubtoilets.com Urinals in Public Houses, Restuarants and Bars ] (eg Pub Urinals in [http://www.pubtoilets.com/pubsearch.asp?SearchTown=Manchester Manchester (UK)] and in [http://www.pubtoilets.com/pubsearch.asp?SearchTown=Dublin Dublin (Eire)] )
* [http://www.falconwaterfree.com/how/index.htm How waterfree urinals work]
* [http://www.ecourinalcartridge.com/ Eco Urinal Cartridge system]
* [http://ganimede.transboys.info/stp.html Guide to urinal use by female-bodied people]
* [http://www.pulppackage.com/english-pulpmolded-Disposable%20Receptacles.htm Photos of Pulp Urinals made by recycled pulp]
* [http://www.urinalology.net Urinal etiquette, classification and typology] from urinalology.net.]
* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_255.html Urinals for women] from The Straight Dope.