
The Unfortunate Physics of Male Urination - cocoflunchy
https://priceonomics.com/why-cant-we-build-a-splash-proof-toilet/
======
banachtarski
At home, I sit always. People think I'm weird for doing it but honestly I hate
the mess more than the slight inconvenience.

~~~
BurningFrog
> _People think I 'm weird for doing it_

I only think you're a little weird for telling them.

~~~
banachtarski
I think if you have roommates or housemates at some point, or live with a
girlfriend or wife, it isn't entirely out of the question. This isn't
something I'd open with at a bar or something.

------
tgb
This article misses some of the most pressing questions! Do I aim for the
water or the porcelain? Why are there a million varieties of urinals but all
toilets are essentially identical in shape? What can we do to mitigate those
terrible moments when a stray hair or something causes what should be one
stream to become two? How can we best use a urinal at an airport while being
forced to take our luggage with us in hand?

~~~
mercer
Toilets seem to come in a ridiculous amount of shapes, at least where I'm
from. There's the difference between splash and have-your-poop-on-display type
toilets, there's the pull-cord-to-flush, push-a-button-on-the-wall, and more
common push-button-on-top-of-basin types of toilets. And then there's the
squat toilet.

Urinals, on the other hand, are all basically the same and only differ
slightly in shape.

And now I'm wondering why I bothered to write a comment defending toilet
varieties.

------
dmessing
Isn't this why sometimes you see a fly or something painted on the urinal to
gamify the "experience" to reduce the splash effect?
[https://orgchanger.com/2012/11/01/a-splash-of-
innovation/](https://orgchanger.com/2012/11/01/a-splash-of-innovation/)

~~~
Jtsummers
One of the manufacturers in the article, Duravit, is mentioned as using this
approach to indicate where the "sweet spot" is for aiming to reduce splash.

------
fizgig
They didn't address the horrible troughs at old sports stadiums?

BTW, I don't know if those still exist. I think Louis CK had a bit about his
boy being traumatized by these on his TV show. I recall urinating at "the
trough" at a local ball game as a kid (70s or 80s, not 100% sure). It wasn't a
pleasant experience.

~~~
abcanthur
Troughs are great! I'm impressed by the simplicity of it, "this thing must be
a cinch to clean! ten seconds of hose, air dry!" I despise the frequent click
bait articles about "how to use maths to choose which urinal to use." Use any
urinal! Grow up and don't mind your fellow men satisfying their natural
impulses just like you. Overcoming "stage fright" is a marker of growing up; I
for one admire the old guys who turn into the brass section of a marching band
once they enter the bathroom. If you can't let loose in the bathroom after 2
hours at the mall, where is the safe space? The food court?

I don't think that being a total priss about these things is the obviously
correct way to move forward. Not every man needs the toilet of a Japanese
emperor (especially when your half acre of fescue hidden behind your picket
fence is the ultimate urinary domain).

Also bidets are a joke, end up using twice as much paper just to dry off.

~~~
bitwize
Troughs are commonplace in Australia. Despite some of them having a continuous
trickle of water, they invariably reek -- much stinkier than individual
urinals.

------
bobajeff
Let's break the toilet taboo already. I'm tired of every public restroom I go
to being pull to open. Sometimes even the stalls are pull to open (which is
hard to do in such a tight space).

Also, how about those self cleaning toilets Japan has? And paper seat pads
that actually fit the seat they are intended for. Maybe put some elastic band
in the paper to hold the paper on the seat.

~~~
gmiller123456
The "open inwards" issue is due to building codes prohibiting doors from
blocking traffic in a hallway. I think you'll find that most doors that aren't
in hallways actually do open outwards.

~~~
bobajeff
Many restrooms that aren't in a hallway still open inwards in my area.

------
brbsix
If you piss into a sufficiently large jug, there's no splashback. Cleaning
aside, can't we make such a urinal?

~~~
petepete
[citation needed]

~~~
kw71
looks like original research to me

------
scotty79
Isn't the problem of splashback from urinal solved by this:
[http://www.stephensons.com/12191-thickbox/p-wave-mango-
deodo...](http://www.stephensons.com/12191-thickbox/p-wave-mango-deodorising-
anti-splash-urinal-screen.jpg) ?

~~~
jmulvi
Those plastic mats you find in urinals don't seem to do much to prevent splash
back in my experience. It seems like the urinal shown at the end of the
article with more of a vase or jug design has a better chance of preventing
urine splashing back all over your shoes and pants.

------
squozzer
Well, there is always the sink. :) Khaki - sit down. Dark pants - stand up.

~~~
takk309
At the university that I attended, there used to be sinks in every dorm room.
However, the sinks were removed from the men's and co-ed dorms after too many
guys were using them as urinals.

------
homulilly
how about guys just sit down to pee? it's really not that hard.

~~~
Jtsummers
Most office and public restrooms (for men) have a ratio of 2:1 or 3:2, urinals
to stalls, from my estimation. Sitting down isn't an option when there's a
line.

~~~
ekianjo
You just wait.

~~~
Jtsummers
Not always feasible. The brilliant designers of my office gave us a total of 8
urinals/stalls for the men on this floor (same for the other floor,
approximately). The ratio here is terrible, about 5:1 men to women (probably
worse, actually). There are 200 of us on this floor, 800 in the building. The
after lunch bathroom rush means you stand around uncomfortably while waiting
for a stall, or use a urinal and get back to your desk.

~~~
ekianjo
I guess it depends on folks. Usually i plan my bathroom visits outside of the
rush hours and i dont wait to have to pee to go. This allows for more
flexobility but again maybe not everyone can do that.

------
Ericson2314
Ah, never studied fluid mechanics so feeling vindicated on figuring out both
angle of attack and stream breakup remedies.

------
tracker1
The low splash urinal is a great idea... I've had it several times over the
years, I just then think of how often restrooms are actually updated, and how
many years it would be before such a thing became common. Kind of sad really.

------
grodybro
Definitely a fan of sitting at home. At work we have these Ekcos
([http://ekcos.com/](http://ekcos.com/)) splash pads in the urinals. They are
very effective.

------
tajen
It's great to see an article treating the subject seriously! It diverges from
the usual explanation "Men are so stupid that they will stop peeing on the
floor if you draw a fly in them". Nonobstant that we pee on the floor because
said toilets are so dirty that we'd get an STD by getting to close.

------
taylodl
_" Women want a way to keep the toilet and bathroom floor free of splashing
urine, and so does Mrs. Wiener."_

 _Mrs. Weiner._ That got me chuckling like a 12 year-old boy!

~~~
mywittyname
They found the right woman for the interview!

