The World’s Most Unusual Toilets

Have you ever noticed that Americans shy away from the word “toilet”? Even though we use the toilet more than we bathe in our bathroom and rarely rest in our restroom, those seem to be the choice of words Americans use when they’ve got to go. Interestingly, Europeans don’t have this aversion and typically call it what it is.

While western-style bathrooms help us live in luxury with a seated toilet, many countries still use a hole in the floor. More progressive establishments will at least have a squatting flush potty, where one stands and squats over a flushable area. Believe it or not, around the world these toilets are all still quite common.  

Let’s look at the most strange, weird and wonderful toilets out there in the U.S. and around the world.

Which of These Unusual Toilets Have You Experienced?

Urikeginal – Found in bars and breweries in New York City and New Zealand, steel beer kegs are adapted with drains on the floor to use as urinals. They are often filled with ice, which is purported to keep out odor.

Japanese High-tech – Japanese innovation insists on upgrading every human experience. Public and home commodes are equipped with electronic consoles which offer choices for heating the seat, rinsing and flushing. Women’s bathrooms have motion-controlled flush sounds, so modest women can mask flatulence without wasting water on multiple real flushes.

Robo-toilets – In Paris and San Francisco you’ll find public free-standing, automated bathrooms. After use, weight sensors note the absence of a patron which triggers the toilet retraction to a compartment to be flushed, rinsed and sanitized. Simultaneously the bathroom is hosed down and also sanitized. The toilet then returns to the compartment, ready for the next user. In many models, the reset happens automatically after 20 minutes regardless of the weight sensor not being triggered. You must get out before the 20 minutes are up or you lose the toilet and get hosed down. This discourages homeless folks from making the potty their home.

Voyeurs Toilet – Basal, Switzerland hosts an art installation loo which encases a toilet in a glass cube on the town square. The reflective glass keeps the occupant concealed from view, while leaving the outside visible to the occupant.

Fancy-Schmancy Toilet – Designer Jemal Wright has created a $75,000 potty-throne covered with Swarovski crystals. How do you clean that one?

Vertebrae Bathroom – These small space bathrooms are dotted around Asia and a few U.S. college campuses. The Vertebra bathroom takes up only 4 square feet. All the bathroom amenities swing out of a central axis pole. The patron uses one at a time and must position the utility over the drain hole, including the toilet, sink and shower.

Big Band, Big Hand – A pub in Freiburg, South Germany has fitted drains into three brass tubas along with a large steel hand to use as urinals.

Space Bathroom – It was a challenge for the International Space Station to design a permanent bathroom without gravity. Instead of water to move waste, they use high pressurized air suction with non-gravity bowls and hoses. Footing is an issue, so they have swing bars and foot stirrups to steady the astronauts while using the facilities. The station also processes the waste, and much of it is converted back to potable water.

Want to know what features are available on the latest toilets and toilet seats for your home? Give Home Angels us a call for your next toilet installation.