December 11, 2022, 11:59 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Urinals are practical for quick urination. However, they often cause splashing, leaving a mess behind. An adapted basin shape could help. Researchers have even studied this issue–with interesting results.
A specific type of urinal can largely prevent splashes during standing urination, according to researchers. The basin should be narrow and elongated, with a closely confined gap on the left and right. Additionally, the interior of the basin should be curved. Scientists recently presented the new urinal design at a fluid dynamics conference of the American Physical Society.
How can splashes at urinals be avoided?
It’s important that the urine stream does not hit the urinal wall at a 90-degree angle. Instead, an angle of 30 degrees is ideal, similar to what can be observed in nature with dogs urinating on a tree. Such urinals could reduce splashes to a fraction, regardless of the user’s size, significantly lowering toilet cleaning costs, according to the researchers during the presentation.
Related: Should you close or leave the toilet lid open?
Standing urination should become more hygienic
“The practice of marking territory with urine is repulsive to most people,” states a summary of the presentation. “Ironically, about half of the world’s population (men) inadvertently mark the bathroom floor and themselves. The reason: urine that unintentionally splashes back.” This problem has existed since the urinal was invented over a century ago, the summary notes.
Efforts are already underway to make standing urination more hygienic. For example, printed flies or miniature soccer goals are intended to encourage men to aim better into the urinal. Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and Weber State University in Utah have tested various urinal shapes for their studies. “Urinals with the described curves are significantly better than usual designs,” is their conclusion.
with material from dpa