alt Hacker NewsSplash-free urinals for global sustainability and accessibility
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They have had these in Japan for a while now it feels like.
Global sustainability and accessibility seems a bit grandiose lol. It’s just a urinal after all. That being said, it’s been 4 years since Waterloo first determined this and it’s still unavailable to purchase. I’ve been patiently waiting for one to install in my shop but it seems like it’s not all that important for the globe if it’s still unavailable 4 years later.
Design through physics and differential equations.
This paper is Ig® Nobel Physics Prize Winner 2026 https://improbable.com/ig/winners/
The recent introduction, in the UK at least, of splash-back reducing urinal … mats (?) has basically solved the problem in my opinion. They’re a disposable (but not single use…) plastic freshening insert with loads of short rubber strands, closely packed.
You can pee on one of these mats and the stream almost aerates itself on impact and you get basically no splashback, I guess with a similar mechanism to how an aerating tap produces a stream of water that doesn’t splash off whatever it hits.
Sometimes i am using an urinal and i feel like no engineers were involved in the design. Glad to see someone is actually approaching this with proper science.
There is more to it than the splashback tho. Sometimes it seems that the surfaces that already have splashes on them are not angled properly to lead the water to the drain. This seems to create need to have sharp edge/lip rather than round one, which might be tricky to make resilient in porcelain. But the rounded lip certainly allows for droplet flow towards the user rather than the drain hole.
Nice, but does it takes into account that some droplets are directly issued from the hose itself ? Not to mention the double stream problem ^u^ Cool paper nonetheless.
No amount of engineering can solve the problem that no matter how much you jiggle, you shake, or you dance, the very last drop always falls in your pants.
I really like the inverted version, where it's almost guaranteed to splash yourself as a deterrent.
Just aim at the sweet spot where your stream smoothly swirls into the plughole. No spray, minimal sound. Most toilets and all urinals have this spot you can hit. In Amsterdam airport they even mark it for you with a crosshairs!
> droplets which travel back onto the floor and user
I suppose this disproves Tufte's "There are only two industries that call their customers 'users': illegal drugs and software."
Traditional urinals [1] are very effective. As are the steel variants [2]. The latter tend to become very grim over time.
[1]: https://www.hlwashrooms.co.uk/healey--lord-niagara-urinals--...
[2]: https://acornthorn.co.uk/urinals-wcs-cubicles/urinals/ur068-...
The secret to splash free male urination is..sitting down.
Just pee in the sink
Direct link to the designs (c and d, with d being practical). Great paper honestly.
https://academic.oup.com/view-large/figure/512223725/pgaf087...
This reminded me of some scenes in the videogame Dispatch [1]
[1] : https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/dispatch/images/c/ca/Dispa...
Sustainability?
What resource will we run out of if we continue to piss in traditional urinals?
Has bullshit marketing terms invaded scientific papers now as well?
TLDR: The "Cornucopia" has the least amount of splashback, however the "Nautilus" is the recommendation of choice, to accommodate ease of cleaning and variations in the height of the user.
https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/4/pgaf087/80987...
Worth noting that this study was partially funded by the university of Waterloo