I have often (almost always) been saddened by the how unclean public toilets in India are. Much money has been spent on building public toilets that are difficult to clean and expensive to maintain.
So on a recent trip to Konoor, I was delighted to see a public toilet that was so simple in its design that it would have cost next to nothing. But also that the design was so elegant that it was both easy to clean and maintain (actually maintenance free).
A channel that runs on top of a brick wall, about two and a half feet in height, is used for urination. The channel slopes down wards to allow quick and easy flow of urine to the end of the channel where it flows into an underground tank filled with brick pieces to allow for quick and easy absorption of the urine before it slowly seeps into the ground below.
A small tap placed at the other end of the channel is turned on whenever there is a need to clean the channel (which is not very often). The effort required to clean the channel is minimal.
There is virtually no need for chemicals to disinfect or deodorise the toilet as there is no spilling, splashing or accumulation of urine due to broken or clogged pipes or vessels.
The design positively impacts economical, environmental and social aspects. I hope more public toilets make use of such designs.
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