The horror of german toilet technology and the sitzpinkler phenomenon 



According to this post , the German's are responsible for the dreaded "shelf" toilet.

I have only seen this toilet in Holland. In Germany, all I saw was the "volcano", a toilet very deep and shaped like an inverted parabola. When flushed, it creates a water spout that soaks anything above the toilet. Heaven help you if you are the sort that likes to take a quick peek to ensure that everything flushes okay.

But Holland still has the shelf.

In most American toilets, once you do your business, your entire dropping immediately sinks below the waves, tending to defuse any danger from the fumes. This should give you sufficient time before the oxygen gives out in order to clean up any mess upon your person that might have occurred in the passing of your personal weapon of mass destruction. Toilet paper is provided for this purpose.

But imagine the scene in your typical Dutch water closet (European for bathroom). You make a quick bombing run and instead of going immediately sub-aquaeous, your log is deposited on "the shelf" where it remains horrifyingly sub-aerial.

This cross-section of the shelf toilet should give you the idea (from the leenks site):
 
 

"What were they thinking?", you might ask.

So I asked some of the Europeans present what the hell this was all about. And they told me that the principle behind "the shelf" was that you could examine your own dropping for "health reasons".

Okay...

"So what do you look for?", I asked.

And nobody knew. So, apparently, the Europeans no longer know their shit. Who'd have thought?

You should read the original link , since it includes much practical experience with these toilets including the lengths to which one must go when "clearing the shelf" in an apartment with low water pressure or the distinct problems of having too much water pressure, which is a whole different kettle of fish.

Apparently, the problems of this design extend to the standing No. 1. If you stand and pee onto the shelf, it just sprays everywhere. And this is why German women insist their men sit and pee, and why the German's have gone from a nation that challenged the world to a nation of "sitzpinklers".

And it all started with bad toilet design. 

Posted: Sun - January 9, 2005 at 10:56 AM             |

©