Meeting Without Knowing It

A public toilet in a residential area for migrant workers in 史各庄村 (Shǐgèzhuāng Village), 北京 (Běijīng), China. Photo: Reuters.

Marriage Advice

Speaking at the Ministry of Information on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 Ghana’s Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, warned single Ghanaian women not to marry men who have no toilet facilities in their homes because, as she said, “sanitation gives all of us dignity”.

Public toilet designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas (OMA) & photographer Erwin Olaf, at Reitemakersrijge canal in Groningen, Netherlands. Photo: Gerardus/Wikimedia Commons.

Law & Order

Facial recognition software installed in 北京 (Běijīng) convenience to crack down on people taking large amounts of toilet paper. [Read more].

• Benjamin Haas, Wiping out crime: face-scanners placed in public toilet to tackle loo roll theft, The Guardian, March 20, 2017

Those in need of paper must stand in front of a high-definition camera for three seconds. Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images.

A Story Told In Twilight

• Solemn opening ceremony of first public toilet in Azerbaijan takes place under national anthem, armenpress.am, May 4, 2016

Photo courtesy of armenpress.am

Out of The Easy

In Mumbai slums, 78% of community toilets lack water supply, 58% have no electricity and many don’t have proper doors. Photo: Alamy Stock Photo.

The majority of slum residents are forced to depend on the thriving informal market for water, operated by a network of local strongmen. Photo: Rajanish Kakade/AP.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Cosplay actors pose for photos in a glass public toilet to mark World Toilet Day in 长沙 (Chángshā), 湖南省 (Húnán province), China on November 19, 2016. Photo: AFP/Getty Images.

Aerodynamic levitation

The toilet of the future? This was built for the Russian Mir space station. Practical, but slightly unsettling. Photo: Science Photo Library.

The Pit Stop of Doom

A public toilet in Diepsloot, South Africa. Photo: Jennifer van den Bussche.

An urgent appeal! The Referee accidentally dropped his own iPhone down the toilet!

Community toilets in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, typically consist of a hole in the floor.

Winterreise

A toilet by the wall barrier near the Rafah crossing point into Egypt from Gaza. Photo: David Levene for The Guardian.

Winter is coming (but he forgot his wallet)

A cashier awaits clients as she sells tickets to a public toilet in central Kiev, Ukraine. Photo: Gleb Garanich/Reuters.

Outdoor Theatres

Cape Town councillor June Frans surveys an open-air toilet in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

Stairway to Heaven

An abandoned toilet on the banks of the Mekong river in Laos. The degradation of the water, vital as an economic lifeline for 60 million people, is a great concern for the six Asian nations it flows through. Photo: Barbara Walton/EPA.

Arcovazzi’s Colonial Development and Welfare Acts

There is little privacy in these public latrines in Kroo Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone. There is also a security issue, especially for women needing to go to the toilet at night, according to a report by Amnesty International. Photo: Anna Jefferys/IRIN.

Network of suppliers

A poster illustrates the business venture between UMAWA and its customers in a pit-latrine-emptying venture in Kigamboni district, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo: WaterAid/Christina Chacha.

They Can’t Wait!

A huge inflatable toilet was installed outside United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, United States, to mark World Toilet Day 2014. Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images.

En busca del paraíso

Mexico City’s lavatories may not cope with its creaking sewage system, but what they lack in efficiency they make up for in creative design. “Incredible improvisation... Unlike most European and U.S. cities, Mexico has no rules to dictate public sanitation design”, says Kurt Hollander, who must also be credited for the above picture.

Grand Slam

Portable toilets waiting for dispatch. Glastonbury Festival took a break in 2012 in part because organisers thought the cost of cubicles would have exceeded their budgets. Photo: Kevin Frayer/AP.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

“Sanitation is more important than independence” Sanitation has a strong connection not only with personal hygiene but also with human dignity and well-being, public health, nutrition and even education. There must be total sanitation for all. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

“Everyone must be his own scavenger” – Mahatma Gandhi. Photo courtesy of mkgandhi.org.

Nonlinear Arcovazzi equation

Ventris onus misero, nec te pudet, excipis auro, Basse, bibis vitro: carius ergo cacas. You’ve a golden pot for your arse But you drink your wine from glass— You value your stink Far more than your drink. Per andare di corpo hai vasi d’oro, o Basso, e tu non ti vergogni, ma bevi in vetri senza alcun decoro. Conta di più per te, e questo agogni, cagare con dovizia i tuoi bisogni.

Martial, Epigrams, Book 1, XXXVII
English translation by Olive Pitt-Kethley
Italian translation by Franco Zagato

Displaying above book shelf type French toilet and colorfully decorated Victorian period toilet. Photo courtesy of Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, Delhi, India.