Why is there a gap in front of the toilet in the United States

The toilet is an essential presence in our daily lives. Some people have calculated that each person visits the toilet about 2,500 times a year, and a person spends about three years of his or her life on the toilet. The flush toilet is considered one of the world's greatest inventions, the famous British magazine "Focus" has invited the country's 100 most authoritative experts and 1,000 readers to participate in the selection of "the world's 100 greatest inventions", the flush toilet even beat the aircraft, computers, electric lights, and other inventions, straight to the top of the list. Although the flush toilet is insignificant, its appearance has made a great contribution to public health. Some historians believe: human civilization did not start from the invention of writing, but the human "civilized shit" and the emergence of the first toilet.

Nowadays, toilets are widely used all over the world, and although the appearance of toilets in each country looks similar, some details are still different. For example, in China, we generally use the toilet ring as a complete "O" type, but most toilet in the United States is a "U" type, that is, the front of the toilet ring will deliberately leave a gap. So, what is the purpose of the gap design of American toilets? Why is there no gap in our toilets? The "gap" is more convenient for men, or women?

Why is there a "gap" in the front of the American toilet?

The special design of American toilets originates from a national regulation of the United States. As early as 1955, the "American National Standard Plumbing Code" on the toilet ring developed a detailed regulation: require public places toilet seats should be selected from a smooth, hydrophobic material, and all the public toilet seats should be used in the front open design. After this, the U.S. toilet manufacturers will follow this standard, the production of the corresponding style of toilet.

So, what is the reason for this regulation and design in the United States? For Americans, U-shaped toilets have a lot of benefits!

1. More clean and hygienic

In the United States is no squatting pit, they only use sitting this way to the toilet, whether in the public bathroom or personal home only set up the toilet. The toilet ring was initially designed to facilitate women to go to the toilet so that when women use the toilet, they can put the toilet ring down, to sit on it, and the body will not directly touch the pool, more hygienic.

But later found that the toilet in public restrooms is used by many people, in turn, every day, and women's private parts are more sensitive to infection, so the toilet ring was improved into a U-shaped. With the front-notch design, you can avoid women's private parts touching the seat to prevent cross-infection.

In addition, some public bathrooms do not have urinals, and both men and women use the toilet. If the O-shaped toilet, some men urinate, do not lift the toilet ring, in urination to the "closing stage", it is easy to urine dripping down the toilet ring, women then use will be very unhygienic, and will not want to use it. The U-shaped toilet can reduce the pollution of male urine on the toilet ring, women use a more clean and hygienic.

2. Better load-bearing capacity, which can extend the use of the toilet years

We all know that most Americans are tall and stout, have a high obesity rate, and the overweight population is not a few. In overweight people "pressure", O-shaped toilet ring force is not easy to disperse, encounter the toilet quality is not good enough, easy to sit badly. Compared to the O-shaped toilet ring, U-shaped toilet ring gap, you can disperse the pressure to both sides of the cushion, the load-bearing capacity is stronger, will not be easily cracked, or deformation, and can extend the life of the toilet.

3. Higher security

O-type toilet rings will also appear as a problem, is the overweight people sitting up, and their large and fleshy buttocks may be full to occupy the entire toilet, due to too tight seams, the whole person's buttocks easy to be air pressure adsorption on the toilet ring, up than difficult, sometimes good will be stuck in death, and not move. And if it is a U-shaped toilet ring, because there is a gap, will not produce pressure differences, and basically will not happen to be stuck in the embarrassment.

In November 2019, a 200-kilogram pianist in Russia was unexpectedly stuck in the toilet on a plane. His body type was really fat, when he pressed the toilet flush button again, when flushing, the air pressure of the toilet pumping water immediately sucked him firmly onto the toilet, so scared that he could not move and had to shout for help to the crew and passengers. The scene was so embarrassing! I heard that this was the 4th time he had encountered such a thing

In addition, women who use the O-shaped toilet, after the toilet, to stand up a certain height, to wipe their private parts; and the U-shaped toilet front has a gap, to facilitate the toilet directly through the gap to wipe, without standing up, for the United States big fat girl, standing up is too much effort, and stand unstable also easy to slip, can sit to solve, more easily save energy and safety.

In general, the design of the U-shaped toilet is more for the sake of female users of hygiene and obese people's convenience considerations.

Why does our country not use this U-shaped design?

Since the U-shaped toilet ring has so many benefits, why our country's public bathroom toilets do not follow this design?

On the one hand, Chinese people are more accustomed to using squatting toilets in public places. In most scenic spots and shopping malls in China, public restrooms are generally installed with both toilets and squatting toilets for people with different habits to use. But the Chinese are more accustomed to using squatting toilets in public places, most do not go to choose the toilet. Because in the national view, sitting on the toilet, rounding up is equal to sitting on the buttocks of the previous user. And the use of squatting toilets without a direct human body seems to be cleaner and more hygienic than the toilet.

In only the toilet bathroom, many people avoid "close contact" with the toilet circle and use the "half squatting" abutment posture, and this posture is more likely to dirty the toilet circle, the toilet is also more disliked, visible public places most of the country does not need the toilet Circle, it is natural for the toilet circle also have little requirement! The reason why we still have to set the toilet is to facilitate the use of some children, pregnant women, the elderly, the disabled, and other people who are not so convenient to act.

On the other hand, relatively to come pretty national, the national body type is generally slim, overly obese people are very few, the normal use of the toilet rarely happens to be sucked in the seat and other unsafe situations.

U-shaped toilet is a unique design based on the use habits of Americans and their group body type, but its advantages are not played in our country. Different designs are not good or bad in themselves, only what suits you is the best!

Toilet and squatting pit, at that end, which is dirtier?

People are wary of the toilet, mainly because they are worried that close contact with the seat is easy to catch some STD. However, some studies have shown that the general toilet ring surface is dry and smooth, and is not suitable for the growth of bacteria and viruses. And pneumococcus, syphilis, HPV, HIV, and other pathogens are difficult to survive outside the human body, so the probability of contracting these viruses through contact with the toilet is very small. And generally, people see the toilet ring as made of urine or secretions, and will not directly sit on it, even if it is up without a dirt cushion, people will use wet wipes to disinfect the toilet ring and then sit, or use hand paper pad a circle and then sit, often so clean the toilet ring, more avoid the spread of germs.

The toilet flushing process diffuses in the air with those invisible small water mists is we should be more worried about the health risks. To know that the feces contain E. coli, dysentery bacillus, salmonella, and other germs, the cyclone generated when flushing will be a large number of pathogens sprayed into the air 6 meters high, and spread around, suspended in the air, and then contaminate the surrounding objects or walls, but also by human inhalation. And many pathogenic bacteria can contain be spread through fecal-oral transmission, so if you do not pay attention to hygiene, do not wash your hands after the toilet, and through the transmission of hands, the germs may enter the mouth or nasal cavity, resulting in transmission.

Want to avoid the spread of germs, just cover the toilet lid and then flush, so it is necessary to develop the habit of flushing with the cover! And the squat toilet is open flush, nothing good way to solve this problem, and the hidden danger is greater. Compared to the toilet, squatting toilet due to the construction of the problem, the need for greater flushing strength, to flush down the excrement, which means that the germ cyclone is greater, and can splash germs higher and farther. And the squatting position will also lead to the body inhaling more pathogens. So, you see, in a public toilet with a similar environment, the correct use of the toilet is more hygienic than a squatting pit. And to develop a good habit of flushing with the toilet cover as well as washing your hands after pooping is the key!