A little bit about toilets
According to data, less that 0.1% of households in the UK do not have an indoor flushing toilet (ONS)
In 2021 Bhvishya Patel reported for the Mail Online about how life had changed since 1961, using data from the ONS. In 1961 more than half the homes in some rural regions had a toilet separate from their property. One of these regions was Mitford and Launditch in Norfolk, where 59% of homes were without an indoor toilet. In London 19% of households owned bathrooms and in England and Wales nearly 7% of homes did not have an indoor toilet.
Now, due to changes in legislation and demand, it is almost impossible to imagine anybody buying a home of their own that doesn’t have a toilet.
If some of you are reading this and identifying with these ONS statistics, then you probably also recall IZAL. We can only liken it to sheets of greaseproof and, apart from squares of newspaper, this was the only toilet paper available to the majority of the UK – probably not doing great things for the sewage system or the environment!
If you have a sudden yearning for the ‘good old days’ Wellcomecollection.org/stories/how-brits-went-soft-on-toilet-paper will give you all the information you never thought you needed.
Now we have toilet paper that breaks up within 7 seconds of being disposed of in the toilet – great for areas where blockages are frequently experienced. (Ask us at Sterling Washroom Services for further details).
WORLD TOILET DAY
Did you know that globally 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation?*
Every year UN-Water – the UN’s coordination mechanism on water and sanitation – sets a theme for that year’s World Toilet Day. This year it is focussing on glaciers to coincide with the International Year of Glacier Preservation. World Toilet Day is held on the 19th November each year. Visit https://www.unwater.org/ to find out more.
On a Lighter Note…….
………Fun London Tours meet outside Waterloo station toilets (appropriately) for a London Loo Tour. We haven’t had the pleasure, but there is a website for this very thing.
In India Sulabh International Museum of Toilets in New Delhi was established in 1992 and provides a thorough and immersive spotlight on global sanitation www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org
Who knows where the spotlight will be in the future. Maybe the humble urinal will have its day, or maybe sanitary bins and disposal will have another metamorphosis. We are flushed with anticipation (sorry!).
Sterling Washroom Services – Dealing with All Things Washroom.
