Toilets: To Squat Or Not?

Beijing organizers are refitting the toilets at three main Olympic venues after complaints from foreign athletes about having to squat, an official said Wednesday.

Most toilets in China are still of the squat rather than sit-down variety, as spectators and competitors at recent test events in otherwise state of the art venues like the "Water Cube" aquatics center discovered.

Read more from the Reuters story here...

So, some of you may now be wondering what exactly a "Squat Toilet" is. (We would have been wondering the same had an employee in our old office not displayed a penchant for using the Western "Sitting Toilet", if you will, as a squat toilet. How did we know this? Well, believe it or not, but the outline of footprints on an otherwise clean toilet seat is generally a dead giveaway. But that's neither here nor there.) The answer, my friends, is remarkably simple. A Squat Toilet is a toilet that is used by squatting, as opposed to sitting. Squat Toilets are still remarkably prevalent in many places around the world, including Asia and countries in Eastern Europe. And apparently squat toilets have their benefits!

-They are less expensive than Sitting Toilets and easier to clean and maintain
-The absence of water in the "bowl" avoids the problem of splashing
-And lastly, squatting can reduce the occurrence and severity of hemorrhoids!

That brings us to the end of our lesson today, kids! But should you have a yearning for some more powder room press you can check out last week's story titled, What Does Your Poo Say About You?

And, in other news, the boyfriend of woman who sat on the toilet for two years has been charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult.

So, have you ever used a squat toilet? Do you have a preference between squatting and sitting? If squat toilets are the norm in China, do you think they should be having to change them for the Olympics? Do tell!

Comments

[ibsteve2u]

Squat pots work just fine; I still have a picture of one from a time long ago.

On the other hand, the day I went to use one in a hooch and a cobra was staring up out of it at my freshly-bared arse et al did not in any way improve my day.

Nor did the laughter of the feminine resident of said hooch as she shooed it out the door with a broom.

[dadw5boys]

Americans won't know how to act with squat toilets.

There is no waste of water. No waste of electric to pump water to the toilet. No waste of cleaning supplies and line clearing products.

Lower incedents of hemmorids from using them now that won't work.

How are would Doctors make over $ 3,000 an hour if people didn't get injured in daily life?

[bitabingbitabangbitaboom]

The key to squating is to lift your heels an inch

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

If the politically-correct pretenders to "reform" were serious about water usage--especially in the U.S., they would be advocates for a policy of replacing water-mediated toilets with either waterless or COMPOSTING TOILET technology....

Alas, they are only incensed to "action" on matters that they perceive to be RACIAL....!

[Pandu]

Does this mean we might soon get an article about usijng a water jug instead of toilet paper?

[bitabingbitabangbitaboom]

Better start teaching your kids how to eat chicken with a knife and a fork !!!!!!!!!!!

[KARE]

This is America, cover the seat and sit your ****down

[laborgrunt]

God I friggin hate squat toilets. Growing up in Africa almost all of the toilets were squat toilets. Fortunately the toilet in our home was the regular "western" toilet. But i used to hate using the bathroom at my relatives' homes.

[PDXTransplant]

I used to work at a manufacturing plant in Phoenix, AZ and there were a lot of Cambodian and Vietnamese working there and every day you would find foot prints on the toilet seats. They are very small people and this works for them, but American's are too big and/or fat to squat anywhere. Ha!

[laborgrunt]

You are lying. No one squats on a sit down toilet. What I think is that you looked at that misleading icon at the top of the article, and then you came up with your fanciful story about the Vietnamese workers.

[StrayTalk]

Well...not so fast-- there are some nasty toilets with seats out there that I would never sit down on. Also I have squatted at more than a few outhouses in my life. Its not hard if you are thin! And I was born in the USA....

--not crazy about squat toilets in Africa though.

[technut]

I squat on sit down toilets all the time, have done for almost 9 years. I read about the benefits in The Tao of Health and Happiness, and haven't looked back - it's much healthier - you excavate much more of your bowels this way. Other benefits: You're in and out of the bathroom in less time, and you can use public toilets without massive amounts of toilet paper all over the seat. Try it!

[S1m0n]

I dunno about you, but I know plenty of folks (well, mostly women*) who do variations of 'the hover' on all public toilets. I'd be astonished if squatting wasn't one of the variations.

*Which is one of the reasons that anyone who cleans bathrooms for a living will tell you that women's bathrooms are routinely much filthier than mens.

[totalliberal]

Squat toilets:
And I would read all my magazines how? Time & National Geographic would go out of business.

[Jess27]

You have never craped unless you did it in a plastic bag hung on a frame with a toilet seat on top. That what the military uses in thailand. The best part is kicking the bag to get the flies out so they won't fly into your......

[amanda85]

Too...much...information...

[stevejbons]

"We must bear in mind that, while we regard the use of the [chair-like toilet] as natural, we represent only a relatively small percentage of the world's population, and a percentage that may be said, in an absolute sense, to be wrong, insofar as we have allowed civilization to interfere with our biological functioning."

Dr. Alexander Kira, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University School of Architecture
Former Director, Center for Housing and Environmental Studies

[rini]

Oh, god, I'm gonna be sick.

I am so spoiled.

plastic bag????/ ugh!!!!

[aigeanta]

While an exchange student in Japan, I tried out a squat toilet in the airport, and also got to use the fancy spray-your-butt-with-water-then-dry-you-off toilet at my host family's home. The squat toilet was no big deal for me, but maybe that's because I grew up in a redwood forest and as a little girl would enjoy the view as I relieved myself behind a tree.

[bitabingbitabangbitaboom]

Is this why those trees grow so big???????

[RumiSouth]

While working in Japan, my grandfather knew a fellow American who imported an American toilet for his family. The fellow returned from work to find the workers had dug a hole and buried the toilet at floor level.

[1will]

Damn, that is a funny story.

[rini]

I still have trauma issues over an incident that occurred when I was eight. My family was visiting Greece. We were on a long drive and reached the city of Agistole . I had to go to the bathroom. We stopped at a fancy hotel. I was let into the bathroom with a key. I walked in and saw a tile floor with a hole in the ground and cried.

I refused to go, although we had plenty of driving left.

For some reason my father, who grew up in Greece during WWII on a little island with little or no food and no facilities, did not understand. I think he laughed.

[amanda85]

I'm sorry, squat toilets are utterly gross... They're basically holes in the ground surrounded by a ceramic plate. I'd squat under a tree before I even consider using one of those!

The reason why they're easy to clean is that they're meant to be just hosed down once in a while. No wonder they're found mostly in underdeveloped countries with severe hygiene problems.

[DSat7]

In Asia, we only had a sit toilet and one of our employees insisted on using it as a squat toilet - you can tell, if the previous user had been squatting especially if he/she did not bother to wipe the shoe imprint - anyway, somebody could not take it anymore and posted a sign one day that says:

Sit like a queen
Do not squat like a frog

Whether it was being compared to a frog or some other reason, the person apparently stopped doing it; or perhaps -- she just became more careful.

Since this topic has an international flavor, I will shamelessly plug in my new blog. Check out my latest post on the Non-Portability of American Rights if you do business overseas:
http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/