Toilet facts for kids
A toilet is a place where humans get rid of waste that comes from their bodies (urine and feces). Most toilets use water and to flush the waste through plumbing into a sewage system. However, some modern toilets do not use water, and are called dry toilets.
A room that has a toilet can be called a "restroom" or "bathroom" in the United States. In other places it may be called the toilet or the water closet (WC).
Toilets in homes
Almost all modern buildings have at least one toilet. In the home, a toilet may or may not be in the same room as a shower or a bathtub. Some toilets are outside, in an "outhouse".
In developing countries, many people do not have a toilet in their home. More than 4.5 billion people do not have access to toilets.
Public toilets
A public toilet may or may not cost money to use. Toilets that cost money are called "pay toilets".
Public bathrooms often have many toilets with walls between them. This makes areas called stalls (US) or cubicles (UK). Bathrooms for men often also have separate urinals. Urinals can either be on the wall for a single user, or a basin or trough for many men to use at the same time. Urinals on walls sometimes have small walls or dividers for privacy reasons.
Outdoor public toilets (in the street, around parks, etc.) are a form of street furniture. These toilets are in individual cubicles. Some are simple and have little or no plumbing. Others are less simple, and some toilets even clean themselves after every use.
Some toilet-cubicles are mobile and can be put in place where and when they are needed. These toilets are called "portable toilets". Portable toilets are commonly used at large outdoor events like concerts, festivals or carnivals.
Inventions
Every day, toilets use 141 billion liters of water to flush waste, so scientists try to make toilets that do not need so much water. In 2019, one group made a chemical to put onto toilets to make them very slippery so that the waste flushes away with only a little water. The scientists hope their invention will be used by many people one day.
Images for kids
-
Flush toilet bowl
-
Pit latrines are still in use in rural areas of wealthy countries (Herøy, Norway)
-
A poorly maintained pit latrine in Yaounde, Cameroon
-
A line of portable toilets
-
A bucket toilet
-
Roman public toilets, Ostia Antica.
-
Bourdaloue chamber pots from the Austrian Imperial household
-
19th century thunderbox, a heavy wooden commode to enclose chamber pot
-
Henry Moule's earth closet design, circa 1909
-
In La Toilette from Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode series (1743), a young countess receives her lover, tradesmen, hangers-on, and an Italian tenor as she finishes her toilette
-
Squat toilet as seen in some parts of Europe and Asia
-
Squat toilet in Topkapi palace
-
Porcelain squat toilet, with water tank for flushing (Wuhan, China)
-
Old-style squat toilet (Hong Kong)
-
Japanese style squat toilet
-
Garderobe seat openings
-
View looking down into garderobe seat opening
-
Exterior view of garderobe at Campen castle
-
Toilet in Rosenborg Castle Copenhagen
-
Men's toilet designed by artist and architect Hundertwasser
-
Toilet in Delftware style
-
Toilet in Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Croatia
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Inodoro para niños
