- Sanitation systems
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- Squatting versus sitting in Latin America - and Wikipedia article on squat toilets
Squatting versus sitting in Latin America - and Wikipedia article on squat toilets
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Squatting versus sitting in Latin America - and Wikipedia article on squat toilets

forum.susana.org/forum/categories/141-ot...-colon-healthy-lifeq
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I was going to e-mail Chris & Chris (Canaday/Platzer) about this question but then I thought I might as well put it on the forum:
How wide-spread are squatting toilets in Latin America and South America from your experience (or from what you have read?).
The reason why I am asking is Wikipedia: I was editing an article on squatting toilets and another editor asked the question what is a fair statement about their prevalence in South America:
You find this statement ( en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toilet#Squat_toilets ):
Squatting toilets are most commonly found in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East but can also occasionally be found in some European (Romania, France), Mediterranean, and South American countries.
And this statement which is what I am suggesting ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet ):
Squat toilets are commonly found in Asia, Middle East, South America, North Africa, some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and to some extent in Southern Europe, although they are getting less common there. Squat toilets are not common in Central and Northern Europe, North America, Japan, Australia.
I wonder what a fair statement would be about South America. If someone happens to have a reference at their finger tips about the prevalence of squatting toilets in different countries, I would be happy to hear about that, too.
I guess one may have to differentiate because squatting toilets in public areas are more common than squatting toilets in households. I will never forget my suprise as a child when visiting a caravan park in France and seeing a squatting toilet for the first time in my life thinking "what kind of toilet is this??". Not sure if they are still common in Franch for caravan parks but I have never seen them in France at hotels, offices, museums, private homes. Then again I haven't been to Southern France yet, only the centre (Paris), North and East.
Regards,
Elisabeth
Independent consultant located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter: @EvMuench
Founder of WikiProject Sanitation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sanitation
My Wikipedia user profile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EMsmile
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

Came across a (sadly overloaded and thus quite smelly) UDDT in a really rural tourist resort in southern Bolivia yesterday though

Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

Unless perhaps we'd say of all flush toilets that are in Chile, Peru and Bolivia, a negligible proportion is of the squatting type. Perhaps that would be a more accurate statement then?
Some photos of that overloaded UDDT?

Independent consultant located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter: @EvMuench
Founder of WikiProject Sanitation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sanitation
My Wikipedia user profile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EMsmile
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)
While the English WCs (as in the snapshot) and Indian WCs are used in Pakistan, for religious considerations, Indian WCs are preferred, as while doing the "business," the water in seal splashes the body parts.
F H Mughal
Karachi, Pakistan
Attachments:
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PooingTypes.jpg (Filesize: 93KB)
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

I have never seen organized, presentable toilets for squatting in South America, aside from the UDDTs I build (inodoroseco.blogspot.com). Squatting is, however, standard for open defecation out in the woods or in a make-shift pit latrine with a wooden floor that has a drop hole cut into the middle of it.
Squatting is nonetheless superior:
-- less need to strain, thus fewer hemorhoids
-- everything comes out easier, thus less constipation
-- elimination is normally more complete, thus the colon gets a rest
-- no one needs to touch anything with their private parts, thus more hygienic
-- the floor is the same height for everyone, thus more accessible to little children
-- the user can see where everything is going and there is more distance, thus better urine diversion
-- no need for a bench, thus easier and less expensive to build
The health benefits accumulate over time.
It is key (especially for westerners) to have a handle to hold on to for equilibrium.
(Tangent) One curious thing that I have seen, when I went to build UDDTs in the Pantanal of Brazil, is the huge selection of super luxurious flush toilet bowls in Brazil, orders of magnitude beyond anything I have ever seen in the USA, Canada, Finland, or anywhere else I have ever been. One looked like a Roman column. This was in Cuiabá, which is a big, modern city, even though one may presume it would be a bit provincial, out in Mato Grosso. Someone is clearly obsessed with the flush toilet.
Best wishes,
Chris Canaday
Omaere Ethnobotanical Park
Puyo, Pastaza, Ecuador, South America
inodoroseco.blogspot.com
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

Based on your answers, I have now modified the statement in the Wikipedia article on squat toilets ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet ) like this:
Regions[edit source | edit]
Squat toilets are commonly found in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East but can also occasionally be found in some European (Romania, Southern France), Mediterranean, and Latin and South American countries. Squat toilets are not common in Central and Northern Europe, North America, Australia.
In Latin and South America, squat toilets that use water for flushing (flush toilets) are always of the sitting type, whereas toilets that do not use water for flushing (pit latrines and urine-diverting dry toilets) may be of either type, i.e. to be used in a sitting or a squatting position.
Does that sound OK?
Can anyone provide me information on the prevalance of squatting for other regions or any publications that could be cited which have analysed this?
Chris, regarding the health aspects, I have added a short bit on that as well:
Health aspects[edit source | edit]
Main article: Defecation postures
The use of squat toilets may have certain health benefits with respect to colon health as the defecation posture of squatting my result in less straining.[citation needed][1]
The main article where this is being discussed is actually the one on "defecation postures" ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defecation_postures ). This one could clearly benefit from someone's watchful eye and editing work. If you have good references to support your bullet point list that you provided above then this could also be added into the article. Especially the points about health aspects can only be added if there are good quality sources to back that up.
Emma, perhaps that book that you mentioned above could be utilised as a source for the health benefits of squatting (although it would be better to have an English source, not a German one).
Regards,
Elisabeth
Independent consultant located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter: @EvMuench
Founder of WikiProject Sanitation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sanitation
My Wikipedia user profile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EMsmile
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)
Perhaps, you may like to add this:
Religious considerations also impacts the preference for, and choice of, squat toilets.
after
In Latin and South America, squat toilets that use water for flushing (flush toilets) are always of the sitting type, whereas toilets that do not use water for flushing (pit latrines and urine-diverting dry toilets) may be of either type, i.e. to be used in a sitting or a squatting position.
Cheers,
F H Mughal
Karachi, Pakistan
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

I know e.g. in Morocco, which is also a Muslim country, all the toilets I have ever been to in the major cities (Rabat, Casablanca) were of the sitting type, even though people do practise anal cleansing with water there. In the rural areas of Morocco, I believe that squatting is more common but I have no data on that.
I have the suspicion that the sitting versus squatting issue is more related to regions of the world and perhaps some climate aspects rather than religious aspects? If I remember right, Lucas Dengel (or was it Paul Culvert?) from India once told me that in India people of all faiths practise anal cleansing with water (also Christians), and they do use mostly squatting toilets there (mind you, in hotels and restaurants in Delhi I found only sitting toilets but perhaps that's catering for Westerners, I am not sure).
There is by the way this article on Islamic toilet etiquette on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_toilet_etiquette
Would you (or anyone else who is well versed in Islam) say the article is correct? It doesn't mention anything about squatting versus sitting.
Independent consultant located in Ulm, Germany
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Twitter: @EvMuench
Founder of WikiProject Sanitation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Sanitation
My Wikipedia user profile: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:EMsmile
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)
In Makkah and Madinah, where I have been to 5 times, all the toilets in Masjid-e-Haram (the Grand Mosque) in Makkah; and in Masjid-e-Nabvi in Madinah have squat toilets (as shown in your first figure) - and these toilets run in thousands!. One may ask, why it is so. The answer is that of religious considerations. In sitting toilets, there are chances of splashing - and this is not allowed in Islam.
Having said that, there are many toilets in Pakistan of sitting type. There are two-fold reasons: one, obese people, or people with medical problems in knees, or having back pain, cannot use the squatting posture. They are comfortable with sitting postures. Doctors also advise that. One way to avoid splashing is to put few tissue papers in the WC - this preventing splashing. The other option is to clean that splashed part with water.
Those who do not practice Islam in strict sense, do not care about the types of postures. And, as you say, here also, in high-class hotels, they all have sitting toilets, to cater for the needs of western visitors.
So, just mention the one sentence I stated in my earlier post (if you feel like). That sentence, by and large, covers the point, I'm trying to say.
Cheers,
F H Mughal
Karachi, Pakistan
Executive Director Team Work Afrika (TWA)
Nsambya, Makindye Road, Ave-Maria Stage P.O Box 28982 Kampala - Uganda- East - Africa
Tel: +256 (0) 712-994-236/0778-203-944
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Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

In our Baghdad house we had porcelain thrones with small upwardly-bent pipes right inside the bowl through which we deployed warm water from a faucet handle on the wall. I don't have a photo and wonder if anyone can provide details on the plumbing. The only disadvantage of this system is that it does not easily accommodate wipers, as the toilet paper gets hung up on small pipe and requires manual removal.
In Tunisia, a metre-long flexible hose is hung on the wall attached to the warm and cold mix faucet and deployed by the user. Our houses in Pakistan generally offered both squatting and sitting toilets, served in both cases by a "lota' or pitcher, which users can fill, to the desired temperature where hot water is available.
In the old city of Sana'a, Yemen, I've used the traditional top story desiccating toilets where excreta falls outside the building through the bone dry air into a small pit on the ground. Squatting, of course, with a container of wash water carried up from below. Our own single storey mud brick house, however, had the contemporary plumbed flush pedestal toilets which have put quite a burden on the city's depleted aquifer.
Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human (PHLUSH)
1240 W. Sims Way #59, Port Townsend, Washington 98368 USA
Toilet availability is a human right and well-designed sanitation systems restore health to our cities, our waters and our soils.
Re: squat for money - The Squatty Potty - "healthy colon - healthy life" (product from the US)

Executive Director Team Work Afrika (TWA)
Nsambya, Makindye Road, Ave-Maria Stage P.O Box 28982 Kampala - Uganda- East - Africa
Tel: +256 (0) 712-994-236/0778-203-944
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Personal This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Sanitation systems
- Toilets without urine diversion
- Squatting versus sitting in Latin America - and Wikipedia article on squat toilets