Dear Mrs Muench,

I thank you. So a technology can only develop if it is market driven. I wonder whether women who be interested to have urinals fitted in office buildings and other public places? That would require a complete shift in toilet habit if they did. Maybe some violation of privacy?...

Regards,

André

Dear André,

I am also interested in urinals for females (or uni-sex urinals) in Europe, so I took your question as a prompt to make some enquiries with Uridan. I e-mailed the German office of Uridan (the urinal photos above are for a female urinal from Uridan - which is a Danish company).

I was happy to get their reply on the same day:

We can state that since 2001 we have installed somme hundreds of female urinals mainly in India and in Norway. We enclose some pictures and descriptions so you can see how they have been used. All the urinals are in best condition till today and if they are serviced properly they will be able to be used for lots of further years. The water saving argument as well as the sustainability arguments are essential for this product. In any case it has to be mentioned on the location on a popular spot that these products are installed to only urinate.

Background

The development of the uridan unisex range was originally initiated by a demand from the Norwegian market. In Norway there are approximately 500.000 cottages in the countryside and in the mountains. Approximately half of these cottages do not have a proper system for water and effluent. Therefore many creative solutions have been developed to solve the sanitary situation. Different biological systems and incineration have been used. Incineration toilets have gained increasing popularity (www.cinderella.as). One major problem with incineration is the volume of urine. Urine/water cannot be incinerated and therefore a combination of these toilet systems with waterless urinals is a perfect match. But on a cottage the whole family is gathered and the urinal needs to be suitable for men, woman and children.


Klaus Marschall
Gesamtvertriebsleiter

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.sanit-chemie.de

He also sent me the photos and attachments (see below):





The urinal works with a blocking fluid, same way as the urinals from Uridan for men work.

For a previous discussion on the pros and cons of blocking fluid versus rubber or silicon valves, see here:
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/34-uri...ne-diversion-toilets

And this is a related thread from the Ukraine which was called "Bidet as female urinal in Ukraine":
forum.susana.org/forum/categories/34-uri...le-urinal-in-ukraine

I have asked a few more questions to Klaus, the sales rep for the female urinals from Uridan:

To have a more complete picture, could you please:

1. Be slightly more precise what “some hundreds” mean – less than 1000?
2. What is the cost of one of these in India? Who distributes them in India?
3. Can you provide more photos of actual installations in India and in Norway?
4. Where in India are your urinals installed and since when?
5. What do the women do with the toilet paper? (I don't see a bin in the photo above)

As soon as I get another answer from them, I will post it here.

If anyone else has further information about female urinals (or more correctly "urinals for females"), or has perhaps seen them in India, please do put this information here.


Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear Amel,

Thank you for the interesting information on the female urinal. I wonder if there is any model of female urinal designed and installed in public places such as offices, shoppings malls, airports, etc...

Best,

André

I came across a nice report about the test phase and a user survey of female urinal in Frankfurt, Germany.
In Frankfurt the municipality installed two ladies urinals in a public toilets to research the acceptance for this kind of sanitation system. The municipality tries to find out whether ladies urinal are regarded as a desirable long-term solution for public toilets and what would be necessary design adaptations.
The urinals from “Uridan” are working without water and have a narrow edge, so that they can be used standing. The trap works with locking fluid.
Respondents of the survey mentioned as a positive aspect that the urinals may be used free of charge (like male urinals). More than half of the respondents reported that they considered the urinals to be more hygienic than the usual toilet pedestals and appreciated that the urinals save water. However, many respondents stated that it they would need some time to get used to the system as they were not used to the lack of toilet flush and the fact that the used toilet paper needs to be disposed in the garbage bin. Some respondents also said that the use of the urinals was too complicated. Nevertheless, most respondents stated that they would use the urinal again. The opinions of men who were also questioned in the survey about their opinion on the female urinal was quite similar to the opinions stated by the female respondents.



A photo of the urinals was taken by Katharina Löw, June 2011


More picture can be found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/gtzecosan/sets/72157626941977377/

A nice video about female urinal calls “pollee” – enjoy it :
nualacollins.com/pollee1d.html

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Note by moderators: This post was made by a former user with the login name Amel who is no longer a member of this discussion forum.