 "Photo: Courtesy")
 "Photo: Courtesy")
A toilet-shaped house in Suwon, South Korea; the world’s largest public restroom in Chongqing, China, with more than 1,000 toilets spread over 32,000 square feet; and the Toilet Seat Art Museum in Alamo Heights are a few of the diverse and sometimes humorous toilet-related items presented by engineering Coordinator Dan Dimitriu in a presentation to his students every year for World Toilet Day, Nov. 19.
The presentation even includes pictures of toilets on the International Space Station. The two toilets on the station, thanks to the unique requirement of having to operate in zero gravity, cost $19 million each, according to space.com.
Dimitriu shows the presentation as a lighthearted way to make his students realize the connection between engineering and toilets, as well as to highlight the world sanitation issue.
“I raise awareness,” Dimitriu said. “It’s fun also. Just think about it: We go to the bathroom every day, several times a day, and we don’t think about it.
“That’s one of the fantastic engineering marvels that really was made possible by engineers,” he continued. “It’s still developing with all kind of new inventions and ideas.”
World Toilet Day is “to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness for the 2.5 billion people (more than a third of the world population) who don’t have access to toilets and proper sanitation,” the day’s Web site reads.
Basic sanitation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is described as “having access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste as well as having the ability to maintain hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage collection, industrial/hazardous waste management, and wastewater treatment and disposal.”
Improper disposal of human waste can lead to water-borne diseases. The CDC states 88 percent of diarrhea cases worldwide “are linked to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.” Other water-borne diseases can cause malnutrition, skin infections and organ damage. In 2007, diarrheal diseases because of improper sanitation were responsible for more than 425,000 outpatient deaths in Ghana, according to Ghana’s newspaper, The Statesman, ranking it as the fifth most common cause of death in that country. Intestinal worms, another by-product of poor sanitation, ranked eighth. Upper respiratory infections — 50 percent more common in areas with inadequate sanitation — ranked second only to malaria.
By comparison, of the top 15 causes of death in the U.S. in 2006 listed by the CDC, there is no mention of diarrheal diseases. The top cause of death, heart disease, claimed 631,636. The fifth, accidents and unintentional injuries, 121,599.
Pakistan’s The News International reported Oct. 28 that 630 children die each day from water-borne illnesses. It added that of the 1.8 million people who die from diarrheal diseases annually around the globe, 90 percent are children under age 5.
According to the U.N. Human Development Report 2006, “The transition from unimproved to improved sanitation is accompanied by a more than 30 percent reduction in child mortality.” Improved sanitation is defined by the World Health Organization as “a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact,” such as a flush toilet instead of an outhouse.
World Toilet Day events are in 17 countries, such as India, Libya, Zimbabwe and Cameroon, and three U.S. cities, Seattle, Milwaukee and Portland, Ore. Events include seminars on proper sanitation as well as participation in “The Big Squat.” Participants squat for one minute to acknowledge the need for proper sanitation worldwide.
Since 2002, Cintas Facility Services has awarded the America’s Best Restroom award. Any restroom in the United States is eligible, and the public determines nominations. The winner for 2009 was the sumptious Shoji Tabuchi Theater in Branson, Mo..
Find more information on World Toilet Day and America’s Best Restrooms, visit the organizations' Web sites.
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