The pandemic period, when bars and restaurants were closed, reminded us of the importance of public toilets. The stakes are not lacking, between cleanliness, vandalism, economic and ecological aspects. The magazine 15 Minutes made the rounds of small corners.
Some people prefer to avoid them, for others they are sometimes life-saving: public toilets do not leave you indifferent. For public authorities, it is a definite investment. In Lausanne, for example, maintenance costs more than 600,000 francs per year.
Municipal strategies differ. Recently, the Vaudois capital invested around six and a half million to renovate twenty-seven toilets and create two new ones. Some are now self-cleaning, a way to improve hygiene.
They are also equipped with different devices: “Friendly toilets are the image of a city”, says Gaëtan Macheret, boss of the company MTX who designed the new equipment in Lausanne. “The bin has a hatch to prevent it from being set on fire and we use anti-theft screw systems to prevent any act of vandalism in the WC”.
Other localities, such as Bienne, seek instead to reduce the number of public toilets. To complete the offer, this city has opted for partnerships with cafes and restaurants: against a compensation of one thousand francs per year, the establishments open their toilets to the public.
“Before this concept of welcoming toilets, we were talking about 300,000 francs annually for maintenance, handling and operation,” notes Yanick Jolliet, architect for the city of Biel, in charge of the file. “We were able to reduce it by almost half”. In several localities contacted by 15 Minutes, the trend is rather towards a drop in the number of public toilets per person.
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Ecological challenge
Beyond the economic question, the ecological issue is currently being raised strongly. “Each flush to send our needs to the sewage treatment plant uses five to ten liters of water: that’s about forty to fifty liters per person per day,” says environmental engineer Bastian Etter, director of Vuna sàrl. He has spent ten years researching the issue of toilets; among the avenues mentioned, reuse water, once filtered, or do without, with dry toilets.
But for him, the latrines of tomorrow will also sort at the source: urine can thus be used as fertilizer. This already exists in Dübendorf, near Zurich, on the site of the Federal Institute of Water Science and Technology (Eawag). In a dedicated room, a tank of three hundred liters of urine: “In there, there are bacteria which transform nitrogen. Others absorb drugs”, specifies the researcher. When the lid is lifted, almost no smell: “It shows that our bacteria are working”.
Bastian Etter shows a half-liter bottle filled with a dark liquid: stabilized, filtered and concentrated urine. The product, obtained with ten liters of human urine, is authorized by the Federal Office of Agriculture for all crops, as fertilizer: “It’s liquid gold!”
Toilet revolution?
The researcher believes that because it is a taboo subject, little is said about it: “It’s just a need, so we install toilets because we need them; but we don’t think much about how to improve them” .
However, he believes that the approach is changing: “I am convinced that we can speak of a revolution: the concept of toilets has changed little since the 19th century, but in recent years there have been more and more ideas, research groups, companies that are working on this,” he rejoices.
Different localities are attracted by these solutions: Zurich is already carrying out tests with this local fertilizer. EPFL, as well as housing cooperatives in Geneva, have already planned to install this sorting system at source.
Abroad, Paris is also interested in it: this innovative technique could even contribute to cleaning up the Seine. The French capital has set itself a goal: to be able to swim in the river during the 2024 Olympics.
Radio reportage: Katia Bitsch & Guillaume Rey
Web article: Stephanie Jaquet