KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 —World Toilet Day is an official United Nation international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
For this year, the United Nation has set the theme of ‘valuing toilets’ as their focus.
Malay Mail spoke to two local industry experts to share the innovative aspects of portable toilets and the benefits of bidets.
The mechanism of a portable toilet
Portable toilets have been around since the sixth century, but polyethylene portable toilets were only officially patented in the 1960s by George Harding.
He later became the co-founder of prominent portable toilet makers company, PolyJohn Enterprise.
In Malaysia, these portable toilets are a common sight at public gatherings such as sporting events, concerts, construction sites or even elections.
Ken Chee Yuen, the founder of a local portable toilet provider called Toiloo Sdn Bhd, said that portable toilets are considered eco-friendly as they don’t need much water to operate.
A regular portable toilet would need 100 litres of water for a one-day event whereas the usual household toilet would use up to 500 litres of water daily.
Ken, who has been in the business close to 15 years now, explains that regular portable toilets will have two storage tankers designed according to strict environmental standards built-in inside the toilet.
One of the tankers is used for water storage where it can store 100 litres of clean water in it and the other one is for waste storage which can keep up to 270 litres of sewage.
These portable toilets use a foot pedal for flushing and for clean water usage which is considered more hygienic as there is less contact.
For events that run for more than one day, Ken usually prepares a septic tank truck nearby the site along with men on the grounds to make sure all the toilets are working properly and for clean-ups.
For clean-ups, these portable toilets would require a septic tank truck to pump all the waste from the sewage tank, a process also known as desludging.
After the desludging process, toilets are manually cleaned before water and chemicals are used to further kill the odour.
All of the waste collected will be sent to Indah Water’s sewage treatment plants.
Most portable toilets also have a built-in ventilation pipe to help clear the odour.
For the ventilation pipe to function, the toilet seat needs to remain closed which is why most portable toilets have an auto closing mechanism on their toilet seats.
Ken also said that most portable toilets now are made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a thermoplastic polymer made from petroleum and the surface is designed with a special pattern to prevent slipping and accidents and it is easy to clean as well.
He also explains that there are other advanced ranges of portable toilets with one of them being the cabin toilet.
Apart from more space, it can channel unlimited water if placed near a water source or tank and most cabin toilets come in with fan or air conditioning as well as a sink and mirror.
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“A toilet is a basic need for humans but many toilets in Malaysia are very bad and dirty.
“It is always easy to build a new toilet but maintaining it is hard with this Malaysian culture.
“The government should promote or push for better toilet-using-habit in order to save water and the environment, especially during this Covid-19 pandemic,” Ken said.
Toiloo Sdn Bhd has seen an increase in demand for portable toilets and their services due to the Covid-19, supplying to local hospitals as well as Covid-19 centres such as MAEPS apart from police roadblocks across the Klang Valley.
Bidet’s benefits
One of the many innovations in the toilet industry is the bidet.
According to Coway Malaysia’s head of research and development, Victor Kim, the bidet reception in Malaysia has been rising as Malaysians are becoming more self-aware and conscious about their personal hygiene and the environmental impact.
Bidets in general are deemed to be more hygienic, and offers health benefits which includes relieving discomfort caused from medical condition such as constipation where the bidet helps in relaxing the anal muscles and stimulating bowel movement.
Bidets also help with post-operative care after delivery — using a warm water bidet for cleansing improves the vaginal environment and is also better for haemorrhoid care where the bidet reduces anal resting pressure and provides relief to patients.
Kim added that bidet also reduces the risk of falling in wet toilets and it offers a convenient cleaning method for people with mobility issues such as the elderly, pregnant women and post-surgery patients.
Bidets are environmentally friendly, reducing the use of toilet paper as well as water compared to conventional cleaning methods such as using a hand-held hose.
“More than ever, we see hygiene as an integral part of our daily lives beyond just overall body cleanliness.
“Many modern innovative methods have been introduced which promote a more hygienic and efficient way of cleaning after ourselves.
“Over a lifetime, we spend about one hour 42 minutes a week or 92 days of our lives in the toilet,” Kim said.
