Urbaloo
The urbaloo is an outdoor public toilet, inspired by the successful Portland loo design. Like the Portland loo design the Urbaloo is designed to be easy to clean and hard to vandalize, so it can be left to operate unattended 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.[1]
Vernon, British Columbia was the first city to install an Urbaloo.[2][3] The city considered ordering a pair of Portland loo toilets, but balked at the long waiting list, and premium price. A local firm came up with an alternate design that it promised could be completed sooner, and for a lower cost.
Like the Portland loo, the new toilets are built from stainless steel, with an anti-graffiti coating.[4] Users of both toilets wash their hands with hand sanitizer, not water, although they come with a water spigot on the outside. Both toilet's walls have strategically placed slats, which allows someone outside to see whether someone is inside the stall, while still providing a measure of privacy.
Portland loos are illuminated with a blue light designed to defeat the efforts of intravenous drug users to find a vein to inject street drugs.[5] Portland loos come with a closet for maintenance personnel, equipped a power washer. The power washer's role is to make it easier for maintenance personnel to clean the facility without contaminating themselves if users were infectious.
Vernon was originally going to order two Portland loos.[6]
References
- ↑ Scott Stanfield (2020-12-10). "Courtenay council considers downtown washroom facility". BC Local News. Archived from the original on 2020-12-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20201221005322/https://www.bclocalnews.com/news/courtenay-council-considers-downtown-washroom-facility/. Retrieved 2020-12-20. "Staff note a similar washroom facility offered by Urbaloo, a B.C. company. Vernon and Nelson have both purchased this model. The Portland Loo and Urbaloo are both supplied with anti-graffiti coatings, and stainless steel interiors."
- ↑ Ben Bulmer (2019-04-17). "Vernon to spend $275K on two public washrooms downtown". Infotell (Vernon, BC). Archived from the original on 2020-03-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20200318004958/https://infotel.ca/newsitem/vernon-to-spend-275k-on-two-public-washrooms-downtown/it61447. "The plan is to spend the cash on two single-occupancy public toilets, which will be open 24 hours a day seven days a week, according to a document from City of Vernon procurement services. The stainless steel toilets are resistant to vandalism and painted with an anti-graffiti coating."
- ↑ Ben Bulmer (2019-10-13). "Much ado about a loo: Taking Vernon's new outdoor washroom for a spin". Infotel. Archived from the original on 2020-08-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20200813172710/https://infotel.ca/newsitem/much-ado-about-a-loo-taking-vernons-new-outdoor-washroom-for-a-spin/it66611. Retrieved 2020-12-20. "Its design was described as state of the art and its construction bombproof, and while Vernon's latest public amenity isn't exactly glamorous if you are caught short when you're downtown, you'll no doubt be very happy it's there."
- ↑ "State of the art loo installed in Okanagan". Penticton Western News. 2011-10-07. Archived from the original on 2020-08-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20200814224434/https://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/news/state-of-the-art-loo-installed-in-okanagan/. "The stainless steel walls have a graffiti resistant coating and there are open slats at the top and bottom, offering privacy, but still allowing police to ensure there is only one person inside at a time and to see whether or not the user is in distress."
- ↑ Evan Schreiber (2017-09-20). "Blue bathroom hue deters drug use, among other benefits". KOLD-13 (Tuczon, Arizona). Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20200809231343/https://www.kold.com/story/36407408/among-benefits-new-bus-station-bathrooms-deter-drug-use/. Retrieved 2020-12-20. "'The blue LED lights don't allow good contrast on your veins,' Portland Loo Sales Manager Evan Madden told Tucson News Now. 'It doesn't solve the problem but it doesn't make it easy.'"
- ↑ Darren Handschuh (2019-04-17). "$275,000 for two toilets". Casta net. https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/254245/-275-000-for-two-toilets. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
