Essay:

“PUBLIC TOILETS AS A SOCIAL

INFRASTRUCTURE”

Submitted by:
Niño Sacuevo (BS ARCH 1-A)

Submitted to:
Ar. Rosa Lea Ajesta
Instructor
 Public Toilets as a Social Infrastructure

We usually went to public places like malls, plazas, markets, schools and etc.
for the purpose of social activities, recreation, and filling our everyday needs. Such
this locations where community comes alive, where bonds among neighborhoods
are strengthened, and where a sense of belongings are fostered. Public places
involve a lot of infrastructure within it that has a great impact in its efficiency and in
achieving its purpose to human needs. One of those which are very essential is the
public toilets.

Public toilets provide facilities for the public to urinate, defecate, clean
themselves, groom and to other bodily needs in a secure, private, and clean
environment and should be functional at all times during normal hours of
operations. Hence they are considered as one of the social infrastructures as it
covers a range of services and facilities that improves the standard of living and
quality of life in a community. This infrastructure is built in communities to solve
issues of open defecation and prevent diseases. They are vital component in
creating sustainable, accessible and inclusive public places. As such they must be
given attention and continuous care to maintain its functions to humans. But
throughout time we often take it for granted and was not given importance. In fact
public toilets nowadays serve only its function for how many years or sometimes
just months after its construction. As a result we suffered from its consequences
and faced a lot of issues about it.

According to blogs.worldbank.org the major challenges that need to be

overcome is the bad hygiene, lack of cleaning maintenance and inadequate toilet
facilities like shortage of water supply, toilet papers and cleaning supplies which
resulted to the unsanitary toilets and stinking smell around it. Through this we are
more prone to many diseases like typhoid, cholera, anthrax, parasitic worm infection
and other health problems.

Vandalism within the toilets walls and anti-social behaviours are also issues in
public toilets giving it a bad image. Vandalism renders a facility unusable by the
public and inconveniencing the public.
 Another problem that we also faced when using public toilets is nowhere to
put our purse/belongings which will distress us and sometimes will force us to put
our things on the floor even if it’s wet and unclean.

Provision on privacy within public toilets is also a big concern. Many men and
women experience social anxiety or ‘shy-bladder syndrome’ due to lack of sound
privacy, lack of visual privacy, or inadequate locks. Men experience discomfort when
urinals are placed too closely together, or if they have to stand next to another man,
with no modesty screens ‘‘Spectrum Interiors (3rd November 2016)’’.

On the other hand, current innovations in public toilet design may not be
suitable for an ageing population. Research has found that older people perceive
self-cleaning toilets as unfamiliar and difficult to use, therefore people awareness
must be widen on how to utilize those new facilities before using it. Many other
people may also avoid self-cleaning public toilets. The reason include fears of being
locked in, the doors opening or water squirting before the user is ready, wet
surfaces, or being unable to see who might be waiting outside.

These issues’ regarding public toilets shows that we lack awareness and
discipline among ourselves. We do not give importance to the facilities and proper
maintenance which resulted to inefficient and insufficient public toilets. In fact,
according to World Toilet Organization poor toilet condition is a worldwide problem,
more than half of the world’s population has no proper sanitation and mostly toilets
are designed incorrectly.

In order to solve this issues we must be aware of our responsibilities as a

user, we must always remember that this infrastructure was not only built just for
our own good, instead it’s for the benefit of everyone. We should learn to discipline
ourselves by changing our wrong doings to a better one which could help maintain
the cleanliness of every public toilet that we are using in order to preserve its
function and to avoid acquiring diseases.

Altering the public toilet design to a sustainable one which provides solutions
for safety, privacy, durability, quality materials and ease of maintenance is also a big
help in coping up this issues.

I know that each one of us has a right to utilize public toilets but we must
assure that we keep it clean and consider other peoples comfort. Because this public
toilets are one of the backbones of our community as it plays a vital role to the
success of everyone and our society.