14 gallons a flush!

Coming to Madison Square Park: Relief at a Quarter a Flush

Excerpt:

Generations of New Yorkers have mastered the act of nonchalantly slinking through restaurants and hotel lobbies where they have no business in search of a toilet. But the furtive quest for relief in public may become a fading art starting this summer, now that the city has settled on a site for the first of 20 long-awaited pay toilets.

After decades of fits and starts, the city will begin a two-year rollout of 25-cents-a-flush public toilets with the first being installed in Madison Square Park in June, said Kerry Gould, who is overseeing the project for the city’s Department of Transportation.

The department hopes to have nine more pay toilets in use by the end of the year, with the second probably going to the Bronx, Ms. Gould said.



Greetings, Earthlings. Your New Restroom Is Ready

Excerpt:

When the green light marked “vacant” is lit, 25 cents — coins only, no bills — starts the visit.

What follows is possibly the longest and most awkward 20 to 30 seconds of a person’s day. The door slips open like an elevator, but then it stays open, to accommodate those who need extra time getting in. Meanwhile, men and women in suits walk past. It is very difficult to look inconspicuous in a bathroom on a sidewalk in New York with the door open. There is just nothing to do but stand there. And the delay will not please those who are in distress.

A Toilet That Uses 14 Gallons? ‘Oh Gosh!’

Excerpt:

Some City Room readers were understandably perplexed by the 14 gallons of water consumed by each use of the spiffy new pay toilet at Madison Square Park. So we will break it down for you, according to what Cemusa, the Spanish advertising conglomerate that runs the toilets, told us:

1. Toilet flush: 1.29 gallons
   
2. Basin auto-cleaning: 1.2 gallons
   
3. Toilet auto-cleaning: 3.85 gallons
   
4. Floor auto-cleaning 7.71 gallons
   

Total (not including any hand-washing) is 14 gallons give or take.



Comment: Sounds like a nice idea until one considers the waste of water! Don't tarry ... after 15 minutes the door opens ready or not!