Cats lick their own arses on a daily basis. A little toilet water is not likely to be any worse than that, and frankly anything that encourages them to hydrate is a net positive.
C’mon: isn’t it really that people care ever since Mythbusters did the test and found ecoli all over toothbrushes?
I won’t say I worry about it, but I have thought about it. Will also say that I don’t believe that all toilets aerosolize equally… Iike public restroom ones often seem like you could flush a cow down them and particularly without a lid, definitely seems you’re in ‘say it, don’t spray it’ territory… Would be interesting to see toilets RATED for their aerosolizability – kind of the way kitchen and bathrooms are rated for volume by sones? I gotta believe a not small subset of people would be drawn to that. Maybe a “(Mr.) Hankey” or a “dookey” rating? “Why yes, Mr. Smith, this fine Toto toilet comes in at a mere 30 Hankeys per flush!”
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https://sswm.info/water-nutrient-cycle/water-use/hardwares/toilet-systems/vacuum-toilet
Buy a vacuum toilet.
Then you only have to worry about a prolapse.
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Yeah, it’s an auto-siphon. When the water in the tank is released, the water level in the bowl becomes higher than the p-shaped bend in the back, which pushes the bowl water down the pipes which then pulls the tank water down while the remaining flow rinses the bowl. Brilliant design, really. Any break or blockage in the ability for water or air to flow would break the siphon.
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We use this toilet spray, it’s basically essential oils you’re supposed to use before a movement. Stays floating on the water to trap everything else below the surface. Wonder if it makes a difference retaining other, uh, particles.
Sure does smell nice, or at least it used to… now I associate the smell with dropping a deuce so it’s once again gross.
True, but what entered my mouth initially may have entered with a small amount, then thrived in my gut and multiplied, and the toilet effluence may contain higher concentrations.
Also, entering through my mouth will have a different effect than getting directly into my eye/nose/lungs.
Also, what is in my gut now may not be what is in there today due to mutations.
Also, different people have different microbiomes, what is no issue for you may make me sick.
I would still contend that not washing your hands after cleaning yourself after a bowel movement is a bigger issue in spreading disease than toilet effluence, but I don’t think it is a harmless as you’re making it out to be.
In the end, I’d like to see it quantified and know the actual risk.
The only reasonable solution is to build your bathroom as a giant autoclave and fire it up after every use.
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There were public toilets that did just that. Unfortunately, as they were freestanding structures, they soon were used for other purposes and most, if not all, of them are gone.
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You’re right, of course, what was I thinking? Peak capitalism: single use bathrooms
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Nice try, “science.” We suspect you’re in the pocket of Big Hygiene Hypothesis. Just try 'n deny it!
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All that’s going to happen there is that your toilet flushes will aerosolize whatever’s in the toilet water along with the “essential oils”, which won’t be trapping anything below the surface.
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The fuzzy thinking here is amazing. You’re talking about bacteria that are very common in the environment. They may like living in your gut but they live in lots of other places too. So you’ve always been getting them in your eyes and nose and lungs and mouth. They mutate everywhere, not just in your gut. They’re not as hazardous as you’re making them out to be, nor can the risk be cleanly quantified in the way you’d like. We live as a part of nature, not separate from it, and that includes a complex relationship with bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms that is sometimes dangerous and sometimes beneficial to us.
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That’s exactly why I step out back sometimes for a yummy dirt snack.
Well, sometimes clay. Clay eaters, they called some of my ancestors.
/kidding, mostly
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And, then again, there’s faecal matter transplantation. (Highly successful treatment for c.difficile, and possibly other intestinal problems.) So sometimes it can make you better, too. (Not that I am suggesting, for a moment, that aerosolised bacteria is a good way to go about this!)
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“And if you act now, we’ll include the bamboo steamer for cooking vegetables and seafood. Call before midnight tonight. Act now!”
Can we stop sugar coating by saying “Aerosilized Horrors” and just refer to them as Republicans?
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I involuntarily winced when I read this.
Instead of complicating modern plumbing, we can take a step back instead. Outhouse pit, with added negative pressure ventilation. Suck air in the room down through the bowl and out through an exhaust vent. Put the aerosol in a specific location away from people.
Going to be an issue for bathrooms not on ground floor. Always tradeoffs.
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I think it is not entirely unreasonable to assume that Republicans would be less of a problem if they were aerosolized.
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