India’s Hosting the World Toilet Summit

by Martha Edwards on

This headline sounds like it’s a joke, but it’s actually quite serious — The World Toilet Summit has plans to convene in New Delhi later this month to discuss the john, the throne, the bog, the loo — whatever you call it, it’s where most of us do our business.

But it’s the ‘most of us’ part that’s troubling the WTS — they’d like to make toilets accessible to everyone by 2025. A lofty goal? Maybe. But it would make the world a safer place — defecating in open places is one of the biggest ways that fatal diseases are spread. And it would sure make travelling a lot more fun for westerners who are particular about where they spend a penny.

So I have to wonder — by toilets, do they mean actual sit down toilets? Or are squatties considered toilets? I’ve seen some very nice squatties in my travels, but none is as welcoming as a loo like the one at home.

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Bits of the Concorde to be Auctioned Off

by Neil Woodburn on

Were it not for the iconic bent, needle nose, the Concorde would probably have been just another airplane. Sure, it flew at supersonic speeds and featured only First Class, but it was that funky bent nose that really hammered this extraordinary plane into the public psyche.

The Concorde, however, was finally retired in 2003 and with it disappeared a little piece of aviation history.

But not entirely.

Like any vestige of history these days, nostalgia has its value. Airplane enthusiast will be happy to learn that bits and pieces of the plane are to be auctioned off to the public; air speed indicators, oxygen masks, and landing gear, are just a few of the items for sale. Gadling readers will be excited to learn that a Concorde toilet seat will see the gavel as well. Sorry, but the needle noses were already sold a few years ago.

Toilets Back On Gadling: This Time With An Arty Spin

by Brett Atkinson on

For some strange reason, posts about toilets go down well here at Gadling. (Click here and here for more than you ever need to know).

Here’s the latest but I’m going to raise the tone a little by at least introducing an arty angle.

This weekend I’ve headed north from Auckland to the Bay of Islands. In the quiet New Zealand town of Kawakawa is a unique public convenience designed by the renowned Austrian artist and architect Frederick Hundertwasser. Strongly influenced by

Greetings from Crete: 4000-Year-Old Flush Toilet No Longer Flushing

by Iva Skoch on

If you can handle waiting in line for tickets for more than an hour, you shall be rewarded: the largest and most famous Minoan palace, Knossos (just south of the city of Iraklion, on Crete) is well worth the trip. It’s a Bronze-age palace excavated only in the last century, and holds many interesting features that still tell us relatively little about the Minoan culture or lives. It does reveal one hugely important fact: they knew the value of plumbing.

It turns out that they may have the oldest flush toilet in the world, dating from between 2500 and 1500 BC. According to the tour guide, they had three plumbing systems in the castle, one to collect rain water, one to provide drinking water, and the third to eliminate the results.

And the terracotta water pipes, looking almost exactly like today’s pipes, are intact and can be seen on a visit.

It appears to scientists that they used a wooden toilet seat, even. We’re just not sure if the furry seat cover originated then, or later.

The World’s Largest Bathroom

by Justin Glow on

We really love toilets here at Gadling. Seriously, look at our previous coverage. It’s insane!

Iva found a better cleaning solution than toilet paper, Neil’s got a solution for urinating on-the-go, and I discovered that Japan’s All Nippon Airways is the first airline to install bidets in their planes. But wait, there’s more! You can find the nearest bathroom from your cell phone, read a funny story about squat toilets (and learn how to properly use one as well), learn the history of toilets from the toilet museum, and take a luxurious dump in the woods with the BioToi. Deep breath. Did you know that Silverjet has women-only toilets? It’s true. And what about the world’s most amazing bathrooms? We’ve got that too. We’ve also got Willy’s wonderful roundup of urinals with spectacular views. Speaking of urinals — what’s that fly doing in there? If you’re ever lost in China and needin’ to pee, have no fear: hire a toilet guide who will show you to a lovely outdoor urinal (be careful though — they’re running out of receipts). We’ve got the world’s best bathrooms, the world’s worst, and the world’s largest toilet that turned out to not be a toilet at all. And if you’re curious (I’m sure there’s someone out there who is), we’ve got coverage on the World Toilet Summit in Moscow. Did you know there are a lot of, um, people having sex in airport bathrooms? Is that even legal? Curious why your last flight was delayed? It may be because the air traffic controller needed to use the bathroom! And only because this has got to stop sometime (I gotta pee anyway), here’s the last one: did this woman die from a shaft of frozen urine that fell from an airplane? You decide.

With that, here’s another bit of toilet-related news to round out our coverage: It’s the world’s largest bathroom in China, spread out over four floors and 30,000 square feet.