Shutting down public toilets.

[Shallwedancetomojito]

Is there really any need for this?

Councils in the UK are shutting down public toilets, shops and dept stores and cafes are going to be closing there's too, even cinemas.

I usually need the toilet as soon as I leave the house.

What about mothers with young children or people with Ibs, just for starters?

I have IBS and spend my whole time "toilet mapping". This essentially prevents me from leaving my home...

The public toilets in our small village are paid for by the people who live in the village. We think of it as a kind reciprocal arrangement...we'll be able to use toilets in other places. They are definitely not paid for by some mythical well-off "Council".

Sorry.. posted too soon..not 'just' for a wee..

People have to toilet somewhere. Councils can't have it both ways. Either they open facilities or accept the health hazard of public urinating and defacating.

I'd rather see toilets open where the health risk is managable and there is access to hand washing.

I'm not saying it is right or wrong @Shallwedancetomojito just saying why I believe they are shut at the moment.

They will have to reopen them otherwise the place will end up disgusting. They have forgotten why they ever provided public toilets in the first place - it was to stop people defaecating and urinating in the street and causing a public health hazard. Well that basic reason has not changed.

I expect shops and cafes will have toilets, when they do open. Some councils may take the opportunity to make a bit of a saving (and who can blame them)

What about on trains, train stations and service stations, are they aiming to close them too?

Baby/disabled changing rooms, people with incontinence issues, pregnant women, toddlers, elderly... Will all be expected to stay home. It's abuse and discrimination.

It’s really bad. I live next to one of the Royal Parks in London (so a big park that people will travel to for a day out rather than people using it who just live nearby and can go home when they need the loo). Since the restrictions were eased there’s more big groups of people out for picnics etc and as no toilets open everyone is just going to the loo in the park. We saw human excrement in the grass the other day whilst walking our dog...It’s really gross. I get that there are things to consider with the loos being open but given that there is running water and people can wash their hands before after touching any shared surfaces (doors etc) it should minimise any risks, surely? It’s a turnstile exit loo too so they could just keep it open meaning that after washing hands there’s no need for people to touch anything else.

First it was people stealing hand sanitizer from hospitals, now it will be incontinence pants 🥴

I think it’s considered too difficult for some places to feel they can be safely open. It’s hard to social distance, advice for a normal person’s house is that if a visitor has to use the bathroom to thoroughly clean it afterwards and that’s not practical for public toilets. So if they can’t stay clean enough, there is a concern because they are indoor so that adds to the transmission risk, and people cannot socially distance, then closing them is probably considered safer (and maybe what’s currently instructed by their insurance companies).

I have seen some places put in portaloos and outdoor toilets like you get at festivals, so hopefully more will open over time. I’ve got to admit that I’ll be doing all I can to avoid them for the foreseeable future regardless.

I’ve heard that sales of shewees have increased by 700% during lockdown

The toilets are open at the beach, they have provided alcohol wipes to wipe the door knob and your hands on the way out.

Think we might have to order one of those festival lady funnels, to do it gracefully in a bush, like the lucky men!

I pissed myself yesterday in the supermarket car park. It's humiliating. My pelvic floor is shot.

The underlying problem seems to be that after every use the toilet should be cleaned properly and all surfaces cleaned down with bleach and so on. That would involve giving someone a job! I don't know why we cannot get used to the continental system where either you pay for a ticket [service areas] or there is an attendant with a baited saucer with 50c. The ones that I have been in have always been spotless. The German stations have a brand "Mr Clean" and they are!

@Shallwedancetomojito

This isn't going to be forever. Things are obviously going to be weird for a while, but all toilets in all public places will not be closed forever.

I've felt a bit restricted by this through lockdown, particularly since there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which toilets are open. Our local council got rid of all public toilets in favour of paying businesses to let the public use theirs - which obviously doesn't work if the businesses themselves are shut. There are loos in the local swimming pool and library which are also obviously shut.
So thank God for some shops. Most Waitroses seem to have a toilet, though not one of my closest as it's attached to John Lewis and the loo is in there. Many larger Sainsburys have toilets. I went into Wilko's a few weeks ago and an announcement seemed to be boasting that they'd shut theirs "for your safety". Well, gee, thanks. As someone said above, I'll manage my risk of Covid rather than wetting myself.
I've been cycling all over the place as exercise, and return to some places partly because there are toilets I know will be open. Walton on Thames is a gem. Hammersmith station has loos well hidden behind Tesco, but they cost 50p. I could go on...

I volunteer for the parish council. We’ve closed our loos because we don’t want the liability of operating them. If we open the loos we have to pay for regular deep cleaning, we have to pay for social distancing signage and floor markings for queuing, we don’t have auto door openers or taps and can’t afford to install them, and we could potentially be liable if our failure results in someone being ill or dying. So the loos remain closed. Ditto the play parks - we’ve removed the swings because we don’t want the liability.

This is definitely an issue that's affects women more than men

Since the menopause, I've had urge incontinence... If I need to go, I NEED TO Go!!

I just wouldn't go places without loo's being open

Town centres are opening more shops this coming Monday so surely loos will open too

In my town ours are in M&S, library ( closed ) , Debenhams ( closed since Christmas ) , and then coffee shops and Wetherspoons you can sneak in for a week without anyone noticing

If loos aren't ooen anywhere people don't shop, all the above loos are closed

Wee not week

Perhaps the risk outweighs the benefits? You can’t trust the public to merely use the toilet, wash their hands and leave.

I went to a station toilet the other day; someone showered piss ALL over the seat. It was a women’s cubicle so guessing they stood to “avoid covid” from the seat. There were no other cubicles.

I’d imagine too that people have coughing/sneezing fits within public bathrooms without masks on, so think of all the airbourne particles. I’ve even seen people brushing their teeth (!!) in public bathrooms.

Also if there are people coughing on others in public, I wouldn’t put it past them to purposely attempt to contaminate public areas. There’s also drug users or people having sex within public toilets etc.

So in the midst of this pandemic, public toilets are only safe if every single surface was decontaminated between each visitor. In reality this isn’t possible, cleaning staff would have to man the toilets during their hours of operation and toilets would also be out of commission between uses. If companies don’t have the resources to offer this I don’t blame them for keeping them closed until further guidance is published.

inews.co.uk/news/coronavirus-covid-19-public-toilets-lockdown-lifted-crohns-asda-2875080

A man with Crohns was told he couldnt use the toilets in Asda.

And Natasha Preskey writes for the i newspaper about the issues with meeting outside with no loos available (readable screenshot of the article in tweet)

twitter.com/NatashaPreskey/status/1268846776158760960?s=20

inews.co.uk/news/coronavirus-covid-19-public-toilets-lockdown-lifted-crohns-asda-433318

twitter.com/NatashaPreskey/status/1268846776158760960?s=20

I spoke to the council today about toilet reopening. I was told that now they’ve been shut for 10 weeks, there’s a risk from Legionnaires disease too, so all toilets needed to be inspected and thoroughly cleaned, with pipes being flushed through.
It’s not as simple as just unlocking the doors