Ladies and Gentlemen…
Presenting to you…
Bringing you the latest scoop fresh from the Ladies’…
The badly designed Automatic Toilet Flush!
As seen in the picture above, the automatic flushing sensor is placed high above the squat toilet. When a user enters, it “detects” the person and activates some sort of timing which proceeds to flush automatically after some time, regardless whether or not the user is still present.
The system is placed too high up and is unable to determine the presence of a user who is still squatting (it is a squat toilet after all! >_<). This results in an unwelcome flush of cold water unto the unsuspecting user.
o
User reactions:
n
Feelings towards the product (actual comments in parenthesis):
- Gives more problems rather than offering convenience. ( “Wet my butt with the dirty toilet bowl water!”)
- Had to cover the sensor so that it doesn’t flush all the time. ( “Can’t even do my business in peace.”)
- Dumb design. Wastes more water instead of conserving it.
- Irritated and disgusted.
nLesson learnt from interaction:
- Only suitable for quick reliefs
- A toilet bowl convert – boycott the automatic flushing squatting toilet!
nImpression of brand:
- Not many people take note of brands of flushing systems but here are some impressions nonetheless:
- Inept research and development team. ( “Engineers of the company are lousy or the QC department is asleep!”)
- Affects the image of the place it was located in. ( “What kinda flush is this? What kinda place installs this??”)
oMy reflection:
Automatic flushing systems have been widely known for splashing unwitting users who are half way done but this one takes the cake. On hindsight (no pun intended), this poses more of a problem for those with tummyaches as they will be squatting for a longer period of time, as compared to users seeking quick relief as they would have already left before the sensor activates the flush.
The system could possibly be modified by simply shifting the flushing sensor lower in order to detect the presence of a user. Or else, the whole “automatic” system could be removed and reverted back to the manual flush. This applies also to the auto flushing systems for toilet bowls which tend to be “trigger happy” and flush at will even when you’re still seated and leaning the slightest bit forward. However, if there are hygiene concerns about the use of hands to flush manually, perhaps a flushing pedal could also be considered, which is available overseas.
However, ever since the bad experience I personally encountered quite some time ago, I was glad to note that they have since modified the flushing system to activate only when the user stands up again, which of course made more sense. However, there was the chance that the flush may fail to activate if the user moved away too quickly. So I guess there is still much room for improvement for automated flushing. (either that or Singaporeans’ toilet etiquette. ><)
