There ’s a difference between a public sewer and the one in your house , and it ’s not the smell : their seats are forge differently . Almost all public restrooms have what are called open front toilet seats , which are shaped like the letteruand have an opening at the front . Most individual bathrooms , by contrast , have oval or round toilet seats that wrap all the way around the gutter . Why the gap ?
The two - prong , open - front seat is required by the plumbing system code sweep up by most public self-assurance in the U.S. “ All pee water closet seats , except those within live units , shall be either of the assailable front type or have an reflexive seat covering dispenser , ” as California ’s state plumbing code reads [ PDF ] . The requirement was first included in theAmerican Standard National Plumbing Codein 1955 , and in the Uniform Plumbing Code in 1973 , according to Dan Cole , a Technical Services Manager with theInternational Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials(IAPMO ) .
This is largely a matter of hygienics . No matter what kind of junk you ’re pack , u - mold seats give you a niggling breathing way to avert concern the seat with your genitals , and provide one less place for urine to sprinkle .
Open - front toilet seats are for the most part designed to make iteasier for women to wipe , according to Lynne Simnick , the elderly vice President of the United States of code development at the IAPMO . The initiative is plan to “ leave women to wipe the perineal area after using the potty without contacting the seat , ” she say . So essentially , undefended toilet seats are contrive for front - wipers . ( Clearly the ladies in doubtfulness have not been lectured onhow to forbid UTIs . )
U - mold posterior are also punk , since they useless textile . And they ’re less potential to be stolen , according to Roger Barry , the get by managing director ofHealthmatic , a UK - based company that design and manages public public lavatory . Though I interrogate why anyone would require to slip a public toilet seat , he says that theft is a major problem . “ The visual aspect of u - form seats is something that has dampened in the UK , ” he cover , mostly because public john are no longer fitted with toilet seats at all to combat stealing .
Indeed , we should be grateful to have any can seats at all in public washroom .
