Buying and Installing Your Own Squat Toilet
I never would have thought this would merit mention, but I keep getting mail on the topic of, "Please tell me where I can buy my own squat toilet!" And, somewhat surprisingly, if you ask Yahoo or Google to search for "squat toilet manufacturer", this page comes up as the most relevant one on all the Internet. Due to all the meta-level discussion about said topic, including that previous sentence...
Well, that's nowhere near so strange as some of the web searches that people do when they stumble across this page. Yes, I have looked at the web server logs, and yes, they do show search terms used to find this page with a search engine, and yes, there are an awful lot of really sick people out there.
| The obvious answer is, "Go to the store and buy one!" Here's a plumbing shop in Yangshuo, Guangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Or just go ask a Turkish plumbing supply company: http://www.japar.com.tr/ |
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Beyond that, in the interest of public service (and getting people off my back), here is all I know on the topic. Many thanks to Richard Pratt rhpratt@texas.net for tracking some of this down and forwarding the details. Zurn Industries makes an "Eastern Style Water Closet" that you can order and have installed by your plumber. It's pretty expensive in the U.S.
- Use this link and then scroll down to part #1290.
- Get the specification sheet
- Get the valves for it at: http://www.superiorspecialty.com/Main/Plumbing/Zurn/ManualFlushValves/AF_Products.html
- Find a plumber at: http://www.plumberforhire.com
Toiletological correspondant Natalie pointed out that Parryware, http://eparryware.com/, also carries them. Go to something like: http://www.eparryware.com/products/category.asp?t=c and look at the "Indian Pans" menu. If the above link doesn't work, go to http://eparryware.com/, click "products", then "range", and look for the "Indian Pans" menu.
As for other alternatives:
- Here's the real thing, apparently from American Standard, of all places: http://www.aecasia.com/AMERICANSTANDARD/toilet.htm
- Get an elevated squatter and build it into a floor recess (or just have an elevated squatter!) http://www.productsasia.com/AMERICANSTANDARD/TOILET/squat/tf101p.htm
- For those in the UK, here's a local source: http://www.trent-bathrooms.co.uk/trent/pages/expans.htm
- Build your own, to U.S. Army specifications. In the following document, see item P-1a (WATER CLOSET), section 3.9 (PLUMBING FIXTURE SCHEDULE), page 15400-47. It includes the fascinating requirement that "Flushing shall be in conformance with FS WW-P541 with complete visual washdown from non-splashing flushing rim." and that the "integral, skidproof foot pads" shall be elevated 13mm above the finished floor level. Apparently FS WW-P541 is a U.S. military standard for flushing. http://www.tac.usace.army.mil/contracts/spec/saudi/15400.pdf
- You can buy a portable squatting platform that fits around a toilet: http://NaturesPlatform.com "It has a five-degree slope so that you don't have to balance on the balls of your feet. It folds up in 3 seconds so other family members are not inconvenienced. It is lightweight, but still strong and stable enough to hold a 300-pound man or woman." Too bad the 5-degree slope is not included in FS WW-P541! The inventor and site's author claims, "The knowledge it presents has been described as 'the greatest medical breakthrough of all times.'" Strange, I would have thought that the discovery of microbial transmission of disease, development of immunization, discovery of penicillin, and a nearly complete elimination of smallpox and polio would have ranked a little higher.
- Finally, there's the Australian "In-Lieu" squatting platform: http://healthrewardsyou.com/goodelimination.htm
Finally, if you are like a recent correspondant who still could not figure it out even given all the above information, and apparently wanted me to come to his home and install one, I can't help you.
If you're not bored yet, you might be interested in (or at least tolerate):
