Toilet

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A toilet with a colourful toilet seat
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A toilet with a colourful toilet seat
A toilet on an aeroplane
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A toilet on an aeroplane

A toilet is where most people excrete bodily waste (Urine and feces) into water where it will then be flushed into a sewage system.


[edit] Toilets in private residences

In the developed world almost all buildings have at least one toilet. In the home, a toilet may or may not be in the same room as a shower, bathtub, and/or wash basin. Some toilets are still outside. [edit]


[edit] Public toilets

A public toilet may or may not cost money to use; for those that do, see pay toilet. Between the categories of outright free and outright pay toilets there is a grey area of toilets where a fee is expected, but not enforced.

Public facilities often have many toilets partitioned by stalls (US) or cubicles (UK), with the washing facilities in a separate area where other people of the same sex are present. The washing area may be common to both sexes. Facilities for men often also have separate urinals, either wall-mounted fixtures designed for a single user, or a constantly-draining basin or trough for collective use. Wall-mounted urinals are sometimes separated by small partitions or other obstructions for privacy, i.e., to keep the user's genitals hidden from public view.

Outdoor public toilets (in the street, around parks, etc.) are a form of street furniture. For mixed sex arrangements, there are cubicles varying from simple devices with little or no plumbing to more luxurious versions that automatically clean themselves after every use. Facilities without walls all around are typically for urination only, and for men only; although passers-by can see the urinating men from the back, they cannot see the genitals.

Some facilities are mobile and can thus be put in place where and when needed, e.g., for a weekend at an entertainment venue. Additionally, some can be sunk into the ground (and thereby made inoperable) for the periods that they are less needed. The idea behind this is that some people do not like the sight of a public toilet in the street, and they are more easily hidden than repeatedly moved. This type is typically installed in entertainment areas and made operational during weekend evenings and nights. Even people who are too shy to use it at daytime, tend to overcome that shyness after drinking some alcohol.

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