When we think of toilets, high-tech and innovation aren’t really the first things that come to mind as opposed to going your number two and calling it a day. However, while our toilet exposure is heavily limited to the traditional residential toilets we find in most American homes, we’re far behind everyone else in the toilet race because we are still stuck wiping our butts with tissue paper.
Smart toilets are already catching up in the rest of the world. They are slowly becoming the norm, especially in places like Japan, where their toilets already come with self-cleaning features and can even play music to mask that horrible sound of farts and give you peace of mind. And so, today, we’ll be going over why we need to shift to smart toilets and understand the benefits that come with the mass adoption of this bathroom upgrade.
Why Should We Use Smart Toilets?
Think telephones vs. smartphones; there’s increased comfort and ease of use that comes with the jump from traditional toilets to smart toilets. And while some may think the upgrade unnecessary, smart toilets also offer much better personal hygiene and score higher in environmental friendliness.
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Environmental Impact
Traditional toilets, specifically older models that haven’t been replaced for quite some time now, use up a lot of water and account for nearly a third of a home’s indoor water consumption. And when you factor in the number of people in a household sharing this bathroom, the number drastically increases and puts us in an environmental predicament. In contrast, more recent smart toilets only take less than a gallon of water per flush, dramatically reducing the environmental impact.
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Quality Of Life Upgrade
When you opt for an older toilet, chances are you’ve already run into a couple of problems ranging from overflowing or the toilet refusing to flush down all that waste. And that’s not mentioning the extra effort that goes into maintenance and ensuring that the toilet seat is safe and clean for your bare bosom to sit on as you relax. Compared to smart toilets, they are much easier to clean, and higher-end models come equipped with UV rays to sterilize and get rid of unseen bacteria.
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Better Personal Hygiene
Most of us find it a habit to wipe ourselves with toilet paper after doing the dirty work in the bathroom, but this method of cleaning up after yourself is outdated and not the best way of ensuring good personal hygiene. Using a smart toilet, there’s a guarantee of a handheld or built-in bidet that sprays running water to give you a better clean and much more refreshing outcome. Plus, using a bidet also cuts down on the environmental impact of using toilet paper and wet wipes in the first place.
The Flaws Of Our Sewage Infrastructure
Apart from the benefits of installing and using smart toilets, the global pandemic has also surfaced many flaws of our sewage infrastructure that we could begin to solve by using more efficient toilets. And, unless we start doing something about it now, we might end up with a sewage-related epidemic even after Covid-19 vaccination programs become successful.
Sewer Systems Are Suffering From Clogging
We all know too well about the toilet paper and wet wipes stocks running dry when people used to fight over them at the start of 2020, but one unexpected outcome that none of us saw coming was these toiletries becoming an extreme burden on our sewer system. What’s worse, they are also backing up our wastewater treatment facilities with too much to process at such a crucial time.
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Excess Use Of Toilet Paper And Wet Wipes
Let’s be honest, we don’t think much about flushing our toilet paper and wet wipes down the drain after using them; out of sight and out of mind was the typical thinking process. However, with most households also doing the same, we ended up with way too much toilet paper and wet wipes that caused a heavy strain on sewer systems.
Homes Still Use Outdated Septic Systems
Nearly a fifth of homes are still using outdated septic systems, and while these tanks aren’t the worst problems when maintained properly, you do end up with too much extra effort for not a lot of comfort in return. Plus, all that sludge you store is also quite a health hazard in itself, and because you can’t use professional sewer-cleaning services because septic tanks aren’t attached to the sewer line, you’re in for a lot of trouble if you don’t know a professional.
A Must-Have Toilet Paradigm Shift
While smart toilets won’t solve every problem on our to-do list, it does put us on the right track to overhauling our sewer infrastructure. And what better place to start than the toilet, something we see and use every day and will undoubtedly change our perception on how they can help our environmental impact on the world.
