In other good news, our new house has one Western toilet and one squatty potty. We have another Western toilet to have installed, just as soon as things calm down here.
-JLR
Are Our Headlights Out? (July 26, 2021)
5 years ago
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Thank God for... Toilets?
Do you take your western toilet for granted? I do. Or I did at least, before I had to be without one for weeks and weeks! It seems that squatty potties are standard for most homes in Mpanda. This was true of the Langs' new house, which had two. While we were staying there with the two oldest kiddos (Jer, Jamie, and Lily were in Nairobi-- see my last post), a fundi (think specialized repairman-- electrician, plumber, carpenter, etc.) came to install their two western toilets. What a welcomed relief! The only downside was having to use the outside squatty potty for about four days while we waited for the cement to dry thoroughly. It was worth the wait, though!
The "Squatty Potty" (aka the "before" pictures). Squatty potties are more common for many cultures around the world. Some flush, some don't, but most are shaped like this or similarly.
The "Western Toilet" (aka the "after" picture). And yes, it is a step higher than the rest of the bathroom. It is a throne and after using a squatty potty for weeks, I sure felt like royalty!! But maybe that's more than you wanted to know... :)
In other good news, our new house has one Western toilet and one squatty potty. We have another Western toilet to have installed, just as soon as things calm down here.
-JLR
In other good news, our new house has one Western toilet and one squatty potty. We have another Western toilet to have installed, just as soon as things calm down here.
-JLR
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5 comments:
Squatties are the norm too in public around here, but almost every home has Western toilets. Thankful for that! I don't mind squatties that much, but definitely prefer Western :) My mom has never visited me and is so nervous about the squatties that she says when she does she's going to catheterize herself (because she wouldn't be able to get back up even if she could squat properly, and she is just freaked out by them; and she's a nurse so she could feasibly do that -- ha!).
Anyway, glad for you that you've got at least one seat in the house that feels a little like home! :D
LOL, Amanda! I don't mind squatties as long as I'm not sick. Then it's a whole other story and yes, I need a seat in the house that feels like home! :)
So, do you really manage to flush the toilet when you're limited to 1,000L of water per week? I'm genuinely curious, because we have a squatty potty (and no running water) here, and one of the main reasons we haven't changed it is that it seems like it would use a ton of water if we had a regular western toilet. As it is, we reuse water from showers, washing clothes, etc. for flushing the toilet (we have a bucket of dirty water by the toilet with a small pitcher for pouring the water into the toilet). What do you do?
Hi Julia-- these toilets pictured (at the Langs' house) have a high-efficiency setting where they use very little water to flush. I think it has to do with the button that flushes, which is split (one side for strong flush, one side for water-conserving flush??). We weren't there long enough after these were installed to truly figure out the system. In our new house we inherited a western toilet. It is NOT very good at conserving water, so we only do a full flush throughout the day when really necessary. Otherwise we use a bucket and pitcher system too for when a smaller flush is needed in our very inefficient toilet. We will eventually change out our squatty potty for a high-efficiency toilet one like the ones pictured.
I totally get the reusing water thing. It makes a ton of sense and is a very good way to recycle water.
Hope that helps. Jeana
Squatty potties were common in Russia too...this post brought back memories of our time there!
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