Sanisette

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A Sanisette on a street near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris

Sanisette /sanizɛt/ is a registered trademark for a self-contained, self-cleaning, unisex, public toilet pioneered by the French company JC Decaux. These toilets (and other similar toilets) are a common sight in several major cities of the world, but they are perhaps most closely associated with the city of Paris, France, where they are ubiquitous.

1 Description
2 Advantages and disadvantages
3 Sanisettes in Paris
4 References

[edit] Description

The sanisette contains a toilet hidden behind a door that opens when a button is pressed or, in the case of a pay toilet, a coin inserted into a control panel on the outside of the toilet. A washbasin is provided as well (the style varies with the model of sanisette). When a user enters the toilet, the door closes to provide privacy. After the user has finished using the toilet, he or she exits and the door closes again. A wash cycle then begins inside the toilet, and the toilet fixture itself is scrubbed and disinfected automatically. After about sixty seconds, the toilet is again ready for use.

Special models exist for disabled users. Some sanisettes are designed to mount flush within a wall (sometimes seen in Paris subway stations), or within decorate outdoor Morris columns. Most sanisettes include indicators of their availability: ready, occupied, or out of service. Sanisettes can be configured to require coins or to operate for free at the push of a button.

Sanisettes are usually configured to open the door after a preset period (typically 15 minutes) to discourage vagrants. The door cannot be opened from the outside unless the sanisette is available and a coin is inserted (or the appropriate button is pushed). A handle on the inside of the sanisette door allows it to be opened from the inside at any time.

[edit] Advantages and disadvantages

Sanisettes have several advantages over the unattended outdoor facilities, such as street urinals, that they often replace (particularly in Paris). Their unisex design allows them to be used by both men and women, for both urination and defecation. Their self-cleaning mechanism keeps them hygienic and helps eliminate unpleasant odors. Some models even provide for recorded music to soothe the user. The closing (and locking) door provides greater privacy than many older facilities.

Sanisettes also have disadvantages. They detect the presence of a user by his or her weight on the floor of the toilet compartment. When the user leaves and the door closes, the absence of weight triggers the cleaning cycle. Because small children may be too light to activate the weight sensor, they must be accompanied by an adult when using the sanisette. There are (unverified) reports of small children (under 10 years of age or so) being injured when a cleaning cycle began while they were still in the toilet, and sanisettes carry a warning that young children must not be allowed to use the toilet alone.

Sanisettes require regular maintenance in order to maintain their cleanliness, and they are subject to vandalism and misuse, which can prevent them from functioning properly.

Ordinary sanisettes are too small to be used by users in a wheelchair, and so special wheelchair-friendly sanisettes have been designed (usually with a separate card-access system that allows them to be used only by disabled persons). In some cities, such as New York City, conflicts with special-interest groups representing wheelchair users have prevented sanisette projects from being implemented. Sanisettes for persons in wheelchairs remain available in Paris, however.

In some areas, sanisettes are used to provide privacy for illicit activities such as drug dealing, drug abuse, and prostitution. Some city governments have objected to the installation of sanisettes for this reason.

[edit] Sanisettes in Paris

The City of Paris rents sanisettes from a subcontractor for about 1200 euro per month. There are some 420 sanisettes in the city, and they are used about three million times a year. The city pays some six million euro per year to the JC Decaux company to operate and maintain the sanisettes.

Originally all sanisettes in Paris were pay toilets, priced at 40 cent per use (in 2002). In 2003, a dozen or so sanisettes were converted to free operation, particularly near areas where homeless people congregate. In 2004, the same conversion was carried out on the 110 sanisettes in the city's parks and gardens. Finally, the city of Paris decided to convert all its sanisettes to free operation beginning in mid-February of 2006 (the complete conversion will be finished by 2014).

Sanisettes have replaced vespasiennes (street urinals), of which there were more than 1200 in Paris back in the 1930s. The only surviving vespasienne in Paris is on the boulevard Arago.