27 September 2011

New public bogs in the bus interchange

| johnboy
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exeloo titan

It was something like 12 years ago that, with Chief Ministerial fanfare as only Kate Carnell could do it, Exeloo automated toilets were installed around town.

And then the maintenance didn’t really keep up, and they got kind of disgusting and stayed that way for a long time.

Today Territory And Municipal Services have announced “Exeloo Titan” toilets have replaced the earlier disasters in the bus interchange (as pictured):

“The new “Exeloo Titan? model features automated toilet flushing, hand washing and
drying facilities as well as “touch free? buttons for improved hygiene for the public,” said Jane Carder, Manager of the Place Management Unit within Territory and Municipal Services.

“The new models replace two ageing toilet blocks near the intersection of Mort/Bunda Street and Mort/Alinga Street which required replacement following ongoing incidents of vandalism.”

Ms Carder said one of the toilets was already open for use with construction of the second toilet to be completed in the coming weeks.

“Approximately $750,000 was allocated in the 2010/11 budget for toilet upgrades with these toilets forming part of this program.

“Currently, maintenance and cleaning of public toilets in the City costs approximately $100,000 per year. Staff monitor and clean public toilets in the City up to six times per day and respond to requests made via Canberra Connect where members of the public find toilets in an unclean condition.

“It is expected the state-of-the-art self-cleaning facilities with an automatic floor washing and drying system will provide potential savings in cleaning and maintenance costs along with a safer and cleaner environment for users.

Reminiscent of what they said last time around?

plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

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that’s be Mort and Bunda, Mort and Alinga hasn’t had a fence all day as far as I can tell, and I’m looking at it right now.

Gungahlin Al3:02 pm 28 Sep 11

It was all fenced off again this morning…

actually I used the one at Lennox Gardens last Wednesday. It looked and smelt as I said. Gross. There was no chemical smell – just stale pi$$

Stevian said :

So why do the ones in Canberra smell like third world toilets?

because people treat them like s***? we get vandals who break/pull everything off the wall/block any pipes?

Watson said :

carnardly said :

and they will smell as look as gross as every other public loo in town in about 2 weeks….

Have you ever used a self-cleaning toilet? They always smell like fresh chemicals, even after years of use. Believe me, I’ve used toilets like that in European cities and it was always the only clean toilet around for miles.

But I only ever use them as a very last resort because of the automatic door issue…

So why do the ones in Canberra smell like third world toilets?

Another use for “solar bee”

It’s nice of the gubmint to provide some nice clean graffiti walls for bogans to vandalise.

Re the door thing, is there a countdown timer of some sort so that the occupant knows how long they’ve got before the door opens?

Watson said :

carnardly said :

and they will smell as look as gross as every other public loo in town in about 2 weeks….

Have you ever used a self-cleaning toilet? They always smell like fresh chemicals, even after years of use. Believe me, I’ve used toilets like that in European cities and it was always the only clean toilet around for miles.

But I only ever use them as a very last resort because of the automatic door issue…

I used pay public toilets a few times in Europe. Initially I resisted, but when I finally had to use one one day, I never looked back. They were awesome!

carnardly said :

and they will smell as look as gross as every other public loo in town in about 2 weeks….

Have you ever used a self-cleaning toilet? They always smell like fresh chemicals, even after years of use. Believe me, I’ve used toilets like that in European cities and it was always the only clean toilet around for miles.

But I only ever use them as a very last resort because of the automatic door issue…

2.0 said :

Watson said :

Those self-cleaning toilets scare me. They had them in the city I grew up in and the rumour was that if you stayed in the toilet too long, it would start cleaning automatically and the strong chemicals would burn your skin. lol

But my biggest fear about them must be the doors opening while I’m still sitting on the loo. Touch-free doors may be hygienic, but there is no way I would trust them in that situation!

My biggest fear about them is all the junkies that will use it as a shooting gallery again, leaving their needles, baggies and filth all over the floor.

The quickest defilement of one occurred at the corner of Bunda and Petrie sts, this was the original installation in the early 90’s and junkies and gays claimed that within 2 weeks…Every time you entered there was always the constant danger of getting pricked.

carnardly said :

and they will smell as look as gross as every other public loo in town in about 2 weeks….

Makes you wonder why people can’t just use the toilet, flush, wash their hands and leave…

My biggest fear with these toilets is that a ‘friend’ will grow a large firework in through the small vents, and I will be unable to open the door quickly, and will be deaf for several hours…..

Little_Green_Bag said :

These toilets were developed in NZ with the sole intention of stopping men having sex in them. They were sold to councils and governments across Aust & NZ with the promise they were “gay proof”. If the doors stay shut longer than ten minutes they spring open and a loud alarm sounds.

They are very expensive to operate with all that electrical consumption and very high maintenance. The filthy and broken-down state of the original Exceloos in Canberra bears testimony as to what happens if maintenance slips.

Sadly it seems that the ACT government hasn’t learned its lesson and are intent on repeating their mistakes.

How is a ten minute door shut limit going to stop gay gentlemen from having sex in them? I don’t speak with experience on gay matters of any kind but I know for a fact that me and the missus can fast track things down to 5 minutes so to speak IF the need arises (TMI? Well you don’t know me so it’s okay!), I am presuming the that a gay couple could accomplish the same.

Watson said :

Those self-cleaning toilets scare me. They had them in the city I grew up in and the rumour was that if you stayed in the toilet too long, it would start cleaning automatically and the strong chemicals would burn your skin. lol

But my biggest fear about them must be the doors opening while I’m still sitting on the loo. Touch-free doors may be hygienic, but there is no way I would trust them in that situation!

My biggest fear about them is all the junkies that will use it as a shooting gallery again, leaving their needles, baggies and filth all over the floor.

and they will smell as look as gross as every other public loo in town in about 2 weeks….

Little_Green_Bag3:30 pm 27 Sep 11

These toilets were developed in NZ with the sole intention of stopping men having sex in them. They were sold to councils and governments across Aust & NZ with the promise they were “gay proof”. If the doors stay shut longer than ten minutes they spring open and a loud alarm sounds.

They are very expensive to operate with all that electrical consumption and very high maintenance. The filthy and broken-down state of the original Exceloos in Canberra bears testimony as to what happens if maintenance slips.

Sadly it seems that the ACT government hasn’t learned its lesson and are intent on repeating their mistakes.

Those self-cleaning toilets scare me. They had them in the city I grew up in and the rumour was that if you stayed in the toilet too long, it would start cleaning automatically and the strong chemicals would burn your skin. lol

But my biggest fear about them must be the doors opening while I’m still sitting on the loo. Touch-free doors may be hygienic, but there is no way I would trust them in that situation!

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