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New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

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Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#91

Post by leipert »

lokl wrote: post #80
leipert wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a former flat I had a plumber over, we got to chat a bit. He said that in they often get called to subsidized housing, as the amount of water used in toilets there is often set to a low setting in order to save money. He was a bit more colorful, but in essence he said: With two liters of water you are not going to move 1kg feces far enough down the pipe, so it starts piling up. That's the reason why they get calle…

If you're only using the toilet twice per day, I suggest drinking more water :) https://www.healthline.com/health/how-often-should-you-pee But maybe you mean only flushing twice per day, despite using it more frequently, in order to save water? That would beg the question of how this coating material would hold up when subjected for hours per day to the "toilet environment" you produce vs. a clean water environment.

Yes, you are right. I should drink more water, but there is also another factor: Going to toilet at work saves water at home and is work time.

I learned that from a former colleague when I worked as a gardener

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#92

Post by bch »

safepants wrote: post #43
haklriueo wrote: post #28

> When we put that coating on a toilet in the lab and dump synthetic fecal matter on it This reminds me of a documentary about toilets, and one factoid was that American toilets were much worse at flushing than Japanese ones, and would block more frequently, and it turns out that American ones were tested with a small standardized rubber ball, while Japanese ones with the real deal, including big productions.

I watched a video from This Old House where they toured a toilet factory. They used Miso paste in a condom to simulate fecal matter.

It’s interesting!

https://youtu.be/MhuIOwdWuDk

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#93

Post by balnaphone »

1024core wrote: post #82
birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

> silicone can be decomposed naturally in soil within 4-7 days. It breaks down in silica, water, and carbon dioxide. So why doesn't the coating, if it is made of silicone, similarly degrade in 4-7 days?

One doesn't normally keep soil, with its rich microbial ecosystem, inside of their domestic toilet bowl.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#94

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

HorizonXP wrote: post #47
newen wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...so to solve that, you would put this stuff on the ground so that shit slips easily into the nearest river?

I think you're deliberately misrepresenting what I meant. The current PM of India campaigned on a "Clean India" effort to tackle open-air defecation by building millions of toilets. Now, you can argue the efficacy of this effort, but arguably, the entire scheme requires adequate means to actually flush the toilets, which requires water, which requires infrastructure. All I meant is that efforts to minimize the amount…

> the entire scheme requires adequate means to actually flush the toilets, which requires water

The vast, vast majority of these toilets are basically just holes in the ground. They do not flush.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#95

Post by fireattack »

gpm wrote: post #14

500 flushes is less than a year for a toilet used twice a day (say before and after bed), I hope that coating is cheap, easy to apply, and doesn't create substantial pollution either as it is created or used. I hope the sewer system doesn't need to just add water as a result. Toilet water use doesn't seem like a big enough contributor to the problem that it's much use optimizing it in most places. But there are proba…

You only use toilet twice a day? Keep in mind you need to flush after pee too.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#96

Post by ghostbrainalpha »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #33

@birgitt: Instead of a labor intensive process of spraying and paper or cloth, could you not include the lubricant in a separate reservoir and apply a bit with each flush, avoiding the need for a manual process? Or perhaps have an automatic cycle where the bowl drains, the lubricant is applied, and then water is supplied to refill the bowl after a period of time has elapsed (if necessary)? It seems manual application…

Manual application is gross, but adoption could be quick if it is focused on companies that use janitorial services...

Honestly how many Hacker News readers read this story and thought about ordering the product and having their weekly cleaning person be in charge of applying this even monthly in their homes?

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#98

Post by PhasmaFelis »

balnaphone wrote: post #93
1024core wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> silicone can be decomposed naturally in soil within 4-7 days. It breaks down in silica, water, and carbon dioxide. So why doesn't the coating, if it is made of silicone, similarly degrade in 4-7 days?

One doesn't normally keep soil, with its rich microbial ecosystem, inside of their domestic toilet bowl.

One commonly puts something else with a rich microbial ecosystem in it on a regular basis.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#99

Post by zamadatix »

johnpowell wrote: post #90
birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

Time to get gross here. I have been dealing with neck/mouth cancer for a while and using a feeding tube for about half of my calories. My movements, depending on the alignment of the stars resemble the mortar used to join cinder blocks together. It is explosive and sticks to the bowl. I can flush ten times and it doesn't budge and I have to manually get in there. So I am going to try this. It is cheap enough and even…

Best of luck.

Re: New, slippery toilet coating provides cleaner flushing, saves water

#100

Post by shortandsweet »

johnpowell wrote: post #90
birgitt wrote: post #15

Hi Everyone! Birgitt here from spotLESS Materials -- we are commercializing this technology and some of the authors of the Nature Sustainability paper are part of our team. I'll try answering some of the questions I'm seeing. Would love to hear your feedback! Check out our products at: https://www.spotlessmaterials.com/shop Check out the full research article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0421-0#ci…

Time to get gross here. I have been dealing with neck/mouth cancer for a while and using a feeding tube for about half of my calories. My movements, depending on the alignment of the stars resemble the mortar used to join cinder blocks together. It is explosive and sticks to the bowl. I can flush ten times and it doesn't budge and I have to manually get in there. So I am going to try this. It is cheap enough and even…

Try a parachute. Put some to down in the water before you let loose.
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