Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Why is there ice in urinals?
Ladies may not know this, but often urinals in men's restrooms in bars and restaurants are filled with ice. Some 60 or more years ago, even high-end hotels made sure their urinals were packed with ice throughout the day.
But why? Well, it has a lot to do with odours and taking aim.
To help us resolve this puzzling question, we turn to Klaus Reichardt, founder, and waterless urinal CEO of Waterless Co, manufacturers of waterless urinals:
* The first urinal was patented on 27th March, 1886, by Andrew Rankin; "he referred to his invention as 'the best thing on Earth'," says Klaus.
* Realising there might be 'disagreeable odours' coming from his urinals, Andrew also included a homemade recipe to make the first urinal blocks using sugar, molasses, syrup, chloride of soda, water, and other ingredients.
* This recipe became cumbersome, so in the 1880s, an astute entrepreneur started marketing the first urinal cakes made with Naphthalene. "It sure killed the odours, but it also destroyed red blood cells when inhaled in large quantities," says Klaus. "By the early 1900s, it was slowly phased out."
* Which brings us to ice. When Prohibition started in 1920, speakeasies opened throughout the country. The speakeasies purchased tons of ice. To make way for new deliveries, the old ice was tossed into urinals mainly because throwing it in alleys or on the street would likely catch the attention of police.
* To bartenders' surprise, the ice eliminated urinal odours. As one expert explained, the ice froze odour-causing molecules in urine, preventing them from being released. Eventually, the odour-filled molecules melt with the ice and drip down the urinal and into the sewer.
* The heyday of ice in urinals was the 1960s; bar owners found that the ice provided a bit of entertainment for the gentleman and improved their aim. Richard Thaler, a professor at the University of Chicago, explains: "having something to aim at reduces spillage."
Klaus says ice is on the way out today if for no other reason than to reduce water and energy consumption.
"Good, (even fun while it lasted), new technologies, especially on no-water urinals, just eliminated the need."
1st June 2017