The two street urinals were installed on Tuesday near the Gare de Lyon train yard. Street peeing is a serious problem which has apparently plagued the capital of France for decades.
Gare du Lyon is one of the city’s wet-spots, where people are forced to evade treacherous puddles of pee, lurking in the darkest corners.
L’Uritrottoir, l’urinoir sec des villes 3/6 from FALTAZI on Vimeo.
“People urinating on the streets of France is a serious problem,” one of the inventors told The Local. The device known as “Uritrottoir” is an elaborate mix of an urinal and a flowerpot, designed by the Faltazi company based in Nantes. The urinal is made of a sturdy material, coated with an anti-graffiti paint and boasts a mini-parterre on top.
© FALTAZI / Facebook
“And we knew there was a big demand for a solution, so we’ve come up with one. People are laughing, many of them are amazed, but most agree that it’s a good idea to test out,” the inventor said.
Uritrottoir has a much more attractive look than the common grey Paris street urinals, providing relief to “pipi sauvage” (“wild pissing” in French). The new eco-friendly device stores the urine in a block of dry material, namely wood chips, sawdust or straws, which is later taken away and turned into compost.
© FALTAZI / Facebook
Recyclable absorbing material ensures the new urinal to be odor-free, according to the inventors.
The price of this eco-urinal is estimated at €3,000. The first two devices are out in the streets and ready to be stress-tested. Time will show whether the new-age urinals could completely replace their old, grey and overflow-prone counterparts.