If enough public toilets were actually provided, this would not be a problem that needs solving.
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
459 points (97.5% liked)
Science Memes
17229 readers
6710 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
In the streets of Hamburg, Germany, a new form of urban deterrent is turning public urination into an instant lesson in cause and effect. Known as “anti-pee paint,” this specialized nano-coating creates a superhydrophobic surface, repelling liquids so completely that anything touching it slides off with remarkable force. The result? Anyone attempting to relieve themselves on a treated wall experiences an immediate and unforgettable splash-back. The technology borrows from nature, mimicking the microscopic structure of a lotus leaf. Tiny ridges and air pockets prevent any liquid from adhering, meaning walls remain clean while offenders get an eye-opening consequence — all without the need for confrontation, fines, or patrols. It’s an ingenious blend of physics and human psychology: the paint doesn’t punish with authority, it punishes with instant feedback. First popularized in Hamburg’s St. Pauli district in 2015, this approach has since been trialed in other cities like London and San Francisco. While the coating is costly, city authorities note significant savings on cleaning and maintenance, and a marked decrease in repeat offenses. Beyond hygiene, it’s a striking example of how urban design and material science can work together to shape behavior. For engineers, urban planners, and city residents, anti-pee paint is both a marvel of nano-engineering and a lesson in poetic justice. The streets stay cleaner, the message is immediate, and the offender leaves with a story they won’t soon forget.
yeah this is actually about hating the homeless, not about making a city cleaner
And - well I was going to say surprisingly, but its really not - the post I saw just before this was about transit use and a fear of violence. Which, of course, is ultimately due to not addressing the unhoused.
While generally a promising approach, in the case of St Pauli, Hamburg it might be different. Yes there are lots of homeless people, but there are also LOTS of randoms going there to get drunk and be on their worst behavior. Its part of the spirit of that place.
Anyways "not by authority" is bs imo. An electrical fence is also "direct feedback", or razor barbed wire and you wouldn't dare calling those non-authority
load more comments
(1 replies)
Right I'm sure the people who piss in our gateway, mysteriously every Friday and Saturday while bellowing at each other, are homeless rather than smashed out of their tiny troglodyte minds.
Hamburg has a vast number of tourists, which makes it even worse, because tourists don't have to live in the city they're pissing all over, nor see again the person they flashed because the fumbled pulling up their pants.
If there was a toilet right there, do you think they would still choose the wall?
If they would still choose the wall, do you think the paint is going to deter them?
How will people even know that the paint is piss-splashing paint?
Will people not immediately change their piss angle as soon as they get splash back?
If there was a toilet right there, do you think they would still choose the wall?
Have you ever been around drunk tourists before? The answer is yes
load more comments
(3 replies)
They have walked out of a club with a toilet five minutes ago. How frequently do you want there to be toilets?
The idea is that by putting the risk in people's minds it'll be a deterrent, or else by giving people a natural consequence (and also protecting the wall from being stained with piss) it'll deter repeat offenders.
load more comments
(10 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
If people are still peeing in the street there, then it's not enough.
I don't understand how hard that is to understand for some people.
I have never met someone who'd rather piss in the streets than in a toilet if given the choice. The answer is always, always, ALWAYS "not enough free, clean, accessible toilets"
The answer is drunk people.
I was once walking home with a drunk housemate who pissed in the street a few minutes away from home. Also "clean" does not enter into it. The street is not clean.
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(7 replies)
Most of these are not free, according to your second link.
load more comments
(1 replies)
This is hostile architecture. Build toilets instead.
They have toilets. People are just wretched.
A lot of Europe charges to use them though, whoch i find weird. Imo they should be funded by public budgets the way libraries, school buses, roads etc are.
Like, of ya gotta pee, ya gotta pee. If you gotta pee and you don't have any Euros on you, what else are you supposed to fucking do?? Literally what are your options at that point?
I'm sure some people would do this anyway but I suspect a lot of them can't/won't pay for a public toilet and aren't close enough to a private one. It's a UX issue
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
Maybe Europe should get some fucking public bathrooms.
Not looking at you, Switzerland, you're good.
We have them. Its just that a lot of us are such fucking degenerates that we piss and shit on the toilet seats and in the urinals that no one wants to go fucking near them. Others, have are filled with blue lights, so that all the junkies cant see their veins and shoot up somewhere else.
Basically, we cant have nice things because some of us are just utter cunts. Some have been put behind a paywall, but people moaned about that as well. Basically, there are solutions, but nobody wants them because "what about the people who dont have money?". And the answer "I guess they dont get to shit in the urinals!" is never a welcome one...
In The Netherlands, we don't have them, but you can piss at most bars and restaurants. Still the drunk guys choose to urinate at the walls, in the plants, in the bicycles, in the stairways of parking lots. It's gross and annoying.
load more comments
(5 replies)
Does that really work? I get the impression that people would go pee on that wall just to see it bounce.
Let's scientifically try for an side angle, at which there is no measurable peeback effect any more.
Nice. It would be like in India where they turn to put up some metal crates to stop rickshaws from driving there, but cars could.
Workaround: wider wheels on the rickshaws, or modifying the distance of the wheels to fit said crates. People always find a workaround.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Great, now we need to invent piss retroreflectors
load more comments
(1 replies)
Anything to not build public washrooms
The problem is that public toilets need to be indestructible. The one near my home is constantly out of order because some asshole vandalized it. Restaurants, shops and delis only let customers use their restroom - probably for the same reason.
In Montréal all our major parks have washroom facilities and if they for some reason don’t there’s still gunna be a port-o-potty nearby. There should definitely be two near the beach but the point still stands that you can definitely have nice things, or at least something stopping the majority of public urination. And hell, I’m sure that we have issues with them here, too, but it’s a small price to pay to have a civilized city so whatever.
Longer term the city just needs to adopt any of the myriad studied ways homeless and poverty has been reduced in other places which will also reduce the danger to these things getting broken.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Mooie chemicals to leak onto the environment. This is really a pfas 2.0 waiting to happen
Yup, it's fucking dumb and Its easily countered by peeing on the wall at an angle as well.
Or better yet, directly onto the ground beside the wall...
load more comments
(1 replies)
"the streets stay clean" yet the paint ensures that all the piss makes it down to the street
load more comments
(3 replies)
If we ripped the car sewers out of our streets we could probably have enough green space that it would just, ya know, soak in. But go ahead and spend public money on technogimmicks I guess.
Just pee directly on to the floor then.
Hit it on a 45 degree angle along the horizontal plane and it will bounce onto the shoes of the fella next to you
load more comments
(1 replies)
Pee sideways at an angle? Pee on the floor?
How much does that useless paint cost?? I guess it's cheaper than installing toilets, but I bet it won't deter a single person from peeing.
Cities: "ugh, toilets are so expensive to maintain. Remove them."
Cities: "everything smells like piss now :("
If there is no toilets available, a wall or a bush does the trick just fine. I ain't going to rupture my fucking bladder because some bean counter decided to count beans.
So the homeless people peeing on the streets will now definitely smell like piss wherever they go, instead of just maybe smelling like piss? Good times.
##I tested Soho's anti-pee paint and I was bitterly disappointed that I didn't get soaked
###Is Westminster Council taking the p? I certainly think so
https://www.mylondon.news/news/news-opinion/i-tested-sohos-anti-pee-25798676
Only way it could truly work is if it were retroreflective.
And that main reason people publicly urinate is because there aren't any toilets.
It's not that Hamburg doesn't have public toilets, but Hamburg is known for the "Reeperbahn" - a street lined with bars (I think the American equivalent to it would be something like Bourbon Street in New Orleans?). People go there to get wasted off their asses and no matter how many public restrooms you put up there, they will piss wherever.
(There's also an amazing documentary series about the Supermarket on that street and the characters that visit it)
load more comments
(1 replies)
This is another lie.
Beware of cartoon drawings promising big things. Because if they can't show you the thing, it doesn't exist.
view more: next ›