What is a Toilet?

A toilet is a plumbing fixture with a bowl, lid, and flush device, usually connected to an on-site sewage system, used for defecation and urination. This is a fundamental part of most homes. While it may not seem like a subject of great interest, the toilet is central to life on earth and an important focus of human hygiene, personal care, and social interaction.

Throughout history and across languages, the word toilet has been associated with defecation and urination, but also with bathing, dressing, and cleaning. Today, it is commonly used to refer to the general concept of toileting—personal grooming and hygiene. In medical jargon, the term is also used to describe a specific type of toilet for anal cleansing.

The choice of words to describe toilets and other sanitary facilities is a matter of regional and cultural variation, as well as the level of formality or social class. Some manufacturers of modern sanitary fixtures appear uncomfortable with the word toilet, opting instead to use terms such as closet or commode. The word’s etymology is not clear, although it seems to be related to the Latin lavatory and its Latin cognate, lavare.

For example, in Britain, where the word loo was derived from a French phrase meaning ‘watch out for the water’, the toilet is often referred to as a lavatory. Other variations include bog, lav, or privy. In the United States, most people refer to a toilet as a bathroom.

In 1928, Buckminster Fuller wrote トイレ つまり 大阪 that he regarded a house as being clean only if it contained toilets and sewers. He felt that the cleanliness of the body, buildings, and the mind all began with a good flushing.

Today, a wide range of toilet technologies and practices have developed to meet the needs of diverse communities. In many parts of the world, people still struggle to gain access to toilets and basic sanitation. Others face issues such as lack of privacy, gender-related concerns, and the use of toxic chemicals in the construction and maintenance of toilets. The globalization of the economy and the spread of technology have brought these issues to the forefront, with many countries implementing policies and regulations intended to improve toilet conditions for their citizens. In the Philippines, the Department of Education recently conducted a study in schools to evaluate toilet condition and understand the role that it plays in students’ learning experiences. The results of the study revealed that the toilets in public elementary, secondary and integrated schools (offering kindergarten, primary and elementary school education) were mostly flush or pour flush toilets that were connected to on-site septic systems. In addition, piped water or a combination of piped water and rainwater were available inside the toilet cubicles for flushing and anal washing purposes. However, toilet paper was not made available in any of the public schools visited. In some schools, the availability of toilets was limited to a single toilet cubicle per classroom. In some cases, the availability of toilets was dependent on the ability of the septic system to handle the amount of wastewater that the school generated in a particular timeframe.