Composting toilets are sustainable and serve their purpose.
But in Maintal, a heated discussion about the need to go to the playground has sparked off.
Maintal – To meet the demand for public toilets, the city recently installed two composting toilets at the Grimm playground in Dörnigheim and the airplane playground in Bischofsheim.
A lively discussion about the sense or nonsense of the toilet block has now flared up on the Internet, reports op-online.de.
"You should be ashamed of something like that," writes a user in the Facebook group Maintal United.
"Disgusting", "embarrassing" or "a bad joke" are other critical comments.
"I wouldn't put my child on it," writes one user.
But there are also positive voices: “It serves its purpose and is always better than defecating in the bushes.
Keeping the toilet clean is in the hands of the users,” says another voice.
"Always complaining.
If you don't like it, you can go home," a user commented on the outrage mentality of Facebook users.
Maintal (Main-Kinzig-Kreis): Composting toilets as a test until January 2023
The city had stated in a statement that it would test the toilets as a cost-effective alternative by the end of January next year.
During this time you want to evaluate whether and how the offer is accepted.
Then a balance should be drawn.
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No water connection: After use, litter is placed in the toilet to neutralize odors.
© Private
At least the costs speak a clear language.
As the city informed our newspaper when asked, the two composting toilets cost around 13,000 euros per year, including maintenance and cleaning, which takes place every two weeks.
Fixed toilet facilities, on the other hand, would cost many times as much.
Toilets with automatic cleaning would cost at least 130,000 euros, plus costs for connection to the public drainage, electricity and water networks.
That doesn't even include maintenance.
This is why the construction of permanent public toilets, which Maintal citizens have been demanding for some time, has failed so far.
parents concerned
In Maintal, finds of broken glass on playgrounds, hidden in sandpits, are piling up
Maintal (Main-Kinzig-Kreis): Composting toilets save water
With composting toilets, however, clear cuts have to be made compared to fixed systems.
A major point of criticism for citizens is that there is no possibility to wash their hands in the toilets.
Especially with a view to the corona pandemic, users have concerns about the hygienic conditions.
"Every user has to take care of hand hygiene themselves, that's right.
But since Corona, carrying hand disinfection has been a matter of course for many anyway, ”explains the city.
According to the announcement, one advantage of the composting toilet is that water can be saved.
After use, litter in the form of wood shavings is placed in the toilet, which binds odors and also supports composting.
The toilets are emptied every two weeks, but the order to the company concerned is flexible, so that the city can react to additional demand.
So far, the focus has been on empirical values from other cities.
Among other things, composting toilets were set up on playgrounds in Darmstadt and Heidenheim.
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Graphics explain how to use it.
© Private
Maintal (Main-Kinzig-Kreis): Citizens fear vandalism
On Facebook, however, the Maintaler fear vandalism, the toilet house on the airplane playground in Bischofsheim is said to have already fallen over.
The city is not aware of this, but the toilet has now been firmly anchored in the ground.
The predominantly negative opinions on social media do not correspond to the city's experiences.
Accordingly, the toilets would be used, the feedback was mostly positive.
In addition, the desire for more such systems has already been expressed.
The test phase will now show whether the composting toilets in Maintal have a future.
(Michael Bellack And Kristina Groom)
