before standing up? Yeah, it’s not a fan, and you won’t be a fan of it any longer. Or, as this YouTube video puts it: “Shining a light on what comes up when you flush.” Yep, sometimes our attention needs to be on the mundane and icky parts of life – and this is one of them.
But what a techie setup they contrived in order gross us out:
You’ve probably heard it before – if you don’t put the lid down on the toilet, droplets of filth will fly out when you flush it. Scientists have now visualized that process for the first time, in hopes of reducing it with better toilet designs. For at least 60 years now, it has been known that if you flush a toilet with its lid up, a plume of aerosolized toilet-water droplets will rise up out of the bowl. Those airborne droplets can then drift onto other surfaces in the bathroom, potentially spreading pathogens such as E. coli bacteria.
Two green lasers were then aimed on and above the toilet. One shone continuously, in order to show where in three-dimensional space the droplets were located, while the other laser rapidly pulsated, to measure the speed and direction of their movements. Two cameras recorded HD stills and video while the toilet was flushed – and the result was much more dramatic than anticipated.
“We had expected these aerosol particles would just sort of float up, but they came out like a rocket,” said Crimaldi.
For the most part, the droplet plume moved upward and back towards the lab’s rear wall. That said, much of it also rose straight up until it was blocked by the ceiling, at which point it spread forward into the room.
Gives new meaning to “PUT THE SEAT/LID DOWN!!!”. Yep, high tech bathroom humor…
Most studies have been done on the opposite direction – how to ensure that the “payload” that is supposed to go downward actually goes down and not stuck. Now they are quantifying what goes UP! SCIENCE!
Now, how are they going to do the same thing with the various “odors” to make better ventilation systems?
(H/T: New Atlas)
