100,000 of those were of the waterless type in that year. due to high-level water restrictions during about 2005-2008 the city council of brisbane, australia mandated conversion to waterless urinals. flush urinals are nowadays rarely seen in brisbane. installation and maintenance the drain pipes from waterless urinals need to be installed correctly in terms of diameter, slope and pipe materials in order to prevent buildup of struvite ("urine stone") and calcium phosphate precipitates in the pipes, which would cause blockages and could require expensive repairs. also, the undiluted urine is corrosive to metals (except for stainless steel), which is why plastic pipes are generally preferred for urine drain pipes. most waterless urinals do not prevent odorous staining on the surface of the urinals, and periodic cleaning of the fixture and its surrounds is still required. when maintained according to manufacturers' recommendations, well-designed waterless urinals do not emit any more odors than flushed urinals do. however, some odor-trapping devices work better than others in the longer term. regular, thorough maintenance of the respective odor control device is needed for all types of waterless urinals, as per the manufacturer's recommendation. situation in the united states us federal law has mandated no more than one gallon per flush since 1994, and the epa estimates that the average urinal is flushed 20 times per day, which gives an average water use of 7,300 us gallons (28,000 l) per year. mechanical traps are not allowed by us building codes but are allowed in many other countries. plumbers' unions initially opposed waterless urinals, citing concerns about health and safety, which have been debunked by scientists who have studied the devices. facing opposition to their attempts to have the devices allowed in plumbing codes, manufacturers devised a compromise. the uniform plumbing code was modified to allow waterless urinals to be installed, provided that unneeded water lines were nevertheless run to the back of the urinals. this allows conventional water-flushing urinals to be retrofitted later, if waterless models were judged to be unsatisfactory over time. in march 2006, the associated press reported that the plumbers' union in philadelphia had become upset because developer liberty property trust had decided to use waterless urinals in the comcast center. many in the union believed that this would lead to less work for them. the developer cited saving the city 1,600,000 us gallons (6,100,000 l) of water per year as its deciding factor. in february 2010, the headquarters of the california epa removed waterless urinals that were installed in 2003 due to "hundreds of complaints", including odors and splashed urine on the floors. officials blamed the failure of the project on incompatibility with the building's existing plumbing systems. waterless urinals used in british mcdonald's restaurants waterless urinal (waterless urinal at right is for people with disabilities) waterless urinals in switzerland waterless urinal in california waterless boys' urinals in argentina waterless urinal for women at a station in frankfurt, germany flat rubber tube for odor control in waterless urinal of keramag "urine stone" deposits on plumbing components of a waterless urinal in the netherlands street urinals further information: pissoir in some localities, urinals may be located on public sidewalks or in public areas such as parks. these urinals are often equipped with partitions for the sake of privacy, and some are fully enclosed structures. they may or may not be equipped with water flushing mechanisms. the first 'pissoirs' were installed in paris in the 1830s, and the idea gradually gained popularity in other european cities. from a peak in the 1930s when there were over 1,000 in paris alone, historic urinals have gradually disappeared, in favour of facilities for both sexes. in the 21st century, public urination by men in some locations was again seen as a nuisance, and modern versions of street urinals have been installed. the netherlands has a number of strategically placed street urinals in various cities, intended to reduce public urination by drunken men. amsterdam has the largest collection of historic urinals, with about 30 'plaskrul' ('pisscurl'), a flushless urinal with a curved privacy screen, in the central city. in recent years, urinals that can be retracted into the ground during the day or between special events have been installed, in order to save space when they are not expected to be needed. when closed they look like a large manhole in a sidewalk. similar retractable models, such as the model by the dutch company urilift, are also seen in the uk and other countries. at night when bars are open they rise out of the sidewalk; some time after the bars close, the urinals return to their manhole configuration so that they are unseen by people during the day. plastic movable urinal at a venue next to a traditional porta-john. the 4 sides allow for 4 users at any given time. in the philippines, marikina was the first city to install street urinals in the late 1990s. when marikina mayor bayani fernando was appointed chair of the metropolitan manila development authority, he installed street urinals in the rest of metro manila as well. modern street urinal in london street urinal in vauxhall, london urilift street urinal can be retracted underground when not needed only a circular ring indicates location of a retracted urilift urinal when not in use movable temporary urinal in amsterdam traditional krul urinal in amsterdam street urinal in stockholm street urinal in groningen modernist street urinal in hamburg, germany "public convenience" in varanasi, benares, india special urinals urinals designed for females main article: female urinal in the western world, women/girls are generally taught to sit or squat while urinating. many therefore do not know how – or even that it is possible – for a female to aim her urine stream as would be required to use a male urinal. thus, several different types of urinals have been designed for females that do not require the user to aim her urine stream. a typical female user could thus theoretically approach such a urinal squatting backwards over it without necessarily trying to aim her stream. urinals designed for female users unisex urinals which can be used by men or women a woman urinating into a male urinal in a standing position. arts and interactive urinals kisses! is a controversial urinal designed by the female dutch designer meike van schijndel. it is shaped like an open pair of red lips. in early march 2004, the national organization for women (now) took offense to the new urinals that virgin atlantic decided to install in the virgin atlantic clubhouse at john f kennedy international airport in new york city. after receiving many angry phone calls from female customers, virgin atlantic vice president john riordan called now to apologize. protestors surmised a connection to oral sex or urolagnia, and based their complaints on the urinals being sexist. a mcdonald's restaurant in the netherlands removed them after a customer complained to the head office in the united states. interactive urinals have been developed in a number of countries, allowing users to entertain themselves during urination. one example is the toylet, a video game system produced by the japanese company sega that allows users to play video games using their urine to control the on-screen action. controversial kisses! urinals were designed by a woman advertising displays for a "captive audience" in london makeshift urinals during military operations, such as the korean war, vietnam war, or operation desert storm, "piss tubes" were used as makeshift urinals. to make one, soldiers would affix an inverted disposable water bottle on one end of a rigid tube, burying the other end. removing the base of the bottle made a funnel which would be left at the proper height. deposited urine simply soaked into the ground; when the area became saturated, the device was relocated. in vehicles as of 2008, the aircraft manufacturer airbus offered its customers the option of installing urinals in its a380 aircraft. history main article: pissoir 'colonne rambuteau', photographed 1865 a cast iron urinal in college street, glasgow, installed 1850–54, photographed in 1866 a later paris pissoir in cast iron, photographed c. 1865 in the spring of 1830, the city government of paris decided to install the first public urinals on the major boulevards. they were put in place by the summer, but in july of the same year, many were destroyed through their use as materials for street barricades during the french revolution of 1830. the urinals were re-introduced in paris after 1834, when over 400 were installed by claude-philibert barthelot, comte de rambuteau, the préfet of the départment of the seine. having a simple cylindrical shape, built of masonry, open on the street side, and ornately decorated on the other side as well as the cap, they were popularly known as 'colonnes rambuteau' ('rambuteau columns'). in response, rambuteau suggested the name 'vespasiennes', in reference to the 1st century roman emperor titus flavius vespasianus, who placed a tax on urine collected from public toilets for use in tanning. this is the usual term by which street urinals are known in the french speaking world, although 'pissoir' and 'pissotière' are also in common use. in paris, the next version was a masonry column that allowed for the pasting of posters on the side facing the footpath, creating a tradition that continues to this day (as a morris column, a column with an elaborate roof and without the urinal). cast iron urinals were developed in the united kingdom, with the scottish firm of walter mcfarlane and company casting urinals at their saracen foundry and erecting the first at paisley road, glasgow in october 1850. by the end of 1852, nearly 50 cast iron urinals had been installed in glasgow, including designs with more than one stall. unlike rambuteau's columns, which were entirely open at the front, mcfarlane's one-man urinals were designed with spiral cast iron screens that allowed the user to be hidden from sight, and his multi-stall urinals were completely hidden within ornate, modular cast iron panels. three manufacturers in glasgow, walter macfarlane & co., george smith (sun foundry) and james allan snr & son (elmbank foundry), supplied the majority of cast iron urinals across britain and exported them around the world, including australia and argentina. back in paris, cast iron urinals were introduced as part of baron haussmann's remodelling of the city. a large variety of designs were produced in subsequent decades, housing two to 8 stalls, typically only screening the central portion of the user from public view, with the head and feet still visible. screens were also added to rambuteau columns. at the peak of their spread in the 1930s there were 1,230 pissoirs in paris, but by 1966 their number had decreased to 329. from 1980 they were replaced systematically with new technology, a unisex, enclosed, automatically self-cleaning unit called the sanisette. by 2006, only one historic pissoir remained, on boulevard arago. in berlin, the first pissoirs, in wood, were erected in 1863. in order to provide a design as distinguished as in other cities, several architectural design competitions were organised in 1847, 1865 and 1877. the last design, proposed by a city councillor, was the one adopted in 1878, a cast-iron octagonal structure with seven stalls and a peaked roof, known locally as a café achteck ('octagon cafe'). in common with british designs, they provided complete enclosure, and were provided with interior lighting. their number increased to 142 by 1920, but there are now only about a dozen remaining in use. a similar design was adopted in vienna, though simpler, smaller and hexagonal. they were equipped with a novel "oil system", patented by wilhelm beetz in 1882, where a type of oil was used to neutralise odours, dispensing with the necessity for plumbing. about 15 are still in use, and one has been restored and set up as a display in the vienna technical museum. in central amsterdam, there are about 35 pee curls, which consist of a raised metal screen that curls in a spiral enclosing a single urinal stall, including some two-person examples with the same details but a simpler shape. though the design first emerged in the 1870s, an updated design by joan van der mey dates from 1916. all the remaining examples were restored in 2008. pissoirs of various sizes and designs,