Two British inventors of a ‘ladies’ urinal’ are looking to expand their business to other European nations for the first time.
Amber Probyn, 25, and Hazel McShane, 26, designed the ‘Peequal’ hands-free device as part of a masters project at the University of Bristol to solve a ‘real-life problem’.
They were inspired to create the flat-pack contraption, which fits six units inside a pizza shell, after queuing for hours at music festivals in the UK.
There are no doors or roof and each toilet, which is designed for squatting rather than sitting, is blocked from outside view by cleverly placed curved walls, which are short enough for women to look over while urinating.
The team has now raised an investment of £500,000, which they are using to improve the product design, the bbc reports.
The so-called ‘Peequal’, a urinal designed specifically for female use, could expand to Europe
This year, Amber and Hazel hope to take the urinals to Germany and the Netherlands for the first time.
They have around 134 units so far, and more deals with festival operators are currently in the works.
Peequal has already tested the urinals at the Glastonbury, Download and Pride festivals in 2023, as well as the London Marathon.
The design means a larger number of urinals can fit into a smaller space and the creator claims the “quick toilet” is six times faster to use than a traditional cubicle.
It also reduces a festival’s carbon footprint because ‘peequals’ can be flat-packed and loaded onto trucks, reducing the number of vehicles needed to transport them compared to a traditional booth.
The boat-like design also means that splashes are minimized and clothes can fall over the front.
His website states: ‘Our mission is to pioneer urine equality for all women, one urine at a time.
“We drive gender equality by giving women options, we push boundaries by challenging the status quo, we question the narrative while staying curious, and we always make time for fun because life is for living.”
Amber Probyn, 25, and Hazel McShane, 26 (pictured), designed the ‘Peequal’ hands-free device as part of a masters project at the University of Bristol to solve a ‘real-life problem’.
The design means a larger number of urinals can fit into a smaller space and the creator claims the ‘quick toilet’ is six times faster to use than a traditional cubicle.
The team has raised £500,000 to further improve the product, which has been trialled at festivals across the UK.
Ms McShane has previously said: “We are forming a team to take our urinals to festivals, sporting events, outdoor shows and more.”
“We are very proud of changing the way women urinate and doing it safely, reducing the time they spend in queues.
‘Because our urinals are modular and flat packed, just one of our orders for this summer’s festival will take 70 trucks (or 140 truck trips) off the roads.’
However, they added that they are not trying to “revolutionize the bathroom,” but rather speed things up for women who “just want to urinate,” according to TodayFM.
They also hope to be more environmentally friendly by making the units with plastic extracted from the sea and are also in talks with a company about the possibility of converting the collected urine into fertilizer.
The entrepreneurs, who graduated from the University of Bristol in 2020, found that women queue up to 34 times longer than men because there are 10 male urinals for every women’s public toilet.
And once they reach the front of the line, up to 80 percent of women end up squatting over the toilet seat to avoid bacteria.
They also said TodayFM: ‘There are so many elements in the design. It is outdoors and contactless.
The entrepreneurs, who graduated from the University of Bristol in 2020, found that women queue up to 34 times longer than men.
They designed the shape of the toilet bowl to accommodate various squatting positions (low, high and wide), meaning the urinals are suitable for most women. In the image, a graphic shows the different ways urinals can be used.
Mrs. Probyn and Mrs. McShane also told the bbc They used to have to choose between going to the bathroom or getting food when they worked at music festivals because the lines were so long.
The couple spoke to more than 2,000 women in Bristol in focus groups and pubs before coming up with their urinal, which they claim cuts queuing times.
McShane said the toilet is on a pedestal, but it is an adaptation of a hole in the ground.
She said: “It’s designed like a boat to minimize splashing and also to have a little place for clothes in the front.”
They designed the shape of the toilet bowl to accommodate various squatting positions (low, high and wide), meaning the urinals are suitable for most women.
Mrs Probyn added that the time spent queuing to use the ladies was “wasting hours of women’s lives”.
“At the beginning of the day, you can look at the women’s urinal and say, ‘I’m not sure about that,'” she explained. “But after a few waits and having waited in line for about 15 minutes, this option suddenly becomes much more attractive.”
The entrepreneurs, who graduated from the University of Bristol in 2020, found that women queue up to 34 times longer than men because there are 10 male urinals for every women’s public toilet. Queues for toilets at Parklife Festival 2017 at Heaton Park in Manchester
The new urinal, which travels in a flat pack and can be arranged in three different ways, is said to produce 98 per cent less CO2 than other portable toilets and is made from 100 per cent recyclable materials.
When images of the new design were shared online, some women expressed complaints but praised them for investigating the issue.
One commented: ‘I’m all for festival toilet queues moving 6 times faster and having 10 fewer chances to hit a portaloo! …but I’m not sure how I feel having my head above the parapet while I urinate.’
Others were more critical, as one said: ‘What was the response as it looks horrible!’ If I take down my clothes and underwear, I want full height walls and a ceiling plus a real bathroom. What we need are more real private bathrooms for women; this is not a solution to long queues.’
Another added: “It doesn’t have a roof, it’s nice when it rains.”
